Watership Down

Rating:
Summary: Jaques' Redwall can't compare to Adam's realism
Review: Watership Down is a stupendously marvelous book about rabbits. It starts out when a young rabbit named Fiver, a rabbit with the gift of foresight, sees the warren they live in being destroyed, and they must leave there at once, with as many as will follow. He convinces his brother Hazel, simply because Hazel knows the truth of his dreams. They approach the Thearah, the head of the rabbits, but that does not go well. So they leave the warren, and the story is of them traveling, trying to find a home, and at last succeeding. Then they have to get does from another warren, Efrafa, that is run very militarily by a rabbit named General Woundwort.

That is a lot more to this novel than that extremely brief summary. You get to meet a grand sea gull named Kehaar. It is one of my most favoured books, and I know of none outside the fantasy market that touches its realm of invention.

The best thing about this novel is how thoroughly researched this is. This is not regular anthropomorphic fiction, where talking animals are just caricatures of humans, or they're animals without that true sense of their nature. The rabbits in WATERSHIP DOWN behave like real rabbits. I'd go so far as to call this THE LORD OF THE RINGS of this type of fiction, with talking animals. Adams has taken the real behaviour of rabbits and set them in a wonderful story. The depth of his achievement never fails to amaze me. He totally makes a believable real world of the rabbits, and from the rabbit's perspective. Besides being a great novel, this makes this work stand out even moreso. All the places, including the place Watership Down, are real locations in England.

Although Brian Jacques' REDWALL series is often hailed in comparision to this, in terms of actual scope of reality, REDWALL and all its incarnations is inferiour to his. Not that I don't like REDWALL. Brian Jacques has a very real gift of telling a rollicking good yarn, and his series deserves everything it gets. Its just that WATERSHIP DOWN is better in the sense that instead of taking animals and imposing them with personalities, with them losing their nature and taking on a definably human one, Adams did not go to that extreme. He balanced them with ultimately human traits necessary for the story, but still in keeping with their animal nature, with them behaving and acting like real rabbits. This is why I love this particular novel so much. It achieves a balance of animal and human qualities, of which so few stories in this particular genre attempt to achieve. Of course, not all these stories are trying to achieve that balance, or need too, because they are aiming for an entirely different point and are using anthropomorphic fiction as its vehicle, and that's alright. (Case in point: George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM, which is as every bit as good as this, although it is sofor entirely different reasons.) It gives anthropomorphic fiction a new height and goal to shoot too:

1. To take an animal, for purpose of a story, and with human traits and failings let us get to know the character and its surroundings.

2. To take the character created, and to keep it in keeping with its real species. If it's a bear or an otter, have the bear and otter behave like real bears and otters. It makes the fiction so very much richer.

The interaction between the rabbits and human society is an excellent treatise in its own right on man's dominance over nature. It gives a very interesting view on how animals interact and deal with us. They are two separate societies, and each must deal with the other. Of course, the humans have the overall hand. That is why, indeed, the rabbits led by Hazel and Fiver must forsake their home warren in the first place. On the Notice Board (name of the first chapter "The Notice Board") there is a notice which reveals the humans will make a shopping mall or something like that in that location. Although this may seem strange, the only other books that I have read that gives a very interesting animal perspective on human society is in quite a different setting, with largely comic overtones. The HANK THE COWDOG books, a children's series greeted with enthusiastic response from both children and adults, gives a perfectly delightful view of human society from an animal's perspective. They are written by John R. Erickson (I'm proud to say I hail from his home state of Oklahoma, though now I am far removed from there).

In conclusion, one of the books I love and respect the most. His depth of invention is amazing, his achievement, although in a much different setting, parallels the achievements of Robert Jordan and J. R. R. Tolkien. This is one of those books I wished I had written (as H. G. Wells said of Sinclair Lewis' BABBITT, and, perhaps more importantly, Stephen King said of William Golding's LORD OF THE FLIES, another debut novel). I bought a hardback copy of SHARDIK, a novel of similar magnitude (or so they say.) I haven't read it yet. They say it topples this book, and if that is the case, Mr. Adams is even moreso a truly remarkable writer of novels.

Rating:
Summary: Modern Classic
Review: At the age of 9, this was the first novel I ever read, and as a result it became the yardstick by which I judge all other novels. Simply put, it is side by side with "Gone With the Wind" as my all time favorite. I have never since read a more vividly imagined work than this world of rabbits in the English countryside. Straightforward Hazel, brash Bigwig and frail but visionary Fiver lead their ragtag band of outcast rabbits from their doomed home warren through an unbelievable series of situations and adventures. The blood in this book did not bother me even in the third grade, as it was not gratuitous or meant to shock, but rather to illustrate that the rabbit, a creature that we all tend to view as cuddly, is a part of the sometimes violent world of nature. Life is hard for even the cutest, most appealing of animals in the wild, whose every moment is taken up with struggle for survival. I doubt that anyone who has read "Watership Down" has ever looked at rabbits the same again.

Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: When our class voted to read this, I was a little reluctant to start. It was hard to get into, but once you did you will be trapped in a story that you never want it to end. It is that great.

The story is about a group of rabbits that decides to leave their home warren, after Fiver, one of the rabbits, senses danger. They make their way to Watership Down, but it's not that easy. They meet many obstacles, the bad disguised as good and the good disguised as bad. Such as Cowslip's warren, Efrafa, Kehaar, and the mouse.

Overall, this book is simply just great. I give it 4 1/2 stars, rounding to 5.

Rating:
Summary: Men? Rabbits? They seem quite similar in this book.
Review: I had the opportunity to read Watership Down as part of my AP English class not too long ago. This book was mentioned in one of my all-time favorite books, The Stand, and I was intrigued by one of the character's description of the story. After reading Watership Down, I would have to say that this novel is now joins The Stand, among others, as one of my all-time favorites.

Watership Down is about rabbits. No, you're not hallucinating, I said rabbits. Yet, as you read, you will find it hard to imagine them as rabbits. Adams describes them as a race rich in heritage and culture, as is shown with the stories of the mystical rabbit prince El-ahrairah that are intertwined in the main story itself. The story is about a small group of rabbits escaping certain death from an excavation project, and seeking a place to call home. They face many challenges, and struggle through many hardships, such as their fight against the oppressed warren of Efrafa, and it's dictatorial leader, General Woundwort. As the story unfolds, one can't help but be captivated by the plight of the rabbits, and intrigued by their decidedly humanistic personalities.

Watership Down is a journey through a fantasy world, where rabbits talk, fight, brag, and have many of the same qualities and faults as humans. One may scoff at the subject matter, thinking that a book about rabbits won't hold their attention. To these people I say give this book a chance! After reading it, you will never look at rabbits the same way again, and it's very possible that this novel will become one of your all-time favorites. It certainly is one of mine.

Rating:
Summary: The gift of rabbits and what they taught me
Review: When my sixth grade teacher put this book on the required reading list, I cringed at the thought of reading all 400+ pages of it. The talking rabbits I could deal with, but over 400 pages worth? Little did I know how involved I would get into the lives of Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig and the rest.

Ever since, I've read and re-read Watership Down. Every summer. For five summers now. And I've enjoyed it increasingly. As I took more history classes and studied human nature, I began to draw parallels between the lives of the rabbits and the different types of warrens with examples from real life and history. Efrafa is a dictatorship, Threarah represented those who were destroyed because they could not or would not change, and Hazel is a true leader. He could inspire his bunch of hlessil to keep moving, kept their spirits up, and always knew when to ask for help.

I will always be thankful to Richard Adams for this insight to humanity...through rabbits, no less. It revealed connections and character traits about real life that I undoubtedly would have learned but definitely much later in life. So I will continue to re-read my copy, all the while finding new nuggets of truth scattered around like the rabbit holes of Watership Down.

Rating:
Summary: THIS IS MY FAVORITE BOOK
Review: Yep. This is my favorite book of all time. I've read this book so many many times and have never gotten sick of it. Recommended to me by a friend when I was in my freshamn year of high school, I read it in about 2 days and it's been my personal favorite since. The one book I would recommend to EVERYONE. It's got adventure and drama but it's a book about rabbits... you know, like bunnies. It's weird how the rabbits face so many trials, one has horrifying visions, they tell their own myths and legends, conduct wars, and exist in such a terrifying environment. This book could have been about a group of people but from a rabbit's perspective the tale gains so much more depth and meaning. It's probably the only book that actually made me upset when I got to the end of it. Yeah, it's pretty sad... but it's also touching and that proves a lot. It can be pretty hard to find that one book, which is so powerful and well written that you get attatched to the characters and actually get sad when the story is finished.

Rating:
Summary: A synopsis of the 1 star reviews
Review: I think it is vry huhlareus, and it mad me lol hardcore yo, that nearly all these 1 star ratings are chock full of misspelled or improperly used words, trite and forced writing, and references to the almight King, Grisham, or Crichton. All three are meant to be bathroom reading, when are you people going to understand that? To the girl who asked, "why don't you people respect other's opinions", it is because there is more to a book review than just your meager opinion. There are certain rules to great writing, and when an author uses these methods in new and interesting ways, that makes for a "good" book. Not every book has to have a point. Don't you ever get tired of reading cop-and-robber stories? Or murder mysteries? This book is a breath of fresh air every time I pick it up. Sure Grisham and co. can string together a fine tale, but do you know what the word "formulaic" means? I'll explain it for you: allways look for who will benefit the most from whatever crime is going on, and you've got your villain. Turn to the last page, pat yourself on the back for your smarts, and trade that book in for something that will teach you about life, morals, or humanity. Your probably tired of hearing me preach by now, so I'll let you get back to your busy suburban mad-at-daddy hip-hop life. Oh, by the way, I heard they were having a sale at Abercrombie. Don't hurt yourself getting there!

Rating:
Summary: Down to the basics of life ¿ survival, perseverance, reality
Review: I let my nine year old daughter read this book against all of my friends' advice.
I believe this story represents life without the color lens glasses that we often want our children to wear. My daughter came to know the harsh realities of life very early in her life when she lost her father four years ago. She understands that death is part of life. She knows that you need to persevere and follow your dreams never give up even when you stumble you must get up and continue. Watership Down has enforced her believes. I am very happy good material as this exists. Thank you very much, Richard Adams. A proud mom.

Rating:
Summary: An old book for new times
Review: I wasn't required to read this book in high school. I had heard of it, but not necessarily about it, and wasn't interested in reading about a bunch of rabbits. Last year I was scanning my mother-in-law's book shelves looking for something to read, happened upon it and thought. "Why not?"

Much to my surprise, I was soon engrossed in the tale of a brave bunch of rabbits fleeing the environmental abuses of man and the elitest attitudes and folly of their fellow warren inhabitants.

Without giving away any details, I will say that their encounter with the Efafra warren brought immediately to mind the quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin, "Those who would sacrifice liberty for a little security, deserve neither liberty or security."

It was a very karmic read in these days of the ill-begotten and ill-named PATRIOT Act.

Rating:
Summary: An amazing classic
Review: I was a bit hesitant to reading Watership Down at first. I was afraid it would be a boring story about talking rabbits that lived out their lives in a warren (and 475 pages of it!). I was completely mistaken. Although, it was about rabbits, in no way were their lives unexciting. The story, in fact, was not boring at all. Richard Adams does an amazing job with this book. He takes an idea that is not particularly enthralling and creates an epic adventure story. The farther I got into the story. The more I wanted to read. It just kept getting better and better. I had to constantly remind myself that the characters were rabbits because they were flawlessly given human traits. Before reading this story, I could not understand why it was so praised. Now I see, however, that this book is truly a masterpiece. I recommend this classic to anyone who likes adventure stories.