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The Whispering Land
by Gerald Durrell (Illustrator: Ralph Thompson)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (1975-09-30)
ISBN: 0140020837
EAN: 9780140020830
Dewey Decimal #: 590
Binding/Media: Paperback - 224 pages
SKU: P0084-1982-2645
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: Publisher: Penguin Books 1974, reprint 1982. Tight spine, lightly tanned but clean pages, clean edges; excellent PB copy. Cover as shown.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Fans of Gerard Durrell’s beloved classic My Family and Other Animals and other accounts of his lifelong fascination with members of the animal kingdom will rejoice at The Whispering Land. The sequel to A Zoo in My Luggage, this is the story of how Durrell and his wife’s zoo-building efforts at England’s Jersey Zoo led them and a team of helpers on an eight- month safari in Argentina to look for South American specimens. Through windswept Patagonian shores and tropical forests in Argentina, from ocelots to penguins, fur seals to parrots, Durrell captures the landscape and its inhabitants with his signature charm and humor.
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Customer Reviews
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Gerald Durrel a man who is greatly missed.
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-09-16
If you like animals, the environment and laughing out loud...this book (as al of Durrel's books are) should not be missed!
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Hunting for Wild Times (and Animals) in Argentina
Rating (5)
Date: 2006-07-09
6 out of 6 customers found this reveiw helpful
Gerald Durrell will make you roar with laughter even in a whispering land. The fact that this book is still in print after half a century gives you some idea that it is still quite readable: In fact, it reads as if it were written yesterday.
I devoured this book as part of a reading program I planned for myself for a trip to Patagonia. The first half of the book is set in two areas in Patagonia that I planned to visit: Puerto Deseado in the south, once visited by Darwin on his circumnavigation of the earth on the Beagle, and the large wildlife preserve at Peninsula Valdez, near Puerto Madryn. There, Durrell visited penguin rookeries; saw the breeding grounds of sea lions and elephant seals; and saw guanacos, Geoffroy's cats, rheas, and tinamous.
From Patagonia, Durrell went to the area around Jujuy in the tropical northwest of Argentina. There, he went into collecting mode as he employed locals to track down wild animals that were being kept as pets by the indigenous population.
Durrell's encounters with the local people are funny and at times heart-wrenching, as when he finds a self-taught naturalist named Coco who must work at a sawmill to make ends meet. But Durrell's encounters with animals are utterly hilarious, as his attempts to tame a captured Geoffroy's cat (gato montes).
One of the best chapters relates to the difficulties that Durrell has in exporting his animals and getting all his bureaucratic ducks in a row. His final departure on a ship bound to Europe is held up until a last minute solution satisfies a particularly mule-headed customs official.
I enjoyed this book so much that I plan to read several more of Durrell's works soon. It is hard to believe that the author is the brother of novelist Lawrence Durrell, author of THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET.
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a great book by one of the best zoologist authors ever
Rating (5)
Date: 2003-07-11
10 out of 10 customers found this reveiw helpful
A charming little book about an animal collecting trip in South America. Durrell paints both an enchanting picture both of the Argentine people and of the flora and fauna of the country. He encounters vampire bats, a puma, and many birds. He rescues an ocelot from a cruel local owner who is starving the cat and convinces a baby Geoffrey's cat to eat by pairing it with a lovable tabby kitten who sets the example and provides it with company. Durrell was one of the first naturalists to develop the notion of captive breeding to ensure the survival of endangered species. He obviously cares deeply about the animals that he collects and goes to extra ordinary lengths to make them happy and keep them healthy. His descriptions of caring for a sick taper, even sleeping beside her to comfort her, are delightful. His wrangle with custom's officials are amusing, and his description of a plain trip in Argentina is particularly hilarious. Also, Durrell's tireless work and observations were sometimes the first and best studies into how to care for these animals in captivity. When possible, he takes his specimens from private owners, rather than taking them from the wild. People like Durrell were not responsible for the endangerment of these animals. He worked for the salvation of many species and was probably responsible for the continued survival of some today.
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Beautiful
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-02-21
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
Even for a person with an insufferably short attention span, I was not once bored during this book. It's not a thriller, or anything of the sort, but it managed to truly involve the reader in the author's journey.
The story of an Englishman who is on a trip through Patagonia to collect animals for his own private zoo, this book manages to bring out the animal lover in any reader. The descriptions of the land, the people, and the animals are beautifully crafted in well done, straight forward prose. I highly recommend it.
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Beautiful
Rating (5)
Date: 2002-02-21
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
Even for a person with an insufferably short attention span, I was not once bored during this book. It's not a thriller, or anything of the sort, but it managed to truly involve the reader in the author's journey.
The story of an Englishman who is on a trip through Patagonia to collect animals for his own private zoo, this book manages to bring out the animal lover in any reader. The descriptions of the land, the people, and the animals are beautifully crafted in well done, straight forward prose. I highly recommend it.
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