Every Living Thing (1992)

I am reading James Herriot's well-known series of books out of order. The five books are about his life as a veterinarian, mostly of large animals such as cows and sheep, in England. EVERY LIVING THING is the last book in the series. I read the third book in the series first and loved it so much that I grabbed EVERY LIVING THING when I found it on the shelf in a used bookstore. This book, too, is wonderful.

Each chapter of the books in this series contains a separate incident, an example from Herriot’s everyday life. Although I do not normally care for books of short stories, in the case of this series, the stories are at least in chronological order and they are so touching they’ll make you wish you could hug Herriot.

The stories in EVERY LIVING THING took place during the 1950s. Happily, by this time, antibiotics and other new drugs were now being produced. So veterinary medicine was more advanced by this time than it was in the earlier books in his series, and Herriot continued to learn. Also, his assistants, new veterinarians just out of college, knew more than he did when he graduated from college, also helpful to his practice.

Although EVERY LIVING THING is the last book in the series, Herriot, thankfully, does not end it with the end of his career. That would have been too sad. ( )

Színes és sokrétű, mint az élet maga. Sok humorral és még több emberséggel megírt történetek a 20. századból. Okosan tanító és a lényeget mutató töredékek egy állatorvos mindennapjaiból. Szeretetre méltó vagy elgondolkodtató figurák. Remek érzés volt estéről estére belefeledkezni. ( )

I got a hard bound copy of this for $1 at the Agoura Library book sale today. The sale is every Saturday from 10-4 in the basement. Lots of books and great deals! Most paperbacks are .50, and you can even request books that they'll set aside for you from incoming donations. ( )

Well, I've been thinking about Herriot's books for decades, ever since I first read them. Finally had an opportunity to fit one into a group challenge. I'm not sure I ever did read this one before or not, but in any case I did enjoy it just as much as I hoped that I would. Such quick, sweet stories, with a fair bit of educational value, too. Ok, so maybe much of what I learned could only be used to win more games of Trivial Pursuit (t), but it's still interesting stuff. ( )

Oh, how I loved this book! I laughed until I cried when I read his experience with the introduction of artificial insemination in cattle. This was a poignant story, in many ways, as it showed the original trio of James, Sigfried and Tristan had grown up and moved on with their adult lives. A wonderful conclusion to the series. As always, James Herriot brought me to laughter and tears in the same book. This is a must-read for any animal lover. I also enjoyed the audio book. There aren't too many books I want to read/hear more than once, but I return to James Herriot over and over. ( )