James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet
by Graham Lord (B H43551)
The last James Herriot biography
that I reviewed was by Herriot’s son, Jim Wight, and titled The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father. Prior to his
death, Alf Wight (otherwise known as James Herriot), told his son that he did
not plan to write his own autobiography and had turned down several offers from
publishers to have a detailed biography written. Alf told his son, Jimmy, that
if anyone were to write his biography, he would want it to be written by him —
the son who knew his father better than anyone. Jimmy left his job as a
veterinarian to commit to the project of writing his father’s biography
following Alf’s death in 1995. Prior to the release of that biography, another
one was written: James Herriot: The Life of a Country Vet, written
by journalist Graham Lord. Graham Lord wrote an excellent review of James
Herriot’s book for the London Sunday Express, which really helped to get
publicity for the book for an unknown author. Alf was so pleased by this that
he wrote a very nice thank you letter to Lord and for many years would give him
credit for jump-starting his career as a writer. I decided to read these books
simultaneously to see how they compare.
Graham Lord produced a marvelous
look at all aspects of the life of Alfred Wight in this biography using
meticulous research, scores of interviews with the people who knew him or his
family, and his own first-hand knowledge of the author during his years when he
was writing about his alter-ego, James Herriot. I found his research into old
school records from Alf’s earliest years in Glasgow all the way through his
college years to be exceptionally fascinating. Photographs of the schools
including Yoker Primary School and Hillhead High School along with photos of
classmates and school records are a nice addition to the research that Lord did
in looking at those early years. I was impressed that he was able to track down
classmates of Alf’s and get interviews with them so that the reader can see
what his life was like in Glasgow during that period before World War II.
One of the things that disturbed me
the most about Lord’s book is that he dwelt too much on the occupations of
Alf’s parents and worried too much about the discrepancies between listed
occupations for Jim and Hannah Wight and how they were described by Alf. Many
of those discrepancies could have been easily cleared up by asking Alf’s son
Jimmy which left me to wonder why he didn’t make the attempt. Also, he seemed
to think that Hannah lived “comfortably” on her own means without following up
to find out that Alf had been supporting her his entire life, buying his
parents’ house for them from his own limited income.
What I did enjoy about Lord’s
biography of James Herriot is that he included lots of information from each of
the publishers who published the books as well as information about the film
versions of Herriot’s life, followed closely by the marvelous BBC production of
“All Creatures Great and Small” starring Christopher Timothy and Robert Hardy.
The photos included of Yorkshire and the various locations used in the films
and television series were fun to see.
I was pleased that Graham Lord
mentioned at the end of his book that Jimmy had taken time off from working as
a vet to spend time working on his biography of his father. Having read both of
these at the same time, I would have to say that Jim Wright’s version is the
better of the two, but Lord’s book has more information about the old
television series if you are interested in reading
about that. If Alf were alive, I know which one he would suggest that you read
— the one written by the person who knew him best, working alongside him all
those years in Thirsk: his son, Jim Wight.
For those interested in the film
versions, the library owns the 1974 film with Simon Ward as James Herriot; also
the complete series of the television program starring Christopher Timothy as
James, and the newest television series starring Nicholas Ralph as the young
James Herriot. I just recently discovered that there is another series in the
United Kingdom called “The Yorkshire Vet” looking at the veterinary practice
started by James Herriot, currently run by one of his former assistants, Peter
Wright. Both of Alf Wight’s children, Jimmy and Rosie, are still living in
England.
(If you enjoy this, you may also
wish to try The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father by Jim Wight,
James Herriot’s Yorkshire by James Herriot or any of the
books or DVDs in the All Creatures Great and Small series by James Herriot.)
( publisher’s official James Herriot: Life of a Country Vet web page ) |
( Wikipedia entry for Graham Lord
)
Recommended
by Kim J.
Public Service — Bennett Martin Public Library
Have you read or listened to
this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?
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