All Creatures
Great and Small is a cheerful narration on Dr. James Herriot’s
life and experiences as a young veterinary surgeon. His side-splitting sense of humour combined with an incredible ability to bring to life, the otherwise inconspicuous aspects of an everyday scene, can keep readers enthralled page after page.
Framed humbly in the reams of this masterpiece is a compilation of diary entries kept by James during the early days of his profession. He takes us on a fascinating journey across the picturesque English country-side of Yorkshire Dales during which he recounts numerous episodes of triumph and a few mishaps as a newly appointed assistant to Mr. Siegfried Farnon. He begins by describing his first ever interview as a freshly qualified vet for a post that he desperately longed for. Though initially faced with a challenging and disheartening response from the Dalesmen, it wasn’t long before James is plunged into a warm and effervescent practice, tending to an assortment of animals in the midst of innumerous interesting countrymen with peculiar accents.
His
employer Siegfried Farnon is an exuberant and charming personality who had put in serious effort to build up his current practice. James soon develops great levels of patience to bear up with his employer’s extreme over-cautiousness and occasional absent-minded yet kind-hearted advices which were rephrased no
sooner had he acted upon it!
Siegfried’s brother Tristan who has a well-established record for laziness and practical jokes adds new life to Skeldale House when he joins them after having routinely failed in his exams at the Veterinary College. Despite never-ending taunts from his elder brother, Tristan maintains his easy-go-lucky and fun-loving mind-set and is always around to lend a helping hand in anything from assisting a sordid case to giving James tips on socializing. Although Tristan played his part in furnishing James with ideas to come out of his shell and court his prospective life-partner Helen Alderson, it
soon turns out to be a series of hilarious disasters. Finally, it is Siegfried’s urge that made James pay serious thought to his future which led to his wed-lock with Helen sooner than expected.
All Creatures Great and Small reveals the marvelously enlightening story of a vet who swells with compassion for animals and humans alike. His humble and honest disclosure of his victories as well as the many failures and accidents from his personal as well as professional life instantly draws readers to his down-to-earth outlook of life.
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