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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Definitely an interesting read, although I think it could have stood to be one or two hundred pages shorter. I really liked the folk tale-y El-ahrairah sections, and learning about the (somewhat limited) rabbit culture was entertaining. But I thought the character development really left something to be desired; in the beginning, each rabbit in Hazel's warren is shown to have a particular skill they excel at, but this development is not really capitalized upon. In my opinion Bigwig's character is handled especially poorly, as he starts off as the stereotypical "all muscle, no brains or tact" character, and by the end he's defeating rabbits twice his size and also leading a wildly successful espionage mission. (This evolution didn't feel realistic to me; I felt like it was just serving the plot.) Despite this, he is never in the running to be Chief Rabbit, although he arguably acts like a better leader than Hazel by the end of the story. The rest of the rabbits mostly fade into the background and become hard to tell apart.
The treatment of women (does) in the book is also pretty horrible. They're essentially described as only being good for breeding and digging burrows (although the bucks quickly realize they can just dig their own burrows).Of all the dangerous situations the main warren is put in, all the male rabbits survive. Two of the does die almost immediately upon joining the warren. One is seemingly killed just to give teeth to the ever-present threat of predators which is otherwise never paid off. The other dies by being too stupid to duck under a bridge as the warren passes underneath it on a boat. Other than a small handful of named does throughout the book, they all blend together.
Beautiful ending though, almost made me cry.
The treatment of women (does) in the book is also pretty horrible. They're essentially described as only being good for breeding and digging burrows (although the bucks quickly realize they can just dig their own burrows).
Beautiful ending though, almost made me cry.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
adventurous
emotional
informative
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My goodness, what a book. I don't remember the last time I stayed up way too late because I just had to finish a book. I honestly don't know what I expected, and it seemed to take forever for the story to pick up. Once it did, I read this fast. But the world building and character growth were stellar. Wow. Just wow.
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I read this for our High School Summer Book Club selection. This was my first time reading Watership Down. I know that it is taught in school as an allegory, so I found the forward by Mr. Adams very amusing where it stated that it was just a story he made up for his children. I read it more as a children's tale than as an allegory, though I can see how it might be taken than way. I enjoyed the story. I must have been pretty tense during all of the action at the end. I found that my jaw hurt afterward -- I must have been clenching my teeth. I thought it was a fairly easy read.