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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not for me, but my child might enjoy someday.
stopping for now, I can't get into it
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
No
1. Themes or Characters that Resonate:
The characters stood out as the most compelling aspect of this book. Bigwig and Hazel were especially enjoyable. Bigwig's determination and Hazel's steadfast loyalty to his comrades exemplify great leadership, achieved through mutual respect and consent rather than control (contrasted with Woundwort). Their leadership style makes them admirable and relatable.
2. Emotions, Thoughts, or Memories:
The most emotional moment was Hazel’s decision to leave his body behind and join the Black Rabbit of Inle, bringing a poignant close to his journey. However, the book reflects some antiquated views on gender roles, as the does are portrayed with little agency and primarily serve reproductive and domestic roles. This aspect felt limiting and outdated. Additionally, the decision to give certain characters (Kehaar with a Russian accent and the mouse with an Italian accent) distinct but stereotypical accents seemed questionable and detracted slightly from the narrative.
3. Opinion about the Author or Writing Style:
Richard Adams’ storytelling is straightforward and effective, though his attempt at worldbuilding—through unique languages and myths—didn't reach the depth or cohesion of Tolkien's works. The mythology of the Black Rabbit and El-ahrairah was enjoyable, but overall, it didn’t feel as "lived in" as Middle-Earth. I did like the short passages that preceded each chapter.
4. Favorite Passages:
"A wild animal that feels that it no longer has any reason to live reaches in the end a point when its remaining energies may actually be directed toward dying."
This passage resonated deeply, reflecting emotions and experiences from a challenging period in life when the book was first read.
Ratings:
Writing Style: 80
Relatability: 75
Originality: 85
Personal Impact: 75
Plot: 85
The characters stood out as the most compelling aspect of this book. Bigwig and Hazel were especially enjoyable. Bigwig's determination and Hazel's steadfast loyalty to his comrades exemplify great leadership, achieved through mutual respect and consent rather than control (contrasted with Woundwort). Their leadership style makes them admirable and relatable.
2. Emotions, Thoughts, or Memories:
The most emotional moment was Hazel’s decision to leave his body behind and join the Black Rabbit of Inle, bringing a poignant close to his journey. However, the book reflects some antiquated views on gender roles, as the does are portrayed with little agency and primarily serve reproductive and domestic roles. This aspect felt limiting and outdated. Additionally, the decision to give certain characters (Kehaar with a Russian accent and the mouse with an Italian accent) distinct but stereotypical accents seemed questionable and detracted slightly from the narrative.
3. Opinion about the Author or Writing Style:
Richard Adams’ storytelling is straightforward and effective, though his attempt at worldbuilding—through unique languages and myths—didn't reach the depth or cohesion of Tolkien's works. The mythology of the Black Rabbit and El-ahrairah was enjoyable, but overall, it didn’t feel as "lived in" as Middle-Earth. I did like the short passages that preceded each chapter.
4. Favorite Passages:
"A wild animal that feels that it no longer has any reason to live reaches in the end a point when its remaining energies may actually be directed toward dying."
This passage resonated deeply, reflecting emotions and experiences from a challenging period in life when the book was first read.
Ratings:
Writing Style: 80
Relatability: 75
Originality: 85
Personal Impact: 75
Plot: 85
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
I found this book so meh. I was so bored honestly, and I can see how this could be a good children's book, read a chapter before bed and all that, but I just found it boring. And monotonous. And honestly I didn't really care about the rabbits because the stakes felt very chill. Everyone said it's so crazy (considering it's for kids) but i felt like this was very child appropriate and I wanted to dnf it so bad.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Watership Down follows a band of rabbits who abandon their warren at the prompting of a seer-rabbit who foresees disaster, just in time for their warren to be destroyed by human development. The life of a rabbit is full of hardship, and the rabbits face many challenges on their way to the hill of Watership Down, where they will eventually make their new warren, as well as new challenges once they get there.
This is a book well-known for traumatizing young children, who are drawn in by the promise of a cute rabbit adventure only to be hit in the face with the bloody reality of a wild rabbit’s life. As an adult reading, however, it’s not nearly as gruesome as I was led to believe. I think most of its reputation is the result of people reading it while very young. While I do think people can read this at any age, I’m glad to read it as an adult, because I don’t think I would have had the patience for its style as a kid. However, I was obsessed with Warrior Cats as a middle-schooler, which clearly took a great deal of inspiration from Watership Down.
I had watched the 1978 film about a year ago, so I remembered most of but not all of the plot beats. The film is remarkably loyal to the plot, but the book goes a lot more in depth into the rabbits as characters. I especially appreciated the stories of El-Ahrairah, which is something that is only lightly touched on in the film. In the book, they serve to give more color to the world, act as a reprieve between tenser plot beats, and later inspire our Chief Rabbit Hazel to come up with his plan to save the warren.
Adams’ prose and style was an unexpected highlight for me as well. He describes the settings very evocatively, especially considering he is writing from a rabbit’s point of view. An early example:
“From the moment he entered it, the wood seemed full of noises. There was the smell of damp leaves and moss, and everywhere the splash of water went whispering about. Just inside, the brook made a little fall into a pool, and the sound, enclosed among the trees, echoed as though in a cave. Roosting birds rustled overhead; the night breeze stirred the leaves; here and there a dead twig fell. And there were more sinister, unidentified sounds from further away; sounds of movement.”
Again, this is not something I would have had the patience for as a kid, especially when he spends an entire page describing the specific way moonlight reflects on the downs, but it’s something I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for as an adult. Though that moonlight one was still a bit much.
Even though Adams claims this book is not allegory (in the same way that Lord of the Rings is not allegory I’m sure), there’s a lot to be analyzed and unpacked, while still being an enjoyable read on the surface level. The epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter point to some of the inspirations Adams uses, and those alone are enough to send you down a rabbit hole (pardon my pun). One of those books where the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Especially when it comes to the Efrafa arc and the characters fight against rabbit fascists, I refuse to believe there’s not at least some symbolism there. I’m all for Death of the Author in this instance - people have compared Woundwort to Stalin, or Hazel to Jesus Christ. Everybody seems to come to the book with a different lens, and I think all of them are fascinating, add to the story, and cast it in a new light.
In short, it’s a classic for a reason. It seems to be written for everyone and yet no one. Though it has dark themes and a scattering of bloody scenes, it’s nowhere near as gruesome as its reputation (all the main rabbits live!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is one of the greatest stories I've ever read (listened to, to be specific). And I almost never gave it a chance, because how interesting could a novel about rabbits possibly be? I implore you not to let that deter you, as this is no Peter Cottontail story, it is The Lord of the Rings with leporidae.
I cared more about the rabbits in this story than almost every human character from everything else I've ever read, a hell of a trick for the author to pull off, and Bigwig has hopped his way to the top of my all-time-favorite-characters list. Even the rabbits myths and legends were so rich and detailed that I found myself entirely engaged in them -- so much so that when one was interrupted, I found myself highly annoyed not to have heard the bitter end of it.
I cannot laud this book highly enough. It is a flawless fantasy novel and, as far as Goodreads ratings go, a six-star book.
I cared more about the rabbits in this story than almost every human character from everything else I've ever read, a hell of a trick for the author to pull off, and Bigwig has hopped his way to the top of my all-time-favorite-characters list. Even the rabbits myths and legends were so rich and detailed that I found myself entirely engaged in them -- so much so that when one was interrupted, I found myself highly annoyed not to have heard the bitter end of it.
I cannot laud this book highly enough. It is a flawless fantasy novel and, as far as Goodreads ratings go, a six-star book.