Watership Down - Richard Adams
I first read Watership Down sometime in college and fell in love with it, and wondered why I hadn't read it in junior high like many of my friends. I just re-read it, and loved it just as much. It's a coming-of-age, against-all-odds, gang of misfits travel story about rabbits, of all things. It's amazing the way Adams uses research about the way rabbits live to create a rich story about a journey, with their own mythology about El-ahrairah, the ultimate trickster.
Fiver, a strange runt who has visions and dreams, convinces his brother Hazel that their warren is in danger. When the Chief Rabbit rejects their advice to flee, Hazel decides to take off with a small band of outsiders, and together they set off to find a new home. Along the way they encounter a few other rabbit warrens, each with their own peculiarities, and overcome all sorts of obstacles.
The book is pretty fast-paced, and Adams doesn't keep you waiting long. The rabbits move from adventure to adventure, with occasional breaks to hear a story about El-ahrairah, which helps to establish the rabbits' mythology.
If you've never read Watership Down, put this on your must-read list. If Tolkien had written about rabbits, he probably would have come up with something like this (only much longer).
Fed to jonathan's brain | November 16, 2006
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