Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: There is a lot of swearing, mostly hell and damn, as well as many religious exclamations. “Bloody” and “bugger” also used a handful of times. My dad, a rancher himself, always claimed that you can’t work with cattle without cussing. This appears to be the case in England as well.

Sexual Content: Some kissing

Adult Themes: Adults drink and become drunk. Adults drink and drive. As this is the story of a country vet, many animal procedures (births, castrations, and rectal exams to name a few) are described using all of the anatomically correct terms. Two brothers have a volatile relationship.

Synopsis

Freshly qualified as a veterinary surgeon, James Herriot secures a position in the rural English countryside as a veterinary assistant. Thrilled to have found employment when many of his colleagues are without work, he throws himself into the day-to-day grind of a country vet. He quickly realizes that real life applications are vastly different from what he learned in school, but he relishes in the beauty of the country and the wonder of life.

A man speaking to his veterinary class told them, “If you decide to become a veterinary surgeon you will never grow rich but you will have a life of endless interest and variety.” James realizes the truthfulness of this statement early in his career and his book is filled with the interest and variety he discovered in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. As engaging as the animals are, his observations of the hardy country folk are just as entertaining.

A truly enjoyable and charming book suitable for high school age and older.