Book 92: All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot

All Creatures Great and Small is an omnibus, and I'm pretty sure I've read at least some of what it contains in the past. I recall reading Herriot whilst staying at my grandparents' house, feeling ever so slightly naughty because I just took the books from the shelves and read them without asking anybody. As a child I rather enjoyed them, and reading Herriot now I find the tales of life as a veterinary surgeon in the Yorkshire Dales quite pleasant. The stories, taken from real life, are gently entertaining and sometimes amusing. The young vet has to deal with tricky medical situations, know-it-all farmers and eccentric old ladies with preposterously pampered pets. But even more frustrating than these is the tendency of Siegfried, Herriot's forceful yet likeable boss, to give persistently conflicting (and always exasperatingly patient) advice. Whilst I won't be rushing out to acquire yet more tomes by the same author, I did enjoy this volume (which, at two-and-a-half books in one, took quite a while to read).