The rest of the dogs are also quite a lot of fun with Dodo being hilarious.

Roger the dog is such a wonderful dog and a great pet/family member. But I loved their friends as Spiro is so incredibly endearing, Theodore is also highly memorable and Kralefsky is quite amusing himself.īut My Family and Other Animals shines the most when dealing with animals. The entire family’s pleasantly weird and incredibly endearing. Margo is a teen girl stereotype, but is mostly very likable and of course mother is the highlight of the family as she’s old-fashioned, yet most definitely weird at times. Larry and Leslie are fun, but more forgettable than others. Gerry is the protagonist and interestingly Gerald Durrell chose to not have his character speak any line, at least I think he didn’t, but rather to focus on the rest of the family and that was a great choice as his inner monologues and point of view are more than enough to get to know this highly smart, different and animal-obsessed young boy who reminded me so much of myself. Individually, they aren’t all that great, but as a family, they are fantastic as the interactions they share are so heartwarming and fun and I just felt like I’ve met this family and I would love to stay at their house for dinner without any doubt in my mind.

However, they all eventually grew on me and I started to care for them. I much prefer the fauna elements here and some members of the family are forgettable. Let’s first talk about the human characters. What matters is the portrayal of its characters and a specific point in time and those the author did manage to accomplish so well. However, that isn’t important all too much when you have an autobiographical work. The plot of the novel left a lot to be desired in terms of depth and progression as nobody of the characters changes here in any way nor do we get any sophisticated statements. The book describes the life of the Durrell family in a very lightweight, humorous and charming manner while focusing on their lives, interactions and particularly the animal world of Corfu as it follows their stay there. You were so much more surprised at everything when you were ignorant “ It’s such a wonderful, highly charming book. My Family and Other Animals is a 1956 autobiographical novel written by Gerald Durrell.

My family and other animals review