My Family and other Animals
by Gerald Malcolm Durrell · first published 1956
7mentions
5recommended by
7HN commenters
2009–2022first – last mentioned
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A warm, funny memoir of a boyhood among eccentric family members and wildlife on Corfu. The characters and the zoology stand out, and it is a good starter for younger readers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
My Family and Other Animals is an autobiographical work by naturalist Gerald Durrell, telling of the part of his childhood he spent on the Greek island of Corfu between 1935 and 1939.
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My Family and Other Animals Medieval Technology and Social Change
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗Recommendation from me: Have your child read a Gerald Durrell book (My Family and Other Animals is one of his best) when they are 12-15. It will be a fantastic read and will make them dream about pursuing something of their own, most likely animals at first, but other things later. Not so sure…
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗A few PG Twitter recs: * My Family and Other Animals (started, already really enjoying it) * Albert Einstein: Creator and Rebel (started, enjoying it but moving slowly through it. It's very good, and the author is palpably excited about the subject, I…
on “Ask HN: Books you plan to read in 2020?” ↗anything by Carl Hiassan. Geoerges Simenon the short stories of Somerset Maughm, John Collier, Graham Greene, Roald Dahl A Dandy in Aspic by Derek Marlowe My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell My Sister Eileen by Ruth McKenney anything by Ben MacIntyre, Erik Larson Orchid Fever by Eric Hansen The Food Explorer by Dahiel Stone
on “Ask HN: Best Escapism Books” ↗…child I thoroughly enjoyed reading Gerald Durrell's books about his childhood in Corfu. All a wonderful read, both for his interest in zoology and the various characters that show up. I highly recommend My Family and Other Animals as a starter. At some point his older brother gives him a copy of this Fabre book and I remembered the reference immediately.
on “Fabre’s Book of Insects (1921)” ↗…couldn't remember where he got this book, and said somebody must have given it to him back in the 60s, and he never read it. I've never heard of it or Lawrence Durrel, but I knew about Gerald Durrel due to My Family and Other Animals which was something that recommended for kids around the early 80s, I guess, and I think I even read it when I was much younger. I assumed Justine was a dime detective or spy novel, since I knew that's…
on “Philip Pullman: ‘I had to grow up before I could cope with Middlemarch’” ↗This seems like it's out of My Family And Other Animals - 2022 edition.
on “Lost USB with 460k city residents’ personal data found” ↗