In the shadow of a father, a mother, or a brother recognized in any art or performance, others tend to flourish that accompany the task of the principal, of the one who carries more ingenuity in whatever need.
But in the case of the Durrell brothers it is difficult to differentiate (if it is necessary to do so) who was the outstanding writer and who was the one who grew up in the shadows. Why so much Lawrence Durrell as Gerald Durrell they are renowned authors who have survived to this day.
If it is to differentiate, we could clearly point to Gerald's work as absolutely focused on the animal world with a point clearly of youth literature. Almost always with an autobiographical point that transmits in his first-person voice the full conviction of the animal as a fascinating world.
But it is that from his essayistic aspect to his novels an intention to personalize the animal emerges. An effort that denotes his passion for nature and his commitment. And so he ends up becoming a narrator.
Gerald Durrell's Top 3 Recommended Novels
My family and other animals
The humorous streak channels the necessary optimism despite everything. Because a naturalist like Durrell would often be shocked on his many trips around the world. But literature is something else, also an idealization of the balance between human and animal.
The original narrative style of Gerald Durrell, a combination of various genres, such as the portrait of people and places, the autobiography and the humorous story, explains the great success obtained from the day of its publication by My family and other animals.
The Durrell family, sick and depressed by the unfriendly climate in England, decide to go to the Greek island of Corfu. Little Gerald, a great fan of nature, tells us about his expeditions around the island, studying the native fauna and collecting new species for his collection. At the same time, he tells us about the varied and hilarious situations in which his family is involved.
Donkey Kidnappers
Lost causes acquire their true dimension of necessary causes in youth. Because it is precisely those who convince us of the uselessness of the causes who are most interested in our giving up. These types of stories rekindle in young readers necessary wills, motors and drives for adults. By imbuing everything with humor, the issue remains light as well as raising awareness.
David and Amanda spend the summer in a village on a small Greek island, where their friend Yani, an orphan, is about to lose his home and land. The three friends did experiments and saw that the donkeys swim, so they always went to a forlorn island called by them Hesperides, and decided that one night, they were going to take the donkeys to Hesperides, and as the town would collapse, that might be it would give Yani more time to get the money. Only with great ingenuity and cunning will the three young men be able to stand up to injustice.
A zoo on my roof
The most unique book of this selection. The work in which we discover the naturist and his mission. A guy full of positive energy this Gerald Durrell who transmits it from an anecdote that could fill pages and pages of that book come to life and deliver.
A zoo on my roof recounts the experiences that the naturalist had during that time at the Whipsnade Country Zoo. Narrated with the amenity and inimitable sense of humor that characterize the author's style, the multiple adventures collected here, starring lions, tigers, white bears, zebras, wildebeest and many other animals, marked an experience that was to prove decisive in his training.
