A review by cursed10fold
Watership Down by Richard Adams

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? It's complicated

4.5

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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings