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hcube3's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jackrabbitjb's review
3.0
An improvement over its predecessor.
Redux is rougher and more firmly rooted in real life. There is much talk of Vietnam and race relations, and Rabbit finally seems a like a man outmatched by life, but one who really does love at least one thing: his son. I found myself rooting for him and there was a very real tension to just about all of the many conflicts in his life.
The book drags in places when Updike is trying to deliver a black perspective of America that only rings true in Rabbit's response of white guilt, but if you can forgive those stretches, the book pulls you along briskly.
Updike is a fantastic chronicler of social history and, ultimately, the greatest pleasure to be found here is to be immersed in another time.
Redux is rougher and more firmly rooted in real life. There is much talk of Vietnam and race relations, and Rabbit finally seems a like a man outmatched by life, but one who really does love at least one thing: his son. I found myself rooting for him and there was a very real tension to just about all of the many conflicts in his life.
The book drags in places when Updike is trying to deliver a black perspective of America that only rings true in Rabbit's response of white guilt, but if you can forgive those stretches, the book pulls you along briskly.
Updike is a fantastic chronicler of social history and, ultimately, the greatest pleasure to be found here is to be immersed in another time.
kreuz's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
alanffm's review
4.0
Rabbit Redux is a dark novel. Set in the late sixties, this post-war exploration of race, poverty, and politics is articulated through the character of Rabbit, a middle aged man trying to justify his national dispositions to surrounding liberals. The novel's plot will leave you voider than a Vonnegut novel, but is well worth the read. My biggest criticism is with Updike's writing style: it can be unnecessarily distasteful. The novel also starts up slow, but once it picks up (around the half way point) it really starts to roll.
A great read for those interested in the American postwar period, American politics, or in Updike's unforgiving storytelling.
A great read for those interested in the American postwar period, American politics, or in Updike's unforgiving storytelling.
littletaiko's review
Okay, I finally Pearl-ruled this book. I made it past 50 pages, but finally gave up about halfway through. Life is really too short for bad books. This might be considered a great American novel, but quite frankly I'm not sure why. Yes, it does an admirable job of showing people at their worst but would it be so bad to actually have a likeable character? The thirteen year old son is the closes you get and he's not in the book enough to count. I'll probably give the rest of the books a try at some point since I want to read all the 1001 books, but it will be a long while before the next book.
sarahbethbrown's review
4.0
this is a really dirty book. I can only read 5 pages at a time, and that's only if i'm not eating dinner. Rabbit Redux and eating do not go well together. maybe try reading it in bed? This is a problem because i am now slightly obsessed with rabbit angstrom and finding it hard to find appropriate times to read such a dirty book. this might be because of my puritan mindset, but whatever.
jeremy's review
1.0
The end of this novel is so bizarre and uncomfortable that I didn't know how to judge it when I read it. I think the difficulty stemmed primarily from the a priori idea that it was a great book. Patricia Lockwood's entertaining take reminded me of that only part of the book that I still remember years later. Spoiler follows-- Lockwood: "Had we forgotten, as a society, that the 1971 sequel to Rabbit, Run contains a scene of Rabbit reading The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass out loud while a black man rapes a hippy girl who, earlier, spent several pages speaking entirely in rhyme? Don’t worry: she likes it, and then dies in a fire at the end."
akessle2's review
3.0
A bit more scattered than the first novel (e.g. the story/characters don't seem as tightly wound), as most sequels are. And, in fact, the narrative very accurately mimics both this period in Rabbit's life and the times (60s), which probably makes this a phenomenal achievement by Updike. But, as a reader, I found it a bit harder to get through than the first book and felt more distracted. Still, I love how Updike creates characters that are so real, in the sense that I still don't know if I admire/pity; like/despise; or even connect with any of them. But, isn't that the way it is? You just can't define people in any one or two ways....