Book Talk Discussion thread

[chitowngirl]

All Creatures Great and Small; All Things Wise and Wonderful; All Things Bright and Beautiful; The Lord God Made Them All, etc. Discuss them all here!

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Such a wonderful song.

[peacheslatour]

1. Poor James and Helen. Oscar turns out to be quite the cat about town but then his real owner comes forward. He belongs to a family with lots of kids who all adore him and they have to give him back. It just about killed both of the Herriots.

[Daff]

15 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

1. Poor James and Helen. Oscar turns out to be quite the cat about town but then his real owner comes forward. He belongs to a family with lots of kids who all adore him and they have to give him back. It just about killed both of the Herriots.

Maybe in this version Oscar can stick around. I’d like that because he really is a beautiful cat with such a sweet face.

[peacheslatour]

Just now, Daff said:

Maybe in this version Oscar can stick around. I’d like that because he really is a beautiful cat with such a sweet face.

That would be nice but I've just about had it with the way they treat the books as mere suggestions.

[libgirl2]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

1. Poor James and Helen. Oscar turns out to be quite the cat about town but then his real owner comes forward. He belongs to a family with lots of kids who all adore him and they have to give him back. It just about killed both of the Herriots.

At least he is going back to his family.

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, libgirl2 said:

At least he is going back to his family.

And he's still a cat about town He never misses a gathering!

[magdalene]

On 2/6/2024 at 8:41 AM, peacheslatour said:

1. Poor James and Helen. Oscar turns out to be quite the cat about town but then his real owner comes forward. He belongs to a family with lots of kids who all adore him and they have to give him back. It just about killed both of the Herriots.

I hope they change that. First of all those kids obviously didn't take good care of the cat since it was found severely injured and half dead. And  I don't want poor Helen to suffer on top of James leaving her to become a glorious RAF pilot. 

[peacheslatour]

5 hours ago, magdalene said:

I hope they change that. First of all those kids obviously didn't take good care of the cat since it was found severely injured and half dead. And  I don't want poor Helen to suffer on top of James leaving her to become a glorious RAF pilot. 

It didn't happen then. Keep in mind they're screwing around with books quite a bit.

[iMonrey]

I think if someone were to come forward and claim Oscar it would have been the same episode they found him in, or at least this last one, where it seemed like everyone was leaving everyone. 

[Daff]

16 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I think if someone were to come forward and claim Oscar it would have been the same episode they found him in, or at least this last one, where it seemed like everyone was leaving everyone. 

Based upon previews for the last episode, Oscar will perhaps be moving. 
Does anyone recall from the books when Helen delivered their first child? Was it while James was serving, during the war?

[Caoimhe]

Tried to watch this week’s episode but left it on mute and ended up deleting it before it finished. I keep having to remind myself that I (a book reader and fan of the original series) am  decidedly NOT the target market for this show.  I think I’m only recording it for the beautiful scenery.

[dargosmydaddy]

1 hour ago, Daff said:

Does anyone recall from the books when Helen delivered their first child? Was it while James was serving, during the war?

It was during the war, while James was still training in England. I seem to remember that he was told he'd get a brief leave when the baby was born, but he really missed Helen and managed to sneak away a few times to go see her... and one of those times he arrived right after the baby was born. And then he lied and had word sent that the baby was born several weeks later, so that he could have his leave after Helen was recovered and they could enjoy their time together more.

[Daff]

1 hour ago, dargosmydaddy said:

It was during the war, while James was still training in England. I seem to remember that he was told he'd get a brief leave when the baby was born, but he really missed Helen and managed to sneak away a few times to go see her... and one of those times he arrived right after the baby was born. And then he lied and had word sent that the baby was born several weeks later, so that he could have his leave after Helen was recovered and they could enjoy their time together more.

Thanks. I read them in my teens, then became a stalwart fan of the series. FWIW, pbs was received over the air with a UHF antenna (I feel so ancient and totally confounded by the attitudes of today’s under 30s).

[iMonrey]

1 hour ago, Caoimhe said:

Tried to watch this week’s episode but left it on mute and ended up deleting it before it finished. I keep having to remind myself that I (a book reader and fan of the original series) am  decidedly NOT the target market for this show.  I think I’m only recording it for the beautiful scenery.

I can certainly understand the frustration book readers must feel, I know that when I'm strongly attached to a book or book series and the adaptation plays fast and loose with the source material it can be aggravating. But as someone who has never read a single "All Things" book or has ever seen a previous adaption, I can truthfully say this series is beautifully done. For that reason, I'm rather glad I haven't read the books since so many people who have seem so disappointed with this show. Maybe I will eventually read them once the series has ended.

[Doublemint]

I'm starting to calm down about the show because it's become the Mrs. Hall show; which is fine, it doesn't conflict with the books at all.  Well, if you nitpick, Mrs. Hall was old and not imbedded as a main character in the book or tv show.

But, the nice color photography and Mrs. Hall, with an occasional animal and vet appearance is just fine as a new venture.

[iMonrey]

So was this the same thing that happened with Oscar the cat in the books? Or did his actual owners show up?

[reneerose]

I thought the real Oscar the cat had a different story than the one in Series 4

Edited April 14 by reneerose

[limecoke]

On 2/13/2024 at 9:36 AM, iMonrey said:

Maybe I will eventually read them once the series has ended.

I hope you do, because the books are simply wonderful. James Wight was a talented writer.  I’m one of those frustrated Herriot book readers and frequently eye roll at the current iteration of the stories. But it’s a beautifully filmed and acted show so I keep trying to enjoy it for what it is. I KNEW they would completely screw up the Carmody character so was ready for it. It is what it is.