Nel 1983 la televisione inglese mando in onda "Il naturalista dilettante", una serie di 13 documentari girati sotto la supervisione di Durrell. Questo libro e la cronaca delle fortunose riprese, durate un anno, che portarono l'autore e la sua troupe dal Canada a Panama, dal Sudafrica alle isole Shetland. Durrell ricrea un suo piccolo, ricchissimo ecosistema itinerante in cui si fondono satira e zoologia, scienze e cabaret: uomini e bestie, colti nel loro ambiente naturale, sono infatti trasferiti in una vera "commedia animale" dove a tutti e riservata una nicchia. Ma Durrell non dimentica di istruire: insegna, per esempio, come girare un documentario e commentarlo con voce ferma a pochi passi da un rinoceronte innervosito.
The weather in England that summer had been so awful that Gerald's mother sold the family house and took her children to live on the Mediterranean island of Corfu. Between lessons, the ten-year-old Gerald was free to walk round the sunny island and discover the wonderful people and animals living there. This is the story of Gerald's adventures with the fascinating animals of Corfu, and, of course, with his surprising family and their friends
A new cover reprint of the classic account of Gerald Durrell's expedition to Mauritius to rescue various creatures from extinction, first published in 1977 and reissued in a foursome alongside the anthology THE BEST OF DURRELL, which was collected by Durrell's wife.
Victim of 'slash and burn' agriculture, the Aye-aye is threatened with extinction in its native Madagascar. Gerald Durrell and his wife, Lee, lead an expedition to the island to bring pairs of the endangered species into captivity and to start a breeding programme in their Jersey zoo. The Aye-aye and I is the tale of their hunt for the creature with the magical finger, but it is also the search for Giant jumping rats, Flat-tailed tortoises and Gentle lemurs. From one of the most fascinating islands in the world, this is a compelling story of ecological destruction and the hope that conservation engenders.
La galería de pintorescos personajes que pueblan sus páginas, el humor con que Gerald Durrell acierta a relatar los múltiples episodios y anécdotas que en ella se suceden, así como el amor y la sensibilidad con que el autor narra su descubrimiento de la naturaleza y describe los idílicos parajes de la isla griega que le da nombre, hacen de la lectura de los tres volúmenes que integran la Trilogía de Corfú una experiencia inolvidable. En Mi familia y otros animales, Bichos y demás parientes y El jardín de los dioses, Durrell recreó de forma inimitable una infancia y adolescencia envidiables, gobernadas por el campo y el mar como única escuela.
Tras un recorrido de 72.000 kilómetros y seis meses de duración, GERALD DURRELL reúne en este libro las aventuras y observaciones de su VIAJE A AUSTRALIA, NUEVA ZELANDA Y MALASIA. Al hilo de la exposición de los desastrosos efectos de la intervención humana sobre el equilibrio ecológico, alterado por la agricultura, la tala de bosques, la caza y la minería, el gran naturalista nos presenta el tuátera (superviviente de un reptil prehistórico y dotado de un ojo pineal), el vuelvepiedras de Nueva Zelanda, el koala, el ornitorrinco, el rinoceronte de Sumatra, el mítico dragón volador y la tortuga laúd, y relata las divertidas peripecias e imprevistas incidencias que salpicaron su largo viaje.
My Family and Other Animals is the bewitching account of a rare and magical childhood on the island of Corfu by treasured British conservationist Gerald Durrell, beautifully repackaged in hardcover for the book's 60th anniversary.Escaping the ills of the British climate, the Durrell family - acne-ridden Margo, gun-toting Leslie, bookworm Lawrence and budding naturalist Gerry, along with their long-suffering mother and Roger the dog - take off for the island of Corfu.But the Durrells find that, reluctantly, they must share their various villas with a menagerie of local fauna - among them scorpions, geckos, toads, bats and butterflies.Recounted with immense humour and charm My Family and Other Animals is a wonderful account of a rare, magical childhood.
My Family and Other Animals is the bewitching account of a rare and magical childhood on the island of Corfu by treasured British conservationist Gerald Durrell. This tv tie in edition coincides with ITV's six part television series The Durrells. Escaping the ills of the British climate, the Durrell family - acne-ridden Margo, gun-toting Leslie, bookworm Lawrence and budding naturalist Gerry, along with their long-suffering mother and Roger the dog - take off for the island of Corfu. But the Durrells find that, reluctantly, they must share their various villas with a menagerie of local fauna - among them scorpions, geckos, toads, bats and butterflies. Recounted with immense humour and charm My Family and Other Animals is a wonderful account of a rare, magical childhood. "Durrell has an uncanny knack of discovering human as well as animal eccentricities." (Sunday Telegraph). "A bewitching book." (Sunday Times).
El original estilo de Gerald Durrell, que combina el retrato de gentes y lugares, la autobiografía y el relato humorístico, explica el gran éxito obtenido desde el día de su publicación por Mi familia y otros animales, que presenta una agil y graciosa galeria de personajes: Larry el futuro autor del Cuarteto de Alejandria y sus estrafalarias amistades, mama Durrell y su inagotable sentido comun, Spiro el corfuano angloparlante y toda una serie de animales retratados como solo puede hacerlo quien a lo largo de toda una vida los ha tratado con inteligencia y ternura.
