These days, the 1923 winner is mostly notorious for its egregious racial slurs and ethnocentrism. And yep, the unabridged version is indeed pretty cringe-inducing. When the Doctor's pet monkey disguises himself in women's clothing, everyone on the streets thinks he's a "well-dressed Negress!" Ha ha ha! A large section of the book deals with Dolittle and his entourage exploring an island where the native "Red Indians" are so bumbling and backward they've never seen or heard of fire. Oh, those silly natives! And then there's the Doctor's good friend Bumpo, a barefoot African caricature who's trying to adopt the ways of nice educated Europeans, but just can't help feeling a little bit cannibalistic now and then. Oh, Bumpo, you crazy but lovable n-word, you!
You get the idea.
However, I actually won't denounce Lofting's picaresque talk-to-the-animals tale completely. Despite his unfortunate handling of all non-white characters, he does seem to be genuinely trying to make a noble point about the importance of getting along peacefully with those who are different. It's just that he only succeeds in making that point metaphorically--through the animal stories. As seen through the eyes of narrator Tommy Stubbins (the Doctor's young apprentice and quasi adopted son), Dolittle is a Jesus-y figure, performing a laundry list of seeming miracles and facilitating amazing new understandings between animals and humans.
At times, what with his condemnation of bullfighting and his adamant stance against keeping wild animals in captivity, Dolittle's a regular Peter Singer, ahead of his time. For a man who regularly converses with his pet pig, though, he sure eats a lot of sausage. (I guess those ground-up pigs died of old age?)
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