"from a short distance" or"from near"?

[moonlike]

Hi
Imagine a sentence like this "I like animals a lot, so I prefer going to the zoo to see them from a short distance." I'm looking for an equivalent adverb for the underlined part. Could you help me please?Thanks a lot.

 

[5jj]

'... to see them close up'.

 

[tzfujimino]

I've found 'up-close.':-D Up-close | Define Up-close at Dictionary.com
5jj responded much faster...

I'm not a native speaker.

 

[moonlike]

'... to see them close up'.

Thanks. Can we also use it in this situation "going to a book fair gives you the opportunity to go through the books close up?!". You know I have always had problem finding a suitable adverb for these situations.

Thanks again.

 

[5jj]

Thanks. Can we also use it in this situation "going to a book fair gives you the opportunity to go through the books close up?!". You know I have always had problem finding a suitable adverb for these situations.

That is unnatural. You can't 'go through' books unless you are close up.

 

[emsr2d2]

You could simply "look at the books close up" but that suggests just peering at the covers of the books etc, not actually opening them and looking inside which, as 5jj said, would require you to be close to them already.

You can, however, "take a very close look at the books". That would probably involve looking, picking them up and opening them.