Title: All Things Bright and Beautiful
Author: James Herroit
Why I Read This Book:
I loved the first book in the series, All Creatures Great and Small, and wanted to know what happened to the beloved characters I grew attached to. Sadly, our library only has the first and second book in the series. I also wanted to continue reading from the perspective of a veterinarian, as I’m interested in wildlife veterinary work as a career. In the first book, I learned about veterinary work from the point of view of a livestock and pet veterinarian who lived in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s.
What I Learned:
Just like the first book in this series, I was blown away by the admirable character traits of the author and protagonist, James Herroit. In dealing with challenging situations – and even more challenging characters – Herroit maintained poise, grace, and patience even while readers gained access to his thoughts of stress, frustration, and humiliation. Herroit was gifted in keeping his composure and it seemed that he understood the principle that he didn’t have to take how others treated him personally-that it wasn’t about him, but about the antagonist-like characters themselves. His boss, for example, protected his own faults onto Herroit and in response to that, our protagonist was able to let it go and the reader was able to laugh about it later. Herroit, as always, teaches me to show grace in confrontation, judgment, and frustration.
For the animal care aspect of this book, I was intrigued and amazed at the ways veterinarians had to get creative in healing sick and injured animals in that time period. Some of the tools they used were basic kitchen and farm objects. Some vets in the book used these props to perform wonders while other vets Herroit gained counsel and knowledge from used the latest technology and a pristine working environment with plenty of staff to assist. I learned the names of parasitic organisms and illnesses that I had never heard of, their effects on the animals, and how Herroit was able to cure them. Another thing I learned, through Herroit’s storytelling, was how sometimes in veterinary practice, happy accidents happen. Herroit had numerous occasions where he would use medication or anesthesia that had miraculous effects on the animals’ healing-and often in ways Herroit hadn’t expected. Trial and error, I’ve learned in this novel, is another aspect of veterinary practice, at least in this time period. It was fascinating to learn how vets were very limited in their resources, materials, and medications during the 30s and that the medications and procedures we have today weren’t around then, showing the reader the devastation and sad effects of not having them.
How Will Reading All Things Bright And Beautiful Contribute To My Success:
Gaining appreciation for the work ethic of livestock and pet veterinarians and for the medicines and procedures we now have available to us will benefit me, in the possibility of me working in the world of wildlife veterinary medicine or conservation.
The whole picture of each chapter and story within this novel paints a clear picture for me as an aspiring wildlife veterinarian/conservationalist as it shows the difficulties and struggles, heartaches and victories, and how one’s personal life is affected when working in this field.
In emotional, mental, and social aspects of my life, I know I can think of the protagonist and how he humbly carried himself through difficult situations and challenging people who didn’t make his job any easier.
I hope one day our library will receive the rest of the books in Herroit’s series so I may continue learning and seeing where the characters go in their live
