Summary of James Herriot's All Things Wise and Wonderful

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 I was in London with the other airmen, doing PT, when we were told to run around the park. I was shocked at how quickly I was getting tired. It was not far now, the corporal said, but it felt like it.

#2 I was billeted in a block of flats in St. John’s Wood. I was used to syringes, but the sight of them was too much for many of my friends. We ate in the London Zoo and marched endlessly.

#3 The author was called to cleanse a cow on the farm, and when he returned, he found that the cow had been taken away. Blossom was a classical example of an old bovine with jutting pelvic bones, splayed feet, and horns with a multitude of rings along their curving length.

#4 The farmer and I finished the cleaning process, and as we were about to leave, I heard the clip-clop of a cow’s feet. It was Blossom, moving at a brisk trot, great udder swinging, eyes fixed purposefully on the open door behind us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669357520

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

I was in London with the other airmen, doing PT, when we were told to run around the park. I was shocked at how quickly I was getting tired. It was not far now, the corporal said, but it felt like it.

#2

I was billeted in a block of flats in St. John’s Wood. I was used to syringes, but the sight of them was too much for many of my friends. We ate in the London Zoo and marched endlessly.

#3

The author was called to cleanse a cow on the farm, and when he returned, he found that the cow had been taken away. Blossom was a classical example of an old bovine with jutting pelvic bones, splayed feet, and horns with a multitude of rings along their curving length.

#4

The farmer and I finished the cleaning process, and as we were about to leave, I heard the clip-clop of a cow’s feet. It was Blossom, moving at a brisk trot, great udder swinging, eyes fixed purposefully on the open door behind us.

#5

I had to lie down after the second lap. The human body can withstand a lot, but not much more. I was disbelief as the iron gates appeared once more under their sooty branches.

#6

I was pushed into the air by the soldiers, and as I flew through the air I could feel my chest explode with pain. I wanted to go home, just like the soldiers.

Insights from Chapter 2

#1

The fog was thick and yellow, metallic on the tongue. It was the worst part of the morning for me, when my morale was low and thoughts of home rose painfully. I had to walk to breakfast with the other doctors, and I hated it.

#2

The author was working on a farm, and while watching the herd being driven to the crush, he noticed that the farmers, even the aristocracy, seemed to share the same carefree attitude to time.

#3

The crush was rebuilt and a steel bar was placed across the opening to prevent further escapes. The first cow to encounter the bar stood quietly, and I was able to clip her hair. The whole test was a vast improvement on last time, and we were finished within an hour and a half.

#4

When I saw my client Lord Hulton the next morning, he had something strange hanging from his pig’s bottom aperture. It was a long red thing, and I had to try and put it back. But I hated turning out even more since my marriage.

#5

The author tried to push the pig back through the hole, but it was too large. He then had to tell his client that the sow would have to be slaughtered.

#6

The ordeal was finally over. I had managed to roll the pig over on its back, and as I had feared, it had begun to shrink. I had sutured both uterine cornua, and Lord Hulton had been there to help me.

#7

The author washes and dresses himself after the surgery, and then sits down to eat with his patient. He is amazed by the deliciousness of the food, and how grateful his patient is. He applies some of the Propamidine cream to his patient’s stitches, and they are almost painless.

#8

The old feeling began to bubble in me as I thought about the pig.