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All Things Bright and Beautiful  By  cover art

All Things Bright and Beautiful

By: James Herriot
Narrated by: Christopher Timothy
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Publisher's summary

Find All Things Bright and Beautiful: The Warm and Joyful Memoirs of the World's Most Beloved Animal Doctor, read by Nicholas Ralph, star of the new PBS Masterpiece series, on Audible.

James Herriot has now become firmly established and accepted as one of Darrowby's veterinarians. He's also married, and lives with his wife Helen on the top floor of Skeldale House. His former boss, now partner, Siegfried, lives downstairs with Siegfried's brother Tristan.

Herriot continues the rich and rewarding day-to-day life of a small-town veterinarian, and we journey with him across the dales, meeting a whole new cast of unforgettable characters - humans, dogs, horses, lambs, parakeets - all of them drawn with the same infinite fascination, affection and insight that made James Herriot one of the most beloved authors of our time. And all the stories are warmly, evocatively told by the world-renowned "voice" of Dr. Herriot: Christopher Timothy.

©1973 by James Herriot (P)1996 by Audio Renaissance

What listeners say about All Things Bright and Beautiful

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Marred by background noise

Glorious story read by the very actor who brought James Harriot to life in the British series, how could anyone ask for more? How about a background free of indistinct chatter loud enough to be a significant distraction? The distracting verbage waxed and waned, and could only be ignored when I turned the volume down so soft that I then lost the nuances of Timothy's wonderful performance. I was disappointed to say the least. I do not recall hearing this noise on the CDs I borrowed from the library years ago, read by the same narrator. Is this a different edition, or just poor importing into the Audible data base?

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37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I love this book, but....

This is a wonderful book and I love Christopher Timothy as the narrator. However, my dissatisfaction does not come from the book or its contents but the quality of the recording. I can hear background talking, at times the narrator slows down so he has a bass voice and then picks up again. I thought maybe it was my Kindle but it only does it with this book, and that is both part 1 and part 2. I was not happy at all with the quality of workmanship at all. I wanted to buy the other two books, but I am leary now.

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Top of the Class

This is one of the best authors and readers I've read. Both are 5 out of 5. The subject matter here is not something I thought I would like. I was pleasantly fascinated by it. I enjoyed each listening session very much. I am very happy I experienced it. You really need to experience one of these books and then evaluate for yourself if the subject matter will keep you coming back. The book contains a number of experiences of a country vet in Scotland. Some of the stories will stay with me the rest of my life. I never got the feeling that this book was repetitive, but I can see how future books may become that way.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, sound needs to be remixed

i listen frequently thru my bluetooth headset and the constant hissing and faint background voices is very annoying. The audiobook publisher needs to fix this recording.

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

It only gets better when you read/listen Again!

Most true Herriot fan's will recall Christopher Timothy portraying James Herriot (the true-life Alf Wight) in the movies and series "All Creatures Great and Small". This, however, is a different experience. I found Timothy to be a bit harsher than I pictured Herriot on the series--even spoken as a devoted fan. In this audio format he does an amazing job on the unabridged version. His acting ability really shines here. His voices and accent range are amazing. If you need an escape and want to feel good, then go back to 1930's Yorkshire and re-live the early days of vet practice. Whether you are an animal lover or just need the relief of a book that will make you laugh and bring the beautiful moors to life, you'll never regret the James Herriot series. Christopher Timothy deserves an award for this one! Fantastic job!

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I LOVE the James Herriot books.... BUT...

I agree with other reviewers... the sound in this one is just not good. The music is inappropriate, often too loud and too much of it. The quality of sound overall is not as good as usual, so I can only hope that it all returns to "normal" with the next book. PLEASE

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love the book and narrator BUT...

I can't say enough good things about James Herriot's writing and Christopher Timothy's narration. If the rating were based on those two factors I'd give 10 stars if I could.
The BUT is the sound editing and engineering. Geeze Louise! If the mumbling voices in the background and the loud hissing weren't bad enough, someone thought adding fade out/fade in music to some of the chapter endings and some of the pauses in the text would improve the listening experience. Not. At. All. The music is poor quality, inappropriate to the action of the story and worst of all drowns out the dialogue. Horrible. If I could give the audio editing 10 Bronx Cheers, I would. Hard to understand how Audible could let this happen.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Love James Herriot's stories

Wonderful book and narration but horrible background noise. Sounds like the recording took place in a busy area and the background noise is really annoying!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

I love James Herriot

Having been a lover of animal stories for several years, I picked up a copy of one of Herriot's books at a thrift shop. Since then I have been hooked. Herriot's writing is terrific and his sense of humor is ageless. He has great insight into human nature and his ability to put that into words makes him a writer worth reading and/or listening to.

"All Things Bright and Beautiful" is definitely worth the listening time. I have been taking Mr. Herriot with me in the car when I am out driving. His stories are perfect for that. They are not so complicated that I can drive and easily listen, and also light-hearted, sometimes sad, and really entertaining.

The narrator of his books, Christopher Timothy, is also excellent. He has the ability to give Herriot, his friends and the local people of Daroby (sp?) perfect voices. I have in the past had trouble understanding British accents, but Timothy makes it easy.

I plan on listening to the entire series.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic British stories filled w/laughter & tears

Amazing stories of a pre-WWII animal doctor dealing with the country people deep in the English countryside. If you love animals, if you love unique interesting people and have a sense of humor you will love this book - narration is perfection.

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3 people found this helpful