Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Unten am Fluss - »Watership Down«: Roman | Ein ergreifendes Spiegelbild der Gesellschaft und die fesselnde Geschichte eines langen Weges in die Freiheit

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Unten am Fluss - »Watership Down«: Roman | Ein ergreifendes Spiegelbild der Gesellschaft und die fesselnde Geschichte eines langen Weges in die Freiheit by Richard Adams

104 reviews

snugglor's review against another edition

3.75

dark tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I read this to exorcise the absolute terror the animated film inspired in me as a child, and really, the book is not as frightening as I remember the film being, although it is certainly violent and does not shy away from the brutality of nature, or human interaction with it.

However, there were things that, as an adult, really rubbed me up the wrong way. For example, the female rabbits are basically referred to as breeding stock and not developed as characters at all. The rabbits are repeatedly compared to "primitive people" in their simplistic society, in an example of a really gross colonial attitude that is pervasive throughout the novel.

For me, the highlights of the novel were Peter Capaldi's narration, and the rabbits' own mythology.

Content Warnings

finozbleck's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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: No

It's still just as good as I remembered when I read this in high school. It's just as intense as I remember it being when I initially read this well over a decade ago. Definitely still fits into the classics category for me. I don't regret reading it when I did, both in high school and now more than a decade later as it's a fantastic book.

Content Warnings

niillin's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous hopeful informative medium-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: No

Content Warnings

thereadingnomad13's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

RTC

Content Warnings

apple_bloom's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-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

A worthy classic is an understatement. I personally loved this book and the contents. I find that it could be a great read for almost anyone, young and old. Whether you love animal fables, classics, or just a good compelling story, this book is a must.

Content Warnings

cursed10fold's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional lighthearted 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: Complicated

I think aspects of the book are dated (both socially and in terms of rabbit science) but I think the inner lives of animals are an interesting topic to explore especially for a fantasy novel.

I appreciate that the author didn't anthropomorphize the animals too much in terms of their behaviors or make the rabbits too cuddly/Disney-esque as I find that sometimes people have a tendency to sanitize nature when nature can be fairly brutal and unforgiving (especially when you're a member of a species that's on a low tier of a food web).

I thought that the novel provided a really interesting thought experiment in what it must be like to live such a life and how bizarre/terrifying they must think humans are.

All that being said, I think I enjoyed the graphic novel adaptation more as it streamlined the story and cut some of the most dated lines. I mainly enjoyed the novel for the extra El-ahrairah stories.

Content Warnings

rosesus's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

it hopped along without a plot until 3/4s of the way through, and i wasn't attached enough to the characters to care too much. the sections from the 'narrator' about rabbit life, or culture were good, and the book is extremely well written. it's just not to my taste sadly.

Content Warnings