Watership Down

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyed by "hrair" readers
Review: I didn't think I'd like this. I really didn't. Watership Down, a rather thick novel about rabbits and their adventures in the countryside of England. Could it be enjoyable? Well, I do remember enjoying the animated film when I was younger (even if I can't remember what happened), and I didn't have any other books to read until christmas, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I'm glad I did. What a pleasant surprise. What an engaging story!

Watership Down tells the story of a group of rabbits who leave their warren for pastures new, based on the prophecies of a clairvoyant little rabbit called Fiver, who warns that their home will soon be destroyed by man. Led by Fiver's best friend Hazel, this band of rabbits braves weather, predators and man to find a place for their new warrens, and to find doe rabbits with which they can breed with. Things aren't easy, but they have their friendship and comradery to keep them going, as well as their tales of El-Ahrairiah, their cunning folk hero and savior of old, favorite of Frith the god of rabbits (the sun).

Author Richard Adams takes quite a unique approach to telling this story, I thought. Each chapter begins with a quote from a work of literature, (everything from Shakespeare to Plato) each quote drawing parallels with the events that follow, to help us readers understand in human terms just what the rabbits are feeling. In addition to rabbit facts (culled from R.M. Lockley's "The Private Life of the Rabbit) Adams gives the rabbit their own culture, mythology and language (which Adams calls Lapine), with detailed explanations of each, helping us to relate all the more. Adams knows the English countryside well and fills us with the sights, the sounds and smells of the landscapes the rabbits cross. It's a beautiful place, but being a rabbit it is an ever threatening one.

The characterizations are very enjoyable, I could picture them all very well. The brave leader Hazel, the timid Pipkin, the clever Blackberry, Dandelion the storyteller, Bluebell the joker, Bigwig the proud and tough. So many rabbits and quite a few warrens in the story, and I can remember them all by name (even though a couple of the Lapine names are hard to pronounce). That's definitely something!

The book is thick, yes, but it never drags on. It is choc-full of adventures and exploits. It gets pretty exciting towards the end too, I thought.

The copy I have has maps of the countryside the rabbits cross, which are fun to follow, and gives you a bit more of an idea of what's happening, a bit more context. (I always love a book with a map to follow in the front).

If you've heard about Watership Down and are at all curious, I recommend give it a try. Read a few chapters, there's much to like. If you are already a fan of animal adventures, you will more than love this book, I'm sure.

Rating:
Summary: If you like the world of Tolkien...
Review: I first experienced the amazing lapine world in Watership Down at the age of 7 when my mother read it aloud to me. I was absolutely entranced by the different characters, the epic feel of the journey (which would seem as mere miles and months to humans), and the deeply entrenched mythos that tells the rabbits their place in the world.

If you enjoy the deep world and characters of Tolkien, you will find this book to be endearing and riveting. This novel is not just for children or for high school English; it is for everyone and is an experience to share with the ones you love.

Rating:
Summary: It rarely gets better than this
Review: I first read this book back in 1990 (at the age of 15) when I checked it out of the high-school library. Honestly, I had no idea how "talking rabbits" would keep me occupied over a long-weekend; but, coming off a one-month, up-til 2am every night reading adventure of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, I was ready to accept another recommendation from my English teacher. It's so unbelieveable how one person can actually produce such loveable characters and include them in such a detailed manner that actually makes you feel various emotions for each of them... From the hard-headed Bigwig, to the future-seeing Fiver and his wise older brother Hazel, this book offers characters that draw you into the book and do not let you even dare to take a break. Although the wonderful detail of the characters probably won't motivate you to volunteer for any "save the rabbits" organization, it might have you maneuvering your "hdrudru" down any given rural road in a more cautious manner during non-sunshine hours. And let's face it, how many of us love the book because it truly allows us to relate EVERYTHING to human life... The word "tharn" seems to be the favorite. The book is such a masterpiece that it's hard to believe anyone could pan it. There are a few flaws... the most annoying being that the name "Hazel" just doesn't seem to ring as a male. Throughout the book, I had to remind myself that Hazel was a male rabbit, and it was extremely annoying. Still, I can't justify giving this book any rating less than the best possible. The various sub-stories are so interesting and rich in detail that you'll probably find yourself reflecting back on your own life's journeys/adventures and putting yourself in the place of various characters in the story. Just when you've shed a tear of amusement for one of the characters, the book will quickly take you back to the "present-time" situation... you will actually feel a sense of security and warmness, then realize that although you were distracted along with the characters in the story, the situation still exists. It rarely gets better than this.

Rating:
Summary: Absorbing
Review: I missed reading this book until recently. I never thought in my life I would be so engrossed in a novel about, of all things, rabbits. These aren't cute little Walt Disney Thumper-type rabbits. They come across with as much character as people: there's a hysterical psychic prophet rabbit, a warrior one, smart ones, dumb ones. Adams is a heck of a good writer, and very much a natural one. This is one of those works you will keep and read to your kids.

Rating:
Summary: Not for the faint of heart
Review: I was first introduced to this book in seventh grade. We referred to it as the dreaded, hated, despised bunny book. I was much too young to even begin to understand the deaper meanings of this book or to appreciate it in the least bit. I have now revisited it as an adult. It's as if the light bulb came on. It all makes sense to me now.

