Watership Down: A Novel
by Richard Adams
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Book Reviews of Watership Down: A Novel
Book Review: Timeless book for the ages
Summary: 5 Stars
Richard Adams' Watership Down is a literary cornerstone that will last for ages for its whimsical and undying depth. What a phenomenal read. It contains epic storytelling, substance, and gratifying character development. The reader will be astounded with the way the characters and scenery are interwoven to create such a vivid and masterful scene of intrigue and substance. Numerous themes such as nature, heroism, strength, honor, failure, unity, harmony, etc can be extracted from the novel. In essence, the number of themes one can draw out from reading from this book are endless, thus showing what a remarkable piece of literature Adams has constructed.
Rabbits represent much more than the conventional, cute and cuddly critter that we are all use to. They are mere humans in this complex story of survival and upward mobility in this fulfilling and charismatic journey to utopia. Despite being a fairly long read, it actually is suspenseful and offers a phenomenal glimpse into the rabbits' culture in terms of mythology, which is quite moving. If you own a pet rabbit like myself (mini-lop that is 5 years old) then you will most likely enjoy this book. However, if you do not own a rabbit, I am sure you will enjoy it for its lively narrative and storytelling that is sure to leave a lasting impression in you heart.
Book Review: Extremely imaginative!
Summary: 4 Stars
The last time I read this book I was in middle school, and as I remember, I got bored with it about halfway through. Coming across it now by happy accident, I thought I would give it another try. It is a weird book, fun, not quite children's tale, not fully, thematically adult. It contains some interesting social commentary, with each rabbit warren being representative of a certain type of social order. I like the fictional rabbit ethnography, the rabbit stories and rabbit art forms. The story drags in parts, but can basically be divided into: Hazel's crew leaves their home warren; Hazel's crew encounters a "kept" warren; Hazel's crew begins a new warren at Watership Down; Hazel's crew deals with and resolves conflicts with a neighboring, Mussolini-fascist type of warren. Scattered throughout the novel are efforts at securing female rabbits for Hazel's new warren; beneficial inter-species friendships; fights and frictions between the different rabbits in Hazel's expanding crew. Adams is really into the plants of England's countryside, so be prepared for descriptive passages of weeds that go on and on. Still, I guess from the perspective of a rabbit, those passages would be pretty important, right? Anyway, it's a good read that covers a lot of ground, and is highly imaginative.Book Review: One of the must read books, especially if you've seen Donnie Darko
Summary: 5 Stars
Watership Down, a book that defies all normality in your normal about animals. The epic story of Fiver, a brave, second-sighted rabbit who predicts of a terrible danger that is about to fall upon the warren. As many of the rabbits doubt him, a few rabbits that do believe him follow him on an epic journey towards a place that is away from all danger, a promised land of sorts. Through out the perilous journey, the rabbits discover how to hold on together and find the place of their ambitions. Watership Down is a must read book, filled with adventure, romance (sort of), mythology, and lots more. It's Lord of the Rings with bunnies. Richard Adams is genius to manage to create a whole society of rabbits with their own language, religion, form of government, and human-like emotions. This makes "Homeward Bound" seem like a cake walk compared to what these rabbits have gone through. You must read Watership Down, it's like nothing you have ever read before. This book also has memorable characters, such as Kehaar, the white seagull who is the comedy relief of this book with his strange accent and tendencies to go off in a funny fit of rage or Bigwig, one of the rabbits who seems cold, but actually has a heart of gold. Watership Down, the book that is even too good for the kiddies to read.Book Review: Not for young children, but teenagers and adults will enjoy it.
Summary: 5 Stars
Alright, the first thing you need to know is that this is about rabbits. Yes, rabbits, and not a childrens book. It is a long book, and it is a complex book. Even if you don't understand the complexities of the allegories that are involved with this book, it is still a fine read. The writing is superb, and the characters pop right off of the page. This book will stay with you long after you read it. Not for its amazing points it makes, although they are in there, but really for its terrific storytelling, and wonderful language. You can tell that this book was a labor of love for Richard Adams. I don't need to describe the story for you, that is done above. I don't need to talk about the allegorical significance of the various parts of the book, that is done in colleges all over the country. What I do need to tell you is that if you read this book you won't be sorry. I promise you won't even remember they are rabbits except in the smallest sense of yourself by the time you are a quarter of the way into the book. By the end you might even find a tear or two for the ending. So read it, enjoy it, and than pass it along to someone who you know will like it. That was how I got it, and I have cherished it ever since.Book Review: Bunnies Galore!
Summary: 4 Stars
Going into this book, all I knew was that it was a classic that was about talking bunnies. Now, I've never been a big fan of rabbits, but I decided to give this a try anyway. I mean a five hundred page book about rabbits? I had to see what this was all about.
After the initial charm wore off, I was bored. I found all the rabbits to be interchangeable, and some of their folklore confusing. But, it got better as it went on, especially those final 200 hundred pages. I found some of their chapter-long fables distracting, as well as a sudden switch to the human world. There would be random comments about baseball or something to describe a situation, and it would draw me out of the story. I also didn't like the portrayal of does as just sex-objects, which would make me have less sympathy for the rabbits plight. I have to say, for the most part, I forgot they were bunnies. The writing was easily read, and it wasn't to hard to follow. If I was a tad smarter, I could figure out all the parallels between bunny warrens and human government, but I'm too lazy for that.
Even though it is usually marketed as a young adult book, I think anyone can enjoy it. Overall, it was a enjoyable fantasy and quite epic.