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Summary: DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER
Review: ...I remember that I started reading this book late at night, and I was so involved with the story that I read up to page 40+ (I'm a slow reader) and would have read more if it weren't for plain-old tiredness. I finished this book shortly after. Part fantasy, part fiction.... A very dense, complicated storyline that is fun to read. Memorable characters, memorable stories..., memorable book. I don't think that there's enough words to compliment this book, but it is certainly one of the best I've read. I'm 20 years old, if that's an indication as to how old you have to be in order to enjoy it. Buy it, read it, enjoy it. It's a GREAT READ!
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Summary: Great story for young and old
Review: I first read this book in a high school literature class many years ago. I really enjoyed it back then but didn't completely understand what it was about. I just liked the idea of rabbits going on an adventure. Now that I'm a little older and wiser, I read it again and discovered it's much more than that. Although the main characters were rabbits, I found myself forgetting that and thinking of them as human. This is a story about some of the darker sides of human behavior dressed in a bunny costume. Sometimes it's easier to examine human behavior if you abstract it using non-human characters.It seems to me that the underlying theme of this book is about Totalitarianism vs. Democracy. There is a militaristic warren that controls every aspect of its rabbits' lives and is ruled by a strong, hard-nosed leader who rules by fear. Then there is the other warren where the rabbits are free to do as they wish and are led by a smart, compassionate rabbit that is not the strongest but uses brains to rule. The conflict arises when the "good" warren asks the overcrowded "bad" warren if they will let some females leave. When they refuse the good warren tries help some females escape. The analysis aside, this book is also entertaining no matter what age may be reading it. The book is interspersed with rabbit mythology which the author did a great job creating. The rabbit language scattered throughout the book can be a bit confusing at times, but most people will pick it up pretty quickly.
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Summary: Watership Down, the Best Book of all Time
Review: Watership Down is a very good book about a party of rabbits who run away from their warren to eascape danger. I enjoyed the literature exerpts at the beggining of each chapter. Watership Down has its own "Lapine" vocabulary. It was a bother to look in the Lapine glossary every time I came to a strange word but the story itself is great. Also, one or two of the chapters are long, boring, and don't make sense. The story is fairly long but fun to read and suspensful at some points. This story, however is ideal for classrooms to read. I'd reccomend this book to the sixth grade or seventh grade reader. Even with its small flaws, I loved the book.
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Summary: For children,too!
Review: I was 8 years old when I first read this book, and I was in love with it for good! I read it several times through the years and it has become an old friend. I was surprised to find that it is not on the recommended list of classics for children. I rate this book among my top childhood favourites along with the Narnia books and Tolkien. It's a great adventure story!
Rating:
Summary: Stunning, emotional, overwhelming
Review: I avoided reading WD for many years, having made the mistake many people do, that this is a book intended for children. I couldn't be more wrong. From the first pages, I was enthralled and hooked on the story. It is unique, different from anything else you may read. Adams' detailed descriptions of the English countryside, down to the individual names of flowers and plants, added much to the ambiance of the story. But the rabbits of course are the real stars. Fiver, Hazel, Bigwig, Blackberry, and the maniacal General Woundwort, are all clearly drawn and very evocative. I ended up caring deeply for these rabbits and their heroic, epic struggle for their goal, a place they can call home. I will admit that when the Sanderford warren was destroyed, I put the novel down and could not resume reading for a month. It affected me that much. And when Hazel passed on at the end of the book, it was one of the most lyrical, poetic things I have ever read. It never fails to raise a lump in my throat, and I am a man in his late forties! If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and read this book. You will be richly rewarded.
Rating:
Summary: 5+++ A JOY TO READ
Review: You can read the other reviews to learn what the story line is...I just wanted to say I love this book every time I read it. It keeps me enthralled, it is adorable, sensitive and just charming. One of the books in my permanent library.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect book to introduce people to classic fiction
Review: A look through the many reviews of this book raises an interesting question: Is this book really a classic (a la Dickens, Eliot, Hemingway etc.)? I think my answer would be no. However, I do think it is an excellent introduction to those wonderful authors and I'm happy to see it's being taught in our schools. Watership Down is a very sophisticated form of popular fiction. Don't think so? Well, it provides at least three distinct social structures (the three main warrens), addresses the issues and complexities of leadership (Hazel isn't the obvious leader-type), and comments on differing psychologies (think of the denizens of the warren near the snare) all in the form of a complex allegory. It has other depths as well, but the point I want to make is that these are wrapped up in a compelling adventure story written from the unique perspective of fantasy. Add in the fact that it's gracefully written and you have a book that is appealing to young people but provided plenty of material for conversation and thought. Is it on the level of, say, George Eliot or Joseph Conrad? I don't think so. It provides a heroic and happy ending that while exciting, isn't convincingly realistic. In addition, though the characters are wonderfully drawn, they clearly "wear" white hats or dark ones when the real world tends to be gray. That said, I remember struggling through "Lord Jim" in high school and feeling like I missed alot of what was being said. Reading it 20 years later confirmed that opinion. It isn't that I was stupid in high school--I simply lacked enough life experience to appreciate the subtleties of what Conrad was getting at. I've always felt that teaching the great classics in high school is, at best, a questionable undertaking. Far better to teach a book on the level of "Watership Down" (and there aren't many books in this middle region between popular and classic), so that young readers learn how to read critically, than to have them drown trying to understand a complicated classic. After they learn critical reading skills, then move them on to a true classic. There are those who will say I'm condescending to kids suggesting this, but it's equally legitimate to suggest that it is arrogant to assume that ALL teenagers can understand the subtlety of books which adults write long tomes analyzing. Lest this tome makes "Watership Down" sound like a textbook, let me say that when I first read it 20 years ago, I could not put the book down. The last 150 pages carry the reader along like a tidal wave. I've read it several times since and each time I happily sank into the wonderful world of Hazel, Bigwig and the others. It's a book that both adults and kids can appreciate and it doesn't suffer with age. So maybe it's a classic after all.
Rating:
Summary: Just read it. All of it.
Review: My favorite book of all time, I've read it 9 or 10 times since I was about 12. Each character has its own personality and the suspense towards the end is *really* great. It's not just a book about rabbits, I wish people would look past that more. To be able to write a book starring rabbits and to do such a good job and become a best-seller, it must be well-written. I was so in love with it that I bought the movie.
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Summary: Are you looking for a great book to read?This is the one!
Review: The description in this book is so beautiful and rythmic and it creates a picture that is very clear in the readers mind.
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Summary: I hate this book...
Review: I had to read this book in the 6th grade because I was in the "gifted" reading class and I was so sick of it after the very first page! I can't believe the author wasted so much time writing this book! It is VERY boring, just rabbits describing how great the grass is. VERY BORING
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