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isaacblevins 's review for:
Watership Down
by Richard Adams
"It's about rabbits." This is what I found myself explaining most while I re-read Richard Adam's Watership Down. When I read it in the 7th grade I didn't have to explain as much...perhaps because 7th graders are still barely clinging to that time of life when one can read a novel about animal protagonists and not have to justify their choice. But is Watership Down really just about rabbits? No...it's as much about rabbits as The Odyssey is just about a sailor trying to get home...or The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is just about a boy taking a trip on a raft.
In 7th grade it was a wonderful adventure story - but as I read it now, right on the edge of 29 I was much more taken by the mystical/naturalism aspects of the novel. Among the most unforgetable characters in the book is Fiver, a runt and brother to Hazel, the central rabbit in the plot. He is gifted with a mystical second-sight...like the soothsayers of myth. Once scene has him encountering the poet-storyteller of a doomed and rather sinister warren. In this other rabbit he recognizes the same type of gift, and is sympathetic to the burden. Overall, I was taken by the theme of recognizing the inner abilities of others that so often remain hidden to us - until they are most needed. The rabbits live in constant danger and know they are destined always to run from their enemies...but in the course of Watership Down the rabbits learn that they needn't always be so passive. The wisdom of Hazel, the strength of Bigwig, the bravery of Blackavar...each is discovered and celebrated. If only we could take the time to celebrate the hidden wonders of each other as these "simple" creatures do.
Perhaps I'm just feeling philosophical and maudlin after having finished this novel, but it touched me for some reason. Though the rabbit is "the prince of a thousand enemies", those of Watership Down certainly display admirable bravery...and inspirational heart.
In 7th grade it was a wonderful adventure story - but as I read it now, right on the edge of 29 I was much more taken by the mystical/naturalism aspects of the novel. Among the most unforgetable characters in the book is Fiver, a runt and brother to Hazel, the central rabbit in the plot. He is gifted with a mystical second-sight...like the soothsayers of myth. Once scene has him encountering the poet-storyteller of a doomed and rather sinister warren. In this other rabbit he recognizes the same type of gift, and is sympathetic to the burden. Overall, I was taken by the theme of recognizing the inner abilities of others that so often remain hidden to us - until they are most needed. The rabbits live in constant danger and know they are destined always to run from their enemies...but in the course of Watership Down the rabbits learn that they needn't always be so passive. The wisdom of Hazel, the strength of Bigwig, the bravery of Blackavar...each is discovered and celebrated. If only we could take the time to celebrate the hidden wonders of each other as these "simple" creatures do.
Perhaps I'm just feeling philosophical and maudlin after having finished this novel, but it touched me for some reason. Though the rabbit is "the prince of a thousand enemies", those of Watership Down certainly display admirable bravery...and inspirational heart.