James Herriot

[floragord]

Split from another topic.

What am I reading?

Fabulous James Herriot's Omnibus editions ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL (If Only They Could Talk, It Shouldn't happen to a Vet), ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL (the majority of chapters from Let Sleeping Vets Lie, Vet in Harness ) and currently ALL THINGS WISE AND WONDERFUL (Vets Might Fly and Vet in a Spin), with THE LORD GOD MADE THEM ALL still to enjoy - combines laugh out loud humour with the occasional lump in the throat!

[Chrissie777]

I've read the first two Herriot books. Loved the TV series!
It was not the same after Carol Drinkwater left, but she later became an accomplished author and I enjoy her autobiographies on her life at the olive farm in Provence.

[Courtenay]

Fabulous James Herriot's Omnibus editions ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL (If Only They Could Talk, It Shouldn't happen to a Vet), ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL (the majority of chapters from Let Sleeping Vets Lie, Vet in Harness ) and currently ALL THINGS WISE AND WONDERFUL (Vets Might Fly and Vet in a Spin), with THE LORD GOD MADE THEM ALL still to enjoy - combines laugh out loud humour with the occasional lump in the throat!

I'm pretty sure I read all of James Herriot's books (definitely most of them, at least) back in my teens and I still love dipping into them — absolutely wonderful, aren't they? I haven't yet managed a trip to the Yorkshire Dales since I moved to the UK, but I would love to do that one day.

[Chrissie777]

I haven't yet managed a trip to the Yorkshire Dales since I moved to the UK, but I would love to do that one day.

Courtenay, we went there in May 2019, but it rained for 3 days even though May is according to travel guides the driest month in the UK (on the same trip it rained only one day in Scotland). British friends told us that April 2019 was sunny and dry for a change.
The Yorkshire Dales were nevertheless very beautiful to look at (but it was just hard to drive a rental car on those small country roads in the rain with many trucks and white transporters coming towards us).

We also saw the Skeldale House in Askrigg (Siegfried's vet practice) which is a Bed & Breakfast now.
And we visited Bolton Castle (supposedly a destination where James and Helen Herriot went on their honeymoon).

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Revie ... gland.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolton_Castle" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[floragord]

How nice to have fellow Herriot fans, Chrissie & Courtenay! I never tire of reading of the heartwarming magic of the enchanting Yorkshire Dales and the triumphs and disasters of veterinary practice. We absolutely loved visiting THE WORLD OF JAMES HERRIOT at Thirsk, the "actual" Skeldale House at No 23 Kirkgate, which brings the books even more to life, walking through the living quarters and the long offshoot at the back which was the surgery and dispensary leading out to the long garden Alf Wight wrote of so lovingly, a fantastic project masterminded by his son Jim in memory of his father.

[Fiona1986]

I'm also a Herriot fan! I visited Skeldale House as a child having read his children's books (Blossom Comes Home, The Market Square Dog, Bonny's Big Day and The Christmas Day Kitten), but it wasn't until a few years ago that I found a few of his memoirs in a charity shop and then hunted them all out and devoured them.

[Courtenay]

I read at least a couple of his children's books when I was little too, and was aware of his books for adults, but didn't start reading them until I was about 14 and found them in the school library. I think we were supposed to be reading and reviewing books for Year 8 English class — at any rate, I know our English teacher was encouraging us to read books of our choice in class once we'd finished whatever other work we were supposed to be doing. I just have a vivid memory of sitting at my table in the classroom reading If Only They Could Talk — Herriot's first book — and coming to a particularly brilliant episode early on. It's where, while James is new to the practice, Tristan keeps on trolling him (as we'd say nowadays) by phoning up and pretending to be an irascible farmer with some terrible veterinary problem at a really inconvenient time. Finally, after James and Tristan have attended a really difficult and messy case together, James manages to get his own back with a prank call that Tristan nearly falls for, just that one time. It's so funny, the way he tells it, that I still remember sitting in English class that day and struggling desperately not to crack up laughing!!

[Chrissie777]

Finally, after James and Tristan have attended a really difficult and messy case together, James manages to get his own back with a prank call that Tristan nearly falls for, just that one time. It's so funny, the way he tells it, that I still remember sitting in English class that day and struggling desperately not to crack up laughing!!

I think that was also part of the TV series. Really funny!

[Daisy]

I reread the whole series last year and enjoyed the stories as much as ever. I also very much enjoyed the TV series which led me to get the books at the time. Lovely stories written so well.

[Anita Bensoussane]

My sister and I read about half a dozen of the James Herriot books when we were in our teens. Like you, Courtenay, I struggled not to scream with laughter when reading certain episodes in a public place!

[Chrissie777]

I reread the whole series last year and enjoyed the stories as much as ever. I also very much enjoyed the TV series which led me to get the books at the time. Lovely stories written so well.

Same here, I watched the TV series in the early 1980's on German TV, then bought the books.

[Fiona1986]

I remember being very confused trying to work out the reading order as I'd just bought whatever I could find in charity shops. In the UK they were published in single volumes:

If Only They Could Talk,
It Shouldn't Happen to a Vet,
Let Sleeping Vets Lie,
Vet in Harness,
Vets Might Fly
and Vet in a Spin

In the US they were published with two per volume as
All Creatures Great and Small,
All Things Bright and Beautiful
and All Things Wise and Wonderful.

Then
The Lord God Made Them All
and Every Living Thing were the same in the UK and the US.

I started reading them in 2013 so it's probably time for a reread.

[Courtenay]

Since we've obviously got several fans here, perhaps these last several posts (from Floragord's on the 12th) could be made into a new James Herriot thread... do you think so, Anita?

'Tis done! - Anita

[Chrissie777]

...perhaps these last several posts (from Floragord's on the 12th) could be made into a new James Herriot thread... do you think so, Anita?

Great idea!
That way I could make Carol Drinkwater's books a little more known.

[Chrissie777]

I remember being very confused trying to work out the reading order as I'd just bought whatever I could find in charity shops. In the UK they were published in single volumes:
I started reading them in 2013 so it's probably time for a reread.

Fiona, here's the chronological order (please scroll down to "Published Works"):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Herriot" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;