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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Cannot wait to read this before the movie comes out in January!! ❤️
Yes there is some racial language found in this delightful story of a doctor who can talk with animals. But keeping in mind this was written in 1920 it is the perfect book to educate our children on how far or how little we've come since then.
My one star is for this 1948 reprint of the original version--I will next look for a heavily revised edition--because it is at least 50 percent unreadable for its strong racism, colonialism, and, to a much lesser degree, sexism. I grew up on this very copy of the book and was delighted by it, but for sure I didn't read it to my own children and probably hadn't read it myself since I was 7 or 8. Wow. It's a shame, because I love the idea of a doctor who can talk to animals and be helped by them. I'm about to borrow a current edition from the library, and I hope someone has managed to salvage something good from this. Glad I re-read it before reading it to my grandchildren.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Okay, what I just heard last night (which, I suspect, is just the beginning of the bad) plus a number of the reviews I just read below make me VERY unhappy. For example, Janet's review below says, "all of the Doctor Doolittle books have a racist quality, but it is never malicious, and reflects an attitude typical of England when the books were written." Also the people who say they are making it all better by simply skipping over the "highly racial epithets" (Christina, the word you are looking for here is RACIST, not racial, but I'm not just talking about you).
The mind, it boggles.
I don't remember owning this book, but I know I read it more than once growing up and enjoyed it. Now, listening to it at night as I go to sleep (thanks to Librivox.org's efforts), I am so distracted by the racism that I don't think I can get anything out of this anymore. It's a shame, because there are a lot of great ideas in the book, and I remember enjoying the adventure, but the price is way too high.
It is amazing to me that people can actually think that they are not reproducing racism and instilling racist attitudes in their children while counting this as good reading material.
The mind, it boggles.
I don't remember owning this book, but I know I read it more than once growing up and enjoyed it. Now, listening to it at night as I go to sleep (thanks to Librivox.org's efforts), I am so distracted by the racism that I don't think I can get anything out of this anymore. It's a shame, because there are a lot of great ideas in the book, and I remember enjoying the adventure, but the price is way too high.
It is amazing to me that people can actually think that they are not reproducing racism and instilling racist attitudes in their children while counting this as good reading material.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
It wasn't as enchanting as I remember from my childhood but still very good. It was fun to read it with my kids!
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
There is a new version of this book where they edited out the blatant racism with a careful explanation. The version I listened to on LibriVox was ofc the original version, which I didn’t realise until it was too late.
The general idea of the book is fine, I thought the doctor didn’t really have much personality and his ability to talk to animals was taught by Polly. I can see why people back then loved it and some people today still do, although I wouldn’t recommend the original to anyone.
All that said, this one wasn’t for me.
The general idea of the book is fine, I thought the doctor didn’t really have much personality and his ability to talk to animals was taught by Polly. I can see why people back then loved it and some people today still do, although I wouldn’t recommend the original to anyone.
All that said, this one wasn’t for me.
I have to say I was a little surprised to see this was a children's book. I don't know why, not that it mattered in the end. I didn't even know it was a book until recently so I was just pleased to find it at all. This was such a delightful little book to read, and it didn't take me very long at all. And what was wonderful, and I know it isn't always best to say this in a book review, but I really liked how close the movie adaption was aside from the slight tweaking. But all the favourites are in the book such as Polynesia and Chee Chee, crazy sister Sarah and even the horse that needs glasses. It is quite simply written, very straightforward but it was a nice change to see something so clear, abrupt even, and laid out simply. No fluffy language or long scenes to cloud the events and facts. Whether this is too much thought into a simply children's classic I don't know, but it was certainly not what I expected, but it was not a disappointment either. It has definitely made me want to discover what other timeless movies have derived from the simplest and forgotten books out there.