Reviews

‘Rabbits live close to death and when death comes closer than usual, thinking about survival leaves little room for anything else.’

These rabbits don’t just fuck, they fuck each other up. I mean this is an absolutely wild, banger of a novel. When caught up in the action and anxieties of an epic tale, we, the reader, often find ourselves feeling epic as well. It’s a marvelous feeling, the whole world seems to hum with purpose and while we feel there is danger closing in all around we also feel empowered in the knowledge that it can be overcome. That one would find this sort of epic engagement in a novel about rabbits may come as a surprise, yet Richard Adam’s Watership Down becomes an endlessly engrossing tale of heroism, leadership and survival that reveals itself to be much more beyond a story of rabbits and is rife with social and political insights applicable to the human world as well. Watership Down engulfs you in it’s world complete with rabbit language—Adam’s invented language Lapine—and lore, transforming what would otherwise seem a mundane landscape into a near mythic realm that elevates the predators and perils to epic proportions. An absolute page-turner where the escape and resettlement of a rabbit community becomes a lens to examine ideas of social organizing and leadership theories, Watership Down completely conquered my heart. I even cried a bit. This was a whole event and I highly recommend it.

‘All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.’

Richard Adams liked to claim this was just a story about rabbits, though one can discover far more between the lines here and it opens up an incredible look at survival, leadership, power, violence and more. For the uninitiated, Watership Down follows the adventures of Fiver, Hazel and Bigwig as they lead a group of rabbits to a new settlement after Fiver has a vision of impending doom for their burrow. It is a story that has been adapted into a film that has long traumatized children—myself included, those bloody-ass bunnies scared the hell out of me—and I gotta admit, even as an adult this story got under my skin. The eeriness of Cowslip’s cult-like warren, munching carrots fed to them by a farmer and saying “this is fine” as death is screaming all around them; the tales of The Black Rabbit Of Inlé—the death rabbit of their lore—and his silent warren; the totalitarian violence of Efrafa and their militant society; the clashes and constant fear of death; Watership Down is full of terror, trauma, incredible violence and I absolutely LOVED it.

The Black Rabbit Of Inlé will haunt me forever

Adam’s writing truly pulls you down to rabbit size, seeing the world through their eyes, fearing the shadows, feeling the weird of a whole world full of teeth that tear and the incredible violence from human’s that hardly give a thought to the ways their action lead to mass death and destruction. ‘ It was just because we were in their way,’ the rabbits must accept after a scene of slaughter, ‘they killed us to suit themselves.’ In a way, we see how the violence of the animals—while still often awful—is one of survival and natural order compared to the violence of humans. There is violence everywhere, though we also see a difference of violence for survival and violence for the sake of power (the WWII parable ideas are strong here):

‘Animals don't behave like men,' he said. 'If they have to fight, they fight; and if they have to kill they kill. But they don't sit down and set their wits to work to devise ways of spoiling other creatures' lives and hurting them. They have dignity and animality.’

Adams does well, however, to complicate situations. Humans are awful, yet the same human who keeps rabbits as pets is also the savior of a key character at a key moment. Character’s are fairly nuanced and have flaws and faults to overcome, some ideas come to failure, lessons are learned, lives are lost, and all the glorious chaos of life and death come alive in these pages.

‘My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today.’

I love the language and lore of this book though. The animal language, Lapine, gives a rather mythical element that makes reading this feel akin to the joys I had reading [a:J.R.R. Tolkien|656983|J.R.R. Tolkien|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1648968349p2/656983.jpg] as a kid. I love how the terms come to read rather natural and adds a fun dynamic to the world (also I’ve been referring to patrons and customers as “elil” while reading this). The world feels so vast and mysterious and weighty with the heavy legends and folklore as well, and I love how they are integrated into the overall narrative (plus shoutout to the storyteller rabbit, Dandelion, for being cool). Central to these tales is El-ahrairah, the Prince of Rabbits, who’s tales are used to pass down lessons on the importance of wit, speed, and embracing the trickster ways of rabbits. When we see Cowslip’s warren reject the traditions and folklore, all the general unease of the warren slides into place and the horrifying truth of their existence reveals itself, thus fulfilling the warnings of the rabbit’s deity, Lord Frith, that it is through their cunning that rabbits will survive.

The various warrens become an excellent example on the function of leadership and the various rabbit leader’s style comes to dominate the lifestyles of the rabbits in their care. The biggest contrast, of course, is between Hazel and General Woundwort. While Hazel leads through cunningness and care, putting the whole of his society first and allowing them to participate, Woundwort leads through fear and intimidation and creates a highly regimented warren motivated by avoidance of punishment. It is clear Adams favors a democratic society to an authoritarian one and the crew of Watership Down are shown to value their differences and see them as unique skillsets that can all collaborate to the betterment of all. This even includes giving aid to other species, such as a mouse and bird, and thriving on the mutual aid they receive in return. It is a call for sustainable community over power.

‘I’ve come to suggest something altogether different and better for us both. A rabbit has two ears; a rabbit has two eyes, two nostrils. Our two warrens ought to be like that. They ought to be together — not fighting. We ought to make other warrens between us — start one between here and Efrafa, with rabbits from both sides. You wouldn’t lose by that, you’d gain. We both would. A lot of your rabbits are unhappy now and it’s all you can do to control them, but with this plan you’d soon see a difference. Rabbits have enough enemies as it is. They ought not to make more among themselves. A mating between free, independent warrens — what do you say?’

While Hazel’s community organizing and pluralism is shown as their greatest strength, Woundwort’s zero-sum thinking is shown as his weakness. Power only respects power, and when the strongest rabbit, Bigwig, reveals he is not the chief, it is something Woundwort can hardly process. Speaking of, shoutout to Bigwig. Easily my favorite character. But it all comes down to leading in a way that helps everyone, and while a major plot point being that they need to convince women away from their warrens in order to breed new generations for their own comes off as a bit odd, it is in keeping with the nature of rabbits. But this sequence also functions as a great insight into Hazel’s leadership where he allows others to have ideas instead of simply being an iron rule, and learns that his rash decisions that are aimed at personal glory over community safety are not desirable.

‘To come to the end of a time of anxiety and fear! To feel the cloud that hung over us lift and disperse—the cloud that dulled the heart and made happiness no more than a memory! This at least is one joy that must have been known by almost every living creature.’

This was an absolutely incredible read that will linger with me forever. So much adventure and anxiety, so much terror and trauma, and so much grief and sorrow come from these rabbits. It manages to read as serious as a grave despite being about rabbits and comes strong with genuine emotion. I’d also like to believe this exists in the same universe as [b:Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH|9822|Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH (Rats of NIMH, #1)|Robert C. O'Brien|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1351191064l/9822._SY75_.jpg|839692] so all my favorite dark animal tales can coincide. I put off reading Watership Down for too long and I am so glad I have finally fully experienced it and fallen in love with these characters because this is a novel I want to read again and again.

5/5

‘Underground, the story continued.’

aimeerebekahreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

v_ntd's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

knitswhilereading's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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