The Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell - Paperback

Really good book. Set in Corfu in the 1930’s, it’s a recounted version of a young boy who is big into nature growing up in Corfu with his eccentric but unified family unit. A tale set in a now bygone era of innocence; where people are friendly to neighbours and visitors alike. It’s filled with funny tales and stories of events, characters and visitors, both human and animal, although there are aspects of his childhood that he has “artistically” left out (such as the real reasons why they moved to Corfu to start with, the fact Larry lived in a separate house with his other half Nancy and several other important characters omitted from the book). But this adds to the idyllic, warm feel to the book. Buying the trilogy is good as you get all three Durrell books set in Corfu at once, rather than buying separately 3 times. Plenty of laugh out loud moments. Nothing to serious and very light hearted. A must for anyone who reads books to escape from their seemingly mundane, boring (UK) lives.

I am still reading this most enjoyable trilogy of Gerald Durrell's. I am half way through the whole book, I am a slow reader, & have found it very descriptive & enjoyable so far. Gerald's insight & descriptiveness of things is very charming & helpful. Bearing in mind that, initially, while he was only 8 years old, his curiosity did get the better of him. So far, & I cannot see why it should not be. a most enjoyable 700+ pages of memories. A good buy in this format.

I had read a couple of his books years ago without knowing much about his family. The tv series got me reading again just to see how faithful to the truth the series had been. In reality, there is a lot of variation in his own versions/stories of his family life so I decided just to sit back and enjoy. Light, fun 'take it with a pinch of salt' reading. Ideal for holiday or garden reading.

I remembered loving these stories as a young teenager, so was enchanted to read them again - and I enjoyed them even more (now in my fifties!). Durrell has to be one of the very best descriptive prose writers, bringing the pre-war island of Corfu to life on the page, and the hilarious touches of humour as we meet local people and his remarkable family literally make you laugh out loud. This trilogy is a lovely publication as well, with clear easy-to-read print. Buy it and enjoy. Sadly Durrell's later writing deteriorated and this is the best of his early work - for a fascinating biography of a very complex man, read Douglas Botting's.

Absolutely brilliant book, especially for anyone having been watching The Durrells since it first came on TV, it is quite unputdownable and Gerry is a really funny writer, he is very descriptive of his family and has got them all summed up in his mind and puts it all down on paper in a superb way, you feel you know them allThe way he describes all the animals, insects, people he meets is second to none