Rating: 
Summary: Dull, perceptive, frustrating yet strangely readable
Review: Updike's second book in the Rabbit series is an intriguing mix of literary excess, stylistic passages that strike at the juggular of the immobile common man existing in the rapid political and social changes of the late 1960's and early 1970's, and an overlong yet occasionally perceptive view of marriage and infidelity.While the first book concisely examined the role of a limited man well beyond the prime of his high school glory days trying to seek out his seemingly incapable spiritual growth, the second book suspends this lingering sprituality on endlessly, through both its oppressive length and the frustrating (although necessary) stagnation of its main character, Rabbit Angstrom. A previous reviewer here has stated that Updike has mocked the institution of marriage. While within the book there are some nauseating, repetitive moments in which conservatism clashes obstinately with the manifold liberal movements of the time, I do not believe that this is so. I believe Updike's emphasis to be on how sex, free love, the breakdown of institutions and emerging political movements are, during the given time of the novel, affecting the small-town American values and morality of the past -- the Puritanical underbelly of America. The institution of marrriage and infidelity are used as symbols for that, and the actions of the characters, having to cope with this lie, having to remain true not to themselves, but to what they believe their responsibilities, also reflect this. But to have a main character who remains immobile, who does not grow, who does not act, who, in short, does not react to the changes around them will create moments in which you are likely to throw the book across the room. Despite this frustration, _Rabbit, Redux_ continues to enthrall because there is something of this dilemma within us all. Rabbit and Janice are playing out this game on a "living from day to day" basis. They do not plan. They exist. Yet they are capable of open minds despite this inactivity. They are capable of adapting and experimenting, but ultimately they resort back to the Americana they have been instilled with (although in an unbelievable way). Updike's realization of this allows for an interesting perspective but a frustrating novel.
Rating: 
Summary: The Further Adventures of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom
Review: When I finished "Rabbit, Run" I was so engrossed in the life of Harry Angstrom I could hardly wait to begin this one. He remains the perfect anti-hero, not very likeable yet someone the reader cannot help pulling for. This book takes up 10 years after the first, and if you are expecting Rabbit to have straightened up and be living a good life, you will be sorely disappointed.
He is living the humdrum existence of a printer, sharing drinks with his dad after work, watching his wife leave and begin an affair with a co-worker, and generally letting life come at him without showing much emotion or spunk. His sister Mim, now a California call girl, quite succinctly tells him, "Everybody else has a life they try to fence in with some rules. You just do what you feel like and then when it blows up or runs down you sit there and pout."
Rabbit loses most everything possible in this book---wife, home, job, lover---but seems complacent as ever and does not noticeably grieve. If fact, he seems quite content to be curled up in his parent's home, eating peanut butter sandwiches, and wearing his old high school letterman's jacket.
The book incorporates the real-life events of the time---the VietNam War, Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon, the racial riots that swept across America---and makes strong political and racial statements. However, this is the part of the book that dragged due to the verbosity of Skeeter, the angry black character who insinuates himself into Rabbit's life. Also present is Jill, an eighteen-year-old hippie who has run away from her wealthy parents and becomes daughter/lover to Rabbit.
As in "Rabbit, Run," a bizarre tragedy occurs three-quarters into the book. Rabbit, however, emerges relatively unscathed and plods along in his everyman's life.
Ruth and Jack Eccles make cameo appearances and there is a more in-depth look at Rabbit's parents, his sister, and Nelson. This is a great character-driven novel as the aimless and almost pathetic Rabbit moves through middle age. With all lost at novel's end, he has nowhere to go but up. Therefore, I am definitely looking forward to the next installment in this tetralogy.
| 
