Book Description
With more than two hundred editions, Gilbert White's The Natural History of Selborne is one of the most published books in the English language. An environmental study of the eighteenth-century Hampshire parish where White was born and later served as curate, the book is distinguished by the author's meticulous observations of plant and animal life--the "minute particulars"--and his uncanny sense of their interdependence. His book is both the definitive expression of the English love for countryside and a cornerstone of all environmental writing.

In this Whitbread Prize-winning biography, Richard Mabey--whom the Times has called "Britain's foremost nature writer"--looks at the life from which the celebrated work grew. This is not an easy task. Although White's findings did not go unnoticed in his own time (much of the Selborne book's contents are in fact letters to Thomas Pennant, one of the era's leading zoologists), relatively little is known about this minor clergyman, who made twenty pounds a year and rarely ventured outside his parish. Mabey visits not only the public and private records but the environs of Selborne, which survive to this day and are remarkably unchanged. A portrait of exceptional detail emerges, and we begin to see very clearly this singular man whose superb scientific eye was complemented by a patient curiosity (he valued observing over collecting) and an emotional investment in his work that still speaks to us. White typifies the eclectic but intense engagement that has nearly vanished in our era of scientific specialization. We recognize in his work a crucial shift in the human perception of nature--as something benign rather than as an adversary.

The first U.S. edition of this classic biography coincides with a new BBC documentary on Gilbert White, for which Mabey is a featured commentator. These are only the latest reminders of the fascination White's book has exercised upon readers for two centuries. ... Read more

Book Description
Exploring the natural history of a tortoise by adopting its own sensibility, "Timothy" is the story of a creature whose real life was observed by the 18th-century curate Gilbert White, author of "The Natural history of Senborne." Unabridged. 4 CDs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

From difficult start to fan
I have enjoyed other writings of Klinkenborg - appreciated their direct style with carefully chosen words and well-formed thoughts.As I began Timothy; or, Notes of an Abject Reptile a found the short and often fragmentary sentences slowed my reading.As I progressed I was further slowed by unfamiliar vocabulary - huckaback, shambles, scute, taw ...Then I discovered the glossary in the back which provides a definition when context is insufficient.

As I delved further into the book my complaints turned to admiration.Klingborg's fragmentary sentence structure fits perfectly into the very concrete thought patterns he attributes to Timothy the tortoise.While Timothy may be philosophical at times it is a philosophy of life firmly planted in the natural world not the abstract philosophy of humans.The vocabulary is necessary to embed the story in a particular place and time - a critical aspect of Timothy's world.

Wisely, Klinkenborg does not carry the conceit of narration by a tortoise to the extreme.Timothy reports and/or comments on more that she would have actually been in a position to observe - most notably the travels of her owner's nephew, Gilbert White's observations re: sex and instinct in the "natural kingdom" (which, naturally, excludes humanity).But in these observations, Timothy quietly exposes the foibles of man.

Combining these elements, Klinkenborg creates a story that not only holds your attention but also requires introspection of the reader - what is the reader's (and Timothy's) place in the world?

5 stars plus!
Timothy is a tortoise. She understands and speaks English---albeit in incomplete sentences. She knows some geography. She knows the thoughts, the worries and beliefs of the inhabitants of 18th century Selborne, England. She knows what goes on in their churches and their homes, even though she has presumably never entered any. She knows what takes place in winters, even though she has hibernated through every one.

Never mind!

Suspend your disbelief. Accept that Timothy is omniscient. Enjoy her descriptions and commentary. It reads like poetry, with lots of witty bits and little jabs at the absurdity of humans. It had me laughing out loud at times.

On Easter: " 'The lamb who was slain now liveth again,' he [Mr. Gilbert White] believes. And so he says aloud to his parishioners. Though on this earth, the lamb who is slain is supper."

This book is a rare treat, so read it slowly. There's a glossary in the back to help with the names of local areas, the obsolete and botanical terms.

BTW, The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White, which inspired this book, is available to download at Project Gutenberg [...]. A search for "tortoise" points to several letters that mention an unnamed, old Sussex tortoise.

At a Snail's Pace
I plodded at a tortoiselike pace through this tedious, monotonous work of fiction that sluggishly shares the assumed thoughts of a snobbish tortoise. Yes, yes. I get it. Klinkenborg deliberately paced his novel to evoke the slow-creeping crawl of Timothy, but, like this book, a dozing tortoise seldom holds my interest.

The Observer observed
In Timothy, Verlyn Klinkenborg gives voice to a tortoise. The real Timothy was a Mediterranean tortoise who found herself transported to England, where she was kept and observed by the late eighteenth-century curate and "pioneering naturalist," Gilbert White. But step by step and sentence by sentence, it is Timothy who explores the mind of her observer and assembles for us a portrait of Selborne village, Gilbert White, and her own views (or are they Klinkenborg's?) on life, adaptability, and nature. Timothy is a beautiful and deceptively nuanced book.

Unique and unforgettable!
I picked up this book because I'd read a review that compared it to GILEAD, one of my favorite novels of the past 10 years.While the stories are wildly different, the comparison is a good one.Both novels are meant to be read slowly, and will evoke deep emotions about life and humanity.

Timothy the tortoise is about as unlikely a narrator as there is.Snatched from his Mediterranean birthplace, he winds up in the garden of Rev. Gilbert White, whose meticulous diaries about his 18th century parish still exist today.Timothy's reflections on the humans around him and on the cycles of life in the village are informed by his slowness, of course, and by his extraordinary longevity (tortoises often live 80 years or more, significantly longer than the humans of White's day).The novel's appreciation of the intricacies of nature, the beauty of the seasons and the value of slowness are meant to be savored, and his reflections on humans and their follies come as sly and often moving little revelations scattered throughout the novel.

There's something to appreciate on every page of this short and lyrically written novel.I enjoyed it while sitting in my garden, like Timothy.It's one of the most memorable and unusual novels I've ever read.You won't be disappointed by taking a chance on this one.



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