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A review by hayleybeale
The Wonderful World of James Herriot by James Herriot
3.0
As a rebellious youth, I disdained the James Herriot books and original TV series but now, in my waning middle age, I find myself sinking happily into the new TV series. Consequently, I thought an audiobook trip to the original Darrowby would be right up my street and it sort of was in a cozy way. However, I was expecting it to be a ‘best of’ and it turned out to be more of a series of anecdotes from the books strung together by a narrator. This format is fine for an audiobook, but I'm not sure how well it would work on the page.
After an introduction, read a tad woodenly by Rosie, the daughter of Alf Wight (aka James Herriot), we go into a series of themed chapters in which a narrator (Anna Madeley/Mrs Hall) links together excerpts from the books read by Nicholas Ralph, who plays James in the PBS show. Both actors do a terrific job of bringing the material to life. The tales are warmly humorous and, as promised in the subtitle, quite charming, and successfully take us back into the world of rural Yorkshire in the middle of the last century.
It was a pleasant and nostalgic listen and though there’s nothing particularly challenging or demanding, that’s almost certainly not what we’re here for.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the audiobook review copy.
After an introduction, read a tad woodenly by Rosie, the daughter of Alf Wight (aka James Herriot), we go into a series of themed chapters in which a narrator (Anna Madeley/Mrs Hall) links together excerpts from the books read by Nicholas Ralph, who plays James in the PBS show. Both actors do a terrific job of bringing the material to life. The tales are warmly humorous and, as promised in the subtitle, quite charming, and successfully take us back into the world of rural Yorkshire in the middle of the last century.
It was a pleasant and nostalgic listen and though there’s nothing particularly challenging or demanding, that’s almost certainly not what we’re here for.
Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the audiobook review copy.