Editors Reads Verdict
A poignant conclusion to the Corfu trilogy, suffused with the knowledge that this paradise is about to be lost. Durrell's most elegiac and perhaps most beautiful volume.
What We Loved
- Emotionally resonant conclusion
- Richer in retrospective feeling
- Beautiful evocation of pre-war Corfu
Minor Drawbacks
- Shorter than the first two volumes
- Bittersweet tone may surprise readers expecting pure comedy
Key Takeaways
- → The end of an idyll
- → Nature as consolation for loss
- → Corfu as paradise before the war
| Author | Gerald Durrell |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Collins |
| Pages | 192 |
| Published | January 1, 1978 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Memoir, Nature Writing, Comedy |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Best For | Readers who have completed My Family and Other Animals and Birds, Beasts, and Relatives |
The Garden of the Gods is the final volume of Gerald Durrell’s Corfu trilogy, and it knows it. Written later and with greater retrospective feeling than its predecessors, the book is touched by elegy: this Corfu of the late 1930s is a paradise about to end, and Durrell writes with the knowledge of everything that was lost when war drove the family back to England.
The natural history remains central — new creatures, new observations, new friendships with the island’s farmers and fishermen. But the comedy is tinged now with a gentler feeling. The animals Durrell encounters seem more precious for being part of a world that will soon vanish. The family, too, is rendered with more tenderness than comic exasperation.
For readers who have followed the trilogy from its beginning, The Garden of the Gods provides a fitting and moving conclusion. It captures the moment just before everything changed — a summer that lasted years, on an island that seemed enchanted — and gives it the permanence that only writing can provide. It is Durrell’s most beautiful book, and his most affecting.
Reading Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "The Garden of the Gods" about?
The third and final volume of Gerald Durrell's Corfu trilogy, completing the story of the family's years on the Greek island before the outbreak of World War II drove them back to England.
Who should read "The Garden of the Gods"?
Readers who have completed My Family and Other Animals and Birds, Beasts, and Relatives
What are the key takeaways from "The Garden of the Gods"?
The end of an idyll Nature as consolation for loss Corfu as paradise before the war
Is "The Garden of the Gods" worth reading?
A poignant conclusion to the Corfu trilogy, suffused with the knowledge that this paradise is about to be lost. Durrell's most elegiac and perhaps most beautiful volume.
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