It was a funny book -- quite a lot like Durrell's My Family and other Animals -- except this one was written when Durrell was married and possibly in his 50s. It provided an account of setting up of the Jersey Zoological Park in the UK and more specifically, how he acquired various animals and got them used to the life in a zoo. Many animals were apes and primates and expressive but many were also reptiles so unsocial. He mentioned that he had a particular liking for snakes and reptiles -- creatures that I find totally revolting! And still, Durrell managed to connect with his animals and had special characteristics or food preferences to relate about many. As also accounts of their sickness or breeding preference or some interesting or ghastly habit!His purpose of setting up the zoo was mainly animal conservation, that he'd breed rare animals and save them from extinction. So, it's natural that there would be many unusual animals in his collection: other than baboons, gorillas and snakes, I hadn't heard of many like Mastigure (reptile), Tapir (a dog like mammal), Fernand's Skinks (lizard), Coatimundis (also like dogs), Piccaries (pig like mammals), Binturong and more. There were many birds that I hadn't heard of either. In all the cases, he'd give them a human name and no matter how expensive, or how broke he was, he'd try to arrange a partner for each animal for company and for a 'semblance of romance' in the animal's life in the zoo. That was sweet.It was intriguing to find each chapter start with the beginning of a letter in italics--it'd be either from someone applying for a job or someone cursing. I didn't see any relation between the letter and that chapter but it'd reinforce the reality of Durrell's joys or travails. The book provided a cleansing of mind and simple laughter that I was seeking.
First published in 1964 so a much earlier book than The Aye-Aye And I. Unlike many of his previous books which chronicled his adventures 'collecting' animals Menagerie Manor deals with his Jersey zoo and its occupants. Overturning the stereotype of a zoo as a place of captivity in which animals are kept in appalling conditions, a zoo ahead of its time. Whilst for me this doesn't begin to compare with his earliest books it is still full of a wit and a wonderful attention to detail, made even better by the use of pen and ink illustrations, that readers of Durrell's books have come to expect.Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper.
Do You like book Menagerie Manor (2007)?
Durrell is a self-deprecating, kindly and often hilarious writer, whose love for animals shines throughout this book. The book is dated though. Would conscientious zoo owners now buy from disreputable animal dealers, or try and raise money on the sort of flying-by-the-seat-of-his-pants basis that he did? I also wondered about the size of the cages in his zoo and levels of stimulation provided for the animals. I felt he would have explored these issues were they important to him, but they were barely mentioned. All in all everything sounded a bit old fashioned. But then the book was written in 1964, and I think a lot of zoo practices have changed since then. In spite of my reservations, the warmth and humour of Durrell's writing make this a good read, and we get to meet some wonderful animals.
—Caroline
One day we were in the DC zoo and started talking with a dad at the kids playground. Turns out he and his wife are both veterinarians and his wife works for the zoo. We ended up discussing James Herriot and how much we love his books. Then he suggested books by Gerald Durrell. My husband and I were excited to give him a try. Unfortunately, we were both disappointed. Obviously we were expecting too much. I wanted the heart warming personality and personable anecdotes of Herriot. Durrell provides informative, sometimes interesting and humorous thoughts about animals. Maybe being a vet would help...
—Shenek
I decided to read this book because my dad had read another book from this series to me when i was young and i really enjoyed it. I have also read others of the series and thought this one would be just as good as the rest. This book covers my autobiography square on my bingo board. We have inherited an incredibly beautiful and complex garden, but the trouble is that we have been appallingly bad gardeners. I was learning the whole way through this book, it is filled with many different animal personalities and so i was learning the whole way through. Their were many different characters and personalities in this book, from Trumpy, the grey winged trumpeteer who meets every new animal that arrives to Leo the lion who wears buckets on his head.
—Matthew Kingston
