James Herriot is the pen name of James Alfred Wight, OBE, FRCVS also known as Alf Wight, an English veterinary surgeon and writer. Wight is best known for his semi-autobiographical stories, often referred to collectively as All Creatures Great and Small, a title used in some editions and in film and television adaptations.
In 1939, at the age of 23, he qualified as a veterinary surgeon with Glasgow Veterinary College. In January 1940, he took a brief job at a veterinary practice in Sunderland, but moved in July to work in a rural practice based in the town of Thirsk, Yorkshire, close to the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. The original practice is now a museum, "The World of James Herriot".
Wight intended for years to write a book, but with most of his time consumed by veterinary practice and family, his writing ambition went nowhere. Challenged by his wife, in 1966 (at the age of 50), he began writing. In 1969 Wight wrote If Only They Could Talk, the first of the now-famous series based on his life working as a vet and his training in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Owing in part to professional etiquette which at that time frowned on veterinary surgeons and other professionals from advertising their services, he took a pen name, choosing "James Herriot". If Only They Could Talk was published in the United Kingdom in 1970 by Michael Joseph Ltd, but sales were slow until Thomas McCormack, of St. Martin's Press in New York City, received a copy and arranged to have the first two books published as a single volume in the United States. The resulting book, titled All Creatures Great and Small, was an overnight success, spawning numerous sequels, movies, and a successful television adaptation.
In his books, Wight calls the town where he lives and works Darrowby, which he based largely on the towns of Thirsk and Sowerby. He also renamed Donald Sinclair and his brother Brian Sinclair as Siegfried and Tristan Farnon, respectively. Wight's books are only partially autobiographical. Many of the stories are only loosely based on real events or people, and thus can be considered primarily fiction.
The Herriot books are often described as "animal stories" (Wight himself was known to refer to them as his "little cat-and-dog stories"), and given that they are about the life of a country veterinarian, animals certainly play a significant role in most of the stories. Yet animals play a lesser, sometimes even a negligible role in many of Wight's tales: the overall theme of his stories is Yorkshire country life, with its people and their animals primary elements that provide its distinct character. Further, it is Wight's shrewd observations of persons, animals, and their close inter-relationship, which give his writing much of its savour. Wight was just as interested in their owners as he was in his patients, and his writing is, at root, an amiable but keen comment on the human condition. The Yorkshire animals provide the element of pain and drama; the role of their owners is to feel and express joy, sadness, sometimes triumph. The animal characters also prevent Wight's stories from becoming twee or melodramatic — animals, unlike some humans, do not pretend to be ailing, nor have they imaginary complaints and needless fears. Their ill-health is real, not the result of flaws in their character which they avoid mending. In an age of social uncertainties, when there seem to be no remedies for anything, Wight's stories of resolute grappling with mysterious bacterial foes or severe injuries have an almost heroic quality, giving the reader a sense of assurance, even hope. Best of all, James Herriot has an abundant humour about himself and his difficulties. He never feels superior to any living thing, and is ever eager to learn — about animal doctoring, and about his fellow human creature.
The classic multimillion copy bestseller
Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world's most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients.
For over forty years, generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.
In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. Some visits are heart-wrenchingly difficult, such as one to an old man in the village whose very ill dog is his only friend and companion, some are lighthearted and fun, such as Herriot's periodic visits to the overfed and pampered Pekinese Tricki Woo who throws parties and has his own stationery, and yet others are inspirational and enlightening, such as Herriot's recollections of poor farmers who will scrape their meager earnings together to be able to get proper care for their working animals. From seeing to his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest homesteads to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth.
James Herriot's memoirs have sold 80 million copies worldwide, and continue to delight and entertain readers of all ages
粤若稽古能驭动物者,始自轩辕,他驱熊罴与神农氏战于阪泉之野,待擒蚩尤、封众山、得宝鼎、举多贤,已而播百草,看似万事具备,但是直到他淳化鸟兽虫蛾之后,方说他有土德之瑞,乃可称黄帝。可见即使在初民眼中,鸟兽之化对于圣人之德,还是不可缺的啊。 英人吉米哈利对于动...
评分整个中学我的理想都是当一名兽医,所以物理奇差的我,为了实现这个理想,依然咬咬牙选择了理科。并且在高考时全部的志愿都选择了农校、兽医专业。可惜阴差阳错,天意弄人,结果是去了农校,却当了植物医生——进了植保系,而毕业后从事的工作更是离自己的愿望十万八千...
评分RT。所以一个兽医也完全能成为最优秀的作家! 求证过了,《万物既伟大又渺小》是万物系列的第一部。 这一部中,讲述了吉米·哈利如何如何到达德禄镇,又如何幸运而莫名其妙的得到了工作,接下来又如何开始了他充满惊奇、郁闷、委屈,然而终归于欢乐、感恩的乡间工作——应该是...
评分不难发现,《万物既伟大又渺小》是《万物有灵且美》的姊妹篇,书名异曲同工,封面都很淡雅,里面还是人和兽之间的灵犀种种,而作者还是英国兽医作家吉米·哈利。 目光移至书外,注意到作家本人的经历亦有意思。他获颁大英帝国勋章并谒见女王,荣誉财富接踵而至,但是吉米·哈...
评分这是一本妙趣横生,让人常常捧腹大笑,朴实动人,有时让人为之含泪的书。由一位行医几十年之心和手沉淀自身经历而写就的书。 书中记叙了主人公由五年兽医毕业觅得乡村兽医助手一职而踏上兽医行列之途。一切的一切,就像我们现在的生活一样五味俱全。 毕业求职的...
非常适合跑步的时候边听边跑。让人心情舒畅的一本书。
评分当兽医的都应该看看
评分非常适合跑步的时候边听边跑。让人心情舒畅的一本书。
评分啊对主义啊思想啊新闻啊城市生活啊失望以后,还可以读这么美好的书!
评分真好。含蓄幽默,有大爱。让人想起也是痴爱动物的《My Family and Other Animals》。艰苦的生活和乐观的态度又有点像李娟的调子。当然Herriot是位真正的绅士,他的文自有一种稳重和自得。
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