Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book was touch and go for awhile for me. At times I dreaded picking it back up because it was tedious and then I finish 25% of the book in a little over an hour. This book was much more than talking rabbits. I'm not sure where the criticism from some of my friends came from when thinking back to what I just read, I can't think of many negative parts of it. Great tale of adventure and family. I definitely recommend!
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-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
Watership Down is a classic beloved by many. I believe for most readers the first exposure was as a child, but I only now read (listened actually) it for the first time. It's an adventure about rabbits. In the preface, the author categorically says that it's not an allegory, it is a simple story featuring rabbits that he created for his two little girls. So I did not search for any deeper meaning in the story.
Goodreads is filled with 5-star reviews of this book. And I do understand the appeal. It's a classic adventure story, where a group of unlikely protagonists (read rabbits) take a long and epic journey, fight against insurmountable odds, and triumph over a powerful villain by using wits as much as force. I really enjoyed this part. All the planning and action, even when it was thoroughly unbelievable, it was fun. I particularly liked Kehaar, who in my audiobook had a Norwegian accent, and it was so entertaining to listen to his and Bigwig's interactions. Of course, the prose is beautiful and the weaved-in rabbit folktales were nice. I did not even mind the rather long length of the book either.
What I did mind a lot though is just how blatantly sexist this story is. Initially, when the entire group of rabbits making the journey were made of just bucks I ignored it because adventure stories have a tendency of featuring mainly male protagonists. But the more the book progressed, the more it became difficult to ignore. Not one character worth mentioning in the entire first half, may it be a rabbit or fox or bird, is a female. And then came the worst of the lot, when after reaching Watership Down, the group of good rabbits figured out they needed does for procreation. And the rest of the book is about getting (freeing?) a group of does from the oppressed warren under the evil rabbit so that the warren of good rabbits can sustain. In the entire story, the does are only given the function of breeding stock, no matter which warren they are in. And it's not written in a self-conscious way. So if the rabbits are imagined as humans then the does might remind you Atwood's famous dystopia. Now if you think that the animal kingdom hardly worries about gender equality, and the stronger sex there can easily be dominant, the fact is that among rabbits the does are generally more aggressive and dominant than the bucks. So this story doesn't represent rabbits correctly either. Worst of all, Adams made this story for his daughters. What are little girls supposed to take from this story beyond a typical patriarchally designated gender role!!
I enjoyed the adventure story and the camaraderie of the group. I am very often okay with the complete omission of female characters in such stories as well. But here the constant treatment of the does disturbed me to an extent that I felt guilty for liking the rest of the story. Maybe I'm too old for it! Or maybe some things were accepted without question once but hopefully not anymore!
Goodreads is filled with 5-star reviews of this book. And I do understand the appeal. It's a classic adventure story, where a group of unlikely protagonists (read rabbits) take a long and epic journey, fight against insurmountable odds, and triumph over a powerful villain by using wits as much as force. I really enjoyed this part. All the planning and action, even when it was thoroughly unbelievable, it was fun. I particularly liked Kehaar, who in my audiobook had a Norwegian accent, and it was so entertaining to listen to his and Bigwig's interactions. Of course, the prose is beautiful and the weaved-in rabbit folktales were nice. I did not even mind the rather long length of the book either.
What I did mind a lot though is just how blatantly sexist this story is. Initially, when the entire group of rabbits making the journey were made of just bucks I ignored it because adventure stories have a tendency of featuring mainly male protagonists. But the more the book progressed, the more it became difficult to ignore. Not one character worth mentioning in the entire first half, may it be a rabbit or fox or bird, is a female. And then came the worst of the lot, when after reaching Watership Down, the group of good rabbits figured out they needed does for procreation. And the rest of the book is about getting (freeing?) a group of does from the oppressed warren under the evil rabbit so that the warren of good rabbits can sustain. In the entire story, the does are only given the function of breeding stock, no matter which warren they are in. And it's not written in a self-conscious way. So if the rabbits are imagined as humans then the does might remind you Atwood's famous dystopia. Now if you think that the animal kingdom hardly worries about gender equality, and the stronger sex there can easily be dominant, the fact is that among rabbits the does are generally more aggressive and dominant than the bucks. So this story doesn't represent rabbits correctly either. Worst of all, Adams made this story for his daughters. What are little girls supposed to take from this story beyond a typical patriarchally designated gender role!!
I enjoyed the adventure story and the camaraderie of the group. I am very often okay with the complete omission of female characters in such stories as well. But here the constant treatment of the does disturbed me to an extent that I felt guilty for liking the rest of the story. Maybe I'm too old for it! Or maybe some things were accepted without question once but hopefully not anymore!
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated