The first time I read Watership Down was in Fourth Grade. The other kids in my class were impressed that I could read a book with over 400 pages in it.[1] It tells the story of some rabbits in Hampshire, England who leave their warren to start up a new one. First they must find somewhere suitable and then they must find some does so that their warren can persist. Leann and I just finished reading this together and I'm surprised at how different it is from what I remember.[2] I probably didn't detect it the first time I read Watership Down, but there seems to be an allegory about different types of governance.
My verdict: Despite having rabbits as characters, Richard Adams manages to create several interesting characters that we can care about. However, he does something I generally dislike in novels (and this one is no exception): he tells two stories in one book.[3] The thing is, all I remember from the first time I read the book was the first half and now I feel like the relevant part of the book, the part worth remembering, is the latter half. Some have compared the journey of the rabbits to The Odyssey and The Aeneid, but I haven't read either of those, yet, so I can't say. This book now sits a little lower in my estimation than it once did, but I'll still have my children read it.
Notes:
[1] Apparently I had some strange ideas back then, though. I didn't think I could read The Hardy Boys until I had my Dad's permission. He probably thought I was an odd child when I finally worked up the nerve to ask. And even though I wanted to read the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, I never did (I still haven't and now I'm less likely to).
[2] e.g. I remember the rabbits encountering some roadkill but that never actually happens in the book. I invented it at some point in the last twenty years. I also remember the invented language of the rabbits ("Lapine") being used much more extensively than it actually was.
[3] I disliked the movie Saving Private Ryan for the same reason: the 40 minutes of D-Day were irrelevant to the rest of the movie. It should've been two movies: D-Day and Saving Private Ryan.
My verdict: Despite having rabbits as characters, Richard Adams manages to create several interesting characters that we can care about. However, he does something I generally dislike in novels (and this one is no exception): he tells two stories in one book.[3] The thing is, all I remember from the first time I read the book was the first half and now I feel like the relevant part of the book, the part worth remembering, is the latter half. Some have compared the journey of the rabbits to The Odyssey and The Aeneid, but I haven't read either of those, yet, so I can't say. This book now sits a little lower in my estimation than it once did, but I'll still have my children read it.
Notes:
[1] Apparently I had some strange ideas back then, though. I didn't think I could read The Hardy Boys until I had my Dad's permission. He probably thought I was an odd child when I finally worked up the nerve to ask. And even though I wanted to read the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, I never did (I still haven't and now I'm less likely to).
[2] e.g. I remember the rabbits encountering some roadkill but that never actually happens in the book. I invented it at some point in the last twenty years. I also remember the invented language of the rabbits ("Lapine") being used much more extensively than it actually was.
[3] I disliked the movie Saving Private Ryan for the same reason: the 40 minutes of D-Day were irrelevant to the rest of the movie. It should've been two movies: D-Day and Saving Private Ryan.
I'm surprised you've never read the Odyssey. Didn't you read it in Mr. Goldsberry's class? And out of curiousity, have you ever read The Princess Bride? I found it quite amusing, and I think you (and Leann, too!) might enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteNo, we didn't read The Odyssey in Mr. Goldsberry's class. But I have read The Princess Bride.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize until someone told me that The Princess Bride was not really an abridgment. I was thinking that the rest of the writing was pretty interesting and that I probably would enjoy the parts that were cut out.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the bit about the Grandpa and the abridgment is a frame story.
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