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lkreader 's review for:
Watership Down
by Richard Adams
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The joy of storytelling. That is the single greatest strength of this book. You feel the enjoyment of the author and you enjoy it in turn. It isn’t a deep or complex story. The themes of freedom vs. risk and mankind’s industrialisation vs. nature are present, but they are fairly superficial and not the focus of the story.
A great aspect of the book is the way it takes the perspective of rabbits seriously. Every plot point and character trait is seeped in and constrained by the nature of rabbits. Together with the gentle and beautiful descriptions of nature, the story becomes full of the same wonder as unknown worlds of fantasy and science fiction.
The story isn’t without its weaknesses. Besides the main characters, most rabbits are quite one-dimensional. The smart one, the fast one etc. They still exist and make sense within the world of rabbits but lack the inner workings of the likes of Hazel and Bigwig.
Also many of the challenges are overcome by the slyness of the rabbits. This is a theme, but also becomes a cop out, since the author makes the rabbits smart or dumb enough to fit the stories. A point is being made repeatedly in the book about their inability to understand complex physics or human behaviours. So suddenly becoming smart enough to figure something out, feels like deus machina by the fifth time it happens.
But all that doesn’t matter when it is such a joy to read!
A great aspect of the book is the way it takes the perspective of rabbits seriously. Every plot point and character trait is seeped in and constrained by the nature of rabbits. Together with the gentle and beautiful descriptions of nature, the story becomes full of the same wonder as unknown worlds of fantasy and science fiction.
The story isn’t without its weaknesses. Besides the main characters, most rabbits are quite one-dimensional. The smart one, the fast one etc. They still exist and make sense within the world of rabbits but lack the inner workings of the likes of Hazel and Bigwig.
Also many of the challenges are overcome by the slyness of the rabbits. This is a theme, but also becomes a cop out, since the author makes the rabbits smart or dumb enough to fit the stories. A point is being made repeatedly in the book about their inability to understand complex physics or human behaviours. So suddenly becoming smart enough to figure something out, feels like deus machina by the fifth time it happens.
But all that doesn’t matter when it is such a joy to read!