Valerie Grove
His Family & Other Animals
The Durrells of Corfu
By Michael Haag
Profile Books 211pp £8.99
The Durrells was a hit series for ITV last year, happily filling the gap left on Sunday evenings by the end of Downton Abbey, presenting a real family, with its jokes, squabbles and obsessions. It boosted interest in the books of the Durrell family – mainly Gerald’s, since it was based on his Corfu Trilogy, the first volume of which, My Family and Other Animals, was published in 1956. Milo Parker, aged thirteen, played young Gerry, a collector of scorpions and frogs: ‘Leaf to bud, caterpillar to butterfly, tadpole to toad or frog, I was surrounded by miracles.’ A Greek actor played Spiro, the delightful taxi driver and fixer without whom the Durrells would have been quite lost.
The imminent second series, written, like the first, by Simon Nye, is as welcome as spring. Hence this book, a tie-in with the series. The author, Michael Haag, is acquainted with the family. He is currently writing a biography of Lawrence Durrell and has had access to autobiographical notes written
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm