Watership Down

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Summary: Wonderful adventure
Review: No one can resist a good adventure. I was a little apprehensive of reading a book that had a rabbit on the cover, but I'm so glad I read it. Not only it is a adventure, Adams brings in elements of teamwork, hierarchy of leadership, and problem-solving during crisis. It's almost like a business seminar. I fell in love with the rabbits that we followed from page 1 and I felt like I was on the roller coaster with them. It's a simply heartwarming adventure of rabbits who have to leave home and deal with life in the real world. It does not matter if these are rabbits or turtles or humans, the story applies to everyone.

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Summary: Not Just For Kids - Adults Will Love It Too
Review: A friend recommended Watership Down as a great book to read and she was right. I could not put the book down. I even set my clock to get up early before work to read this book about rabbits. The characters Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig and all the animals seemed human, and I kept forgetting that these are fairy-tale rabbits and not humans. The only thing that was wrong with this book even though it was 400+ pages was that it was too short. Watership Down is a book for young and old alike. Great Book

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Summary: Marvelous
Review: This action-packed book is full of adventures and excitement. Every moment of this wonderful book is exciting. It is like it has a grip on the mind to urge you to continue reading. I have read this book twice and I wouldn't mind reading it over and over again. Everytime, something new and extraordinary happens. I feel like I am on an adventure with the rabbits. I recommend that everyone should read this MARVELOUS book and other books by this author. Tales from Watership Down is another exciting book about stories that is told from the rabbits of Watership Down.

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Summary: An all-time classic...hop right out and get it!!!
Review: Richard Adams' "Watership Down" is an amazing book that richly deserves all the kudos it has received. This great novel should be considered an all-time classic work of fiction -- of any genre (i.e., fantasy, allegory, science fiction, political), and for any age. As with almost any great novel, "Watership Down" can be read on many different levels, and at many different points in one's life. And, contrary to what a few VERY misguided reviewers have claimed, this book is "just a bunch of words about rabbits" only if you think that George Orwell's "Animal Farm" is a lighthearted tale of pigs and cows, or JRR Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" is just some stupid adventure story involving weird creatures like elves and hobbits. Uh... I don't think so!

At its most basic level, "Watership Down" is, as described on the book's jacket, "a stirring tale of adventure" by a group of rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by humans, then running into many more "hare-raising" adventures as the book proceeds. If you read the book only on this level, what you have is an exciting book which you won't want to put down until you have finished it...which isn't bad! But if you never looked beyond this level, you'd be missing a lot.

For instance, you'd be ignoring (to quote the book's jacket again), "a timeless and powerful parable about society and its relation to the natural world," plus (this is NOT a complete list by any means): 1) an anthropomorphic, highly believable battle between Nazi/Stalinist totalitarianism (the Efrafa warren of General Woundwort) and a Western, liberal Democracy (Hazel-rah's Watership Down society), with a detour to Cowslip's decadent, cynical, soft, and deceptively dangerous warren (Weimar Germany of the 1920s? The United States today?); 2) a generally (but not totally) unflattering look - as seen through the eyes of Nature -- at humans and human civilization (senseless cruelty and destruction, stupidity, suburban sprawl, but...the potential for redemption through significant acts of kindness, at least by a child); 3) an illustration and examination of various leadership types, and specifically, what makes a leader? (size and strength? cunning? vision? ruthlessness? caution? organizational skills? ability to provide economic/material benefits to the masses?); 4) a look at the place and importance of mythology and religion in society; 5) an inquiry into the meaning of friendship, fear, courage, etc.; and 6) the creation of a unique culture and language ("Lapine"), a la Tolkien, which is highly effective (although not nearly as extensive as Tolkien's languages).

In sum, this is one of the greatest books I've ever read (and I've read "hrair"). Fascinating, complex, moving, beautiful, unique. Hop right out and get this book!!!

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Summary: Watersip Down
Review: I advise everyone to read this book, it's a wonderful tale of adventure. Many times I stayed up till eleven or twelve at night reading it. Though its sort of slow at the begining it will only get better and better as you read more. This is a story about a band of rabbits fleaing there warren from (at the time)an unkown danger to find a new, safe home. The rabbits encounter problems on their journey that they must overcome to survive. Eventually they find a beautiful, safe home. They are in peace until they realize they are missing a key point in their warrens survival, and as they discover a soloution it will lead them to a danger that could be worse than any other they have ran into before. This is a great book, all the rabbits in this story carry distince personalities that help make this book so exciting to read.

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Summary: Watership Down
Review: There are no right words to describe this book. When I was little my sister read the stories from it to me and my other sisters and I fell in love with the characters. Several years later, I saw the book in the bookshelf and recognized it, read it, and fell in love with the characters all over again. This is a book you can read by yourself, with children, or other adults. Watership Down wasn't a book I could read just once or twice. I read it so many times my mom threatened to burn it (thankfully she didn't). I still cry each time at the end of the book because it's time to part with the characters, but they're still in my heart, and someday I would even like to get around to visiting the real place, Watership Down, and envision the story again. I recommend this book to everyone I know and I'm still trying to convince several people to read it. I have noticed these two things about the people who have started reading it and stopped because they didn't like it: they read it on and off and give up too early. If you read a page and put the book down it becomes harder to fall in love and know the characters and be able to appreciate them. Please don't make the mistake. No one needs to miss out on this book.

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Summary: From a Girl in South Carolina
Review: I recently read this book as a summer reading assignment for school, and I was struck by the author's understanding of the nature of the characters (rabbits) of this book. This book was by all means worth reading, even though I would not have rated in on my "Top Ten Books" list. If you enjoy nature, wildlife, adventure, or just a good story, I would definitely recommend this book.

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Summary: Pah! On the Rowsy Woofs of this World!
Review: You will love this book--it's as simple as that. I was on a train to Biggleswade, England, a couple weeks ago, and it was sunset. There were a bunch of bunnies out in a brussels sprouts field--no doubt at silflay--and it reminded me that it was once again time to read Watership Down. This isn't a book one reads; it's a book one inhabits. You will be transported! Adams has the most incredible touch with the English language--his main characters are so gentle, so touching they'll make you weep. There's savagery in it as well, which can even be shocking at times. And the tales that are interspersed within the novel are works unto themselves (You'll just roar at Rowsy Woof!) I'm an American who now lives in England, and the portrayal of the gentle English countryside is worth the read alone. You will not be disappointed--read this book at once! (P.S. To this day I still refer to the old heap of a Dodge that I had in high school as "The Hrududu!")

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Summary: Yes, I know, it's about bunnies
Review: So what if it's about bunnies? This is one of the most amazing stories ever to be put down on paper. After one of their friends has conniption and becomes convinced that their burrow is about to be destroyed, a band of bunnies leaves their home in search of some place to found a new colony of rabbits. The first two-thirds of this book is about their journey, the last third involves a battle undertaken against a headstrong rival warren that won't allow them to exist in their new home. The characters are brilliant, funny, and if you don't find yourself routing for them by the end I will be quite surprised. The world that Adams creates is complete in every way, including rabbit folklore, vocabulary, and even rabbit jokes. The adventure this book takes you on is not to be challenged and every climax seems like the end until the next one begins building to explode your brain even more. I dare any reader to finish this book and not swell with pride while thinking of Bigwig or Hazel or Blackthorn or any of these rabbits and the struggle they endure and persevere through to find a place that they can call home.

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Summary: An Amazing Tale with Amazing Characters.
Review: As I looked over our home library I asked my husband "What shall I read now?" "Try Watership Down" he replied. I picked it up and began to read. "Rabbits?" I thought, "I hope this doesn't turn into another Animal Farm". I have been pleasantly surprised. This book has been a wonderful adventure with inner twined legends and incredible character detail. I haven't put it down for the past five nights. I find my own heart pounding and my own breath shallow as I read from page to page and wonder how they will ever get out of this predicament. I recommend this book for anyone who loves a story that will stick with them through out life. I know it will with me.