Richard Adams does an amazing job of explaining the inner workings of the rabbit world. You learn new vocabulary and begin to appreciate the complexity of nature (Yes I know it's ficiton, but for a second you can almost imagine this is all real, and that's the beauty of the book.) This is another one of those books that just because you are capable of reading the words does not mean you are capable of understanding the book. This should not be read to seventh graders or junior high for that matter unless you are an excpetional teacher and/or have exceptional students.

Rating:
Summary: I will never look at rabbits the same!
Review: This book is a work of art! I just loved every single word of it! Richard Adams does a beautiful job of developing the rabbits as characters, giving them qualities that are real and believable. After a while, I found myself feeling as if I knew the rabbits personally. I think that fiction in which animals are given human qualities is challenging to write and sometimes to read. Watership Down is a wonderful balance -- just when you feel the rabbits are becoming to "human-like", Adams reminds us they are rabbits by interweaving their traits as a species into the plot. By the end of the book, I was so engrossed, I couldn't read the words fast enough. I found myself wanting to believe that the rabbit world is really the way Richard Adams portrays it to be. In short, I will never look at a rabbit the same again. I will always wonder where his warren is and if he is running from "a thousand enemies." Children and adults will both enjoy this book -- the difference is the way in which Watership Down sits in the minds of its varied age of readers. It will effect everyone differently. A WORK OF ART!

Rating:
Summary: The best book ever!
Review: This is my favorite book outside of the horror genre. It is full of social and political undertones, beautifully described, and well researched into the nature of wild rabbits.

I tend to avoid most animal books because they usually focus around one or two animal heros that meet some tragic untimely doom and their human owner or whatever cries and buries them, etc. etc. you get my point. This book has it's share of death and tragedy but it also has it's share of triumphs and rescues. It is a saga of short lived creatures, so in rabbit terms - it's practically generational. Tragedy befalls us all at some time or another. This book deals it's blows in natural doses. It's easier to take that way.

If you are considering reading it, please do. I don't even think of it as a childrens novel, though I supposed they could read it if they were intelligent enough to understand the underlying themes.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Story! Everyone Should Read This Book!
Review: This is truly one the greatest books of our time. The characters are deep and you care for them, and anyone who has heard of this book has to mention the hero: Hazel. He is one of the greatest characters I have ever read and a wonderful leader for this group of rabbits. This book is not necessarily an "easy" read but one you will have great satisfaction from. The ending you will leave you with tears in your eyes. Out of all the books you have ever read, you will remember this one.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful read for kids and adults
Review: When I went off for my first semester of college my father gave me $100 with which to buy textbooks, which certainly dates me. After buying everything for my classes I had enough money left over to buy a hard cover copy of "Watership Down" by Richard Adams for $6.95, which for people who love books is certainly a great way of representing the ravages of inflation over the years. I decided to read a chapter of "Watership Down" each night before going to bed, thereby marking the beginning of my obsession with reading a chapter of something each day that has nothing to do with school. When my dorm roommate became as hooked on the story as much as I was he and I would read chapters aloud. Fifty days I got to the book's epilogue with the same sort of sadness that it was all over that I experienced getting to the end of the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Living in the Sandleford Warren with its Chief Rabbit and Owsla maintaining a comfortable social order, Hazel and his little brother Fiver are content enough. But Fiver has the gift of prophecy, and when he warns that the warren has to be abandoned right away or they are all going to die, Hazel and a small circle of friends believe him and leave despite the fact that have no idea where they are going. Fiver envisions a great high place where they can be happy and safe, but there are a series of imposing obstacles to overcome, from not only humans and predators, but other wild rabbits as well. Consequently the basic story of "Watership Down" is the ancient quest for home, although in this case it is a new home that represents a wild rabbit's idea of utopia.

The greatness of "Watership Down" rests on the sense of realism that Adams brings to his story wild rabbits. Adams studied Lapine life in R. M. Lockley's "The Private Life of the Rabbit" in order to keep his rabbits real. But beyond the way rabbits live in nature Adams provides them with a history and a culture, represented not only in the stories they tell of El-ahrairah (the Prince with a Thousand Enemies), but their beliefs in Frith the lord sun, and their simple games such as bob-stones. When confronted with sticky situations they are able to use their ingenuity to come up with surprising solutions that are still within the realm of possibility for real rabbits. I always liked the way Hazel, Blackberry and the others have to work out these puzzles, straining for a leap of intuition and cognitive insight that seems just beyond the reach of their relatively simple minds. So while these rabbits are capable of doing more than others of their kind, Adams keeps their efforts remarkable rather than magical.

We also pick up a few choice words from the language of the rabbits (e.g., "silflay" is to go above ground to feed, "homba is a fox), which ends up paying off with one of my favorite moments in the book when Bigway utters a simple but effective curse. The lesson of the story is clearly that bigger does not mean better, for Hazel is neither the strongest nor the smartest of the rabbits that he leads, but he had the best qualities of leadership. Each of the rabbits that join Hazel on the quest to find Watership Down and build a new life there offers something to the ground, and the distinctive personalities that Adams creates for each of them adds to the novel as well.

Of all the books that I have that I like to pick up from time to time and read again my favorite parts, "Watership Down" is the oldest. As a children's story is it simply one that is too good for most children, but without the deep allegorical elements that afflict so many other great children's stories. Perhaps that is why this novel has become so beloved, because it speaks to the child in all of us and the simple virtues that we all want the world to embody. Having read the book again from start to finish, I was not surprised to find that it is still as good as I thought it was when I first read it many years ago.