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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Tales from Watership Down is a wonderful little book, comprised of stories that, for the most part, can be enjoyed on their own, and without knowledge of the goings-on in its predecessor, Watership Down. Perhaps more importantly, these imaginary lives of the rabbits offer us -- humans -- invaluable opportunities to calibrate our position in the cosmos: to remind ourselves that we do indeed share our natural world with other living beings, including non-human animals.
adventurous
medium-paced
Rating: 6 out of 10
Probably the book with the most wasted potential I've read all year. I found the short stories of rabbit folklore in Watership Down to be some of my favorite parts of that novel so I was really excited to see what the author would come up with for this novel, as well as to follow the characters I had grown fond of. However, my expectations were not met and I was left with mixed feelings.
The folklore stories were what most disappointed me. Most of them felt bland, and definitely didn't have the same charm as the ones from the original novel. Some were fairly solid, I'll admit, but overall I was expecting a lot more.
I had much more fun with the stories that directly followed the Watership Down characters, but I suspect that was almost entirely because of the characters themselves. The storylines were oddly written and the author seemed unable to decide whether the chapters were separate short stories or a single long one (and in my opinion, either would've been better than the messy middle ground that we got).
However, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy myself a lot while reading this book. Objectively it was far from the greatest, and I wholeheartedly believe that the author could've written a much better novel, but it is what it is and I definitely don't regret reading this at all.
Probably the book with the most wasted potential I've read all year. I found the short stories of rabbit folklore in Watership Down to be some of my favorite parts of that novel so I was really excited to see what the author would come up with for this novel, as well as to follow the characters I had grown fond of. However, my expectations were not met and I was left with mixed feelings.
The folklore stories were what most disappointed me. Most of them felt bland, and definitely didn't have the same charm as the ones from the original novel. Some were fairly solid, I'll admit, but overall I was expecting a lot more.
I had much more fun with the stories that directly followed the Watership Down characters, but I suspect that was almost entirely because of the characters themselves. The storylines were oddly written and the author seemed unable to decide whether the chapters were separate short stories or a single long one (and in my opinion, either would've been better than the messy middle ground that we got).
However, I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy myself a lot while reading this book. Objectively it was far from the greatest, and I wholeheartedly believe that the author could've written a much better novel, but it is what it is and I definitely don't regret reading this at all.
A little sad after the brilliance of Watership Down!
adventurous
medium-paced
- Not so much a sequel as a continued exploration of the world
- Nothing on the original and not necessarily needed, as the original wrapped things up nicely
- That said, it was still good and I really enjoyed continuing to read about the world and the rabbits of Watership
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
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:
Yes
One of the best books I’ve ever read.
This is a collection of traditional rabbit stories about El-ahrairah and stories about Hazel and friends after the events of the first book. A good, light read for anyone like me who missed the characters from the first book and wanted to read more about them!
the artwork at the beginning of the sections>>> want to get a tattoo of them they're so cool
Not as good as the original. But it is nice to revisit this world.