Perspective

The perspective of these stories is that of an outsider to Yorkshire County who quickly comes to know and love the people and their animals. Herriot's natural distance from his subjects, which befits a medical practitioner, permits him to see many humorous and tragic situations that might not be so apparent to people who'd spent their entire lives in Darrowby. His perspective is at once objective and subjective, since his warmth for the subjects he writes about is apparent. Herriot accords the subjects of his stories the same respect that he would show toward his animal patients. The humorous or merely bizarre episodes recounted in the book are truly shared in a spirit of "laughing with" rather than "laughing at" the actors.

The author's extensive and accurate transcription of the Yorkshire dialect makes the stories come alive, although some readers may have to ponder over that speech a...