Month of January 2022: Young Reader’s Classics

READING LEVEL: 6.2 AR POINTS: 25.0
(Ages 12 and up, and I would have to say a more mature and advanced reader if age 12)
Originally published in London in 1972.

What a great fantasy novel mixed with realism! I loved it!

You first should know this novel is not about a bunch of rabbits going down on a sinking ship called the WATERSHIP. My surprise!

Richard Adams is an English author and the setting is in the country-side of England. Watership Down is a real place situated about 70 miles west of London, in Hampshire. The author says all the places mentioned in the book are real. I loved how he incorporated bits of true rabbit facts and habits within the story, telling the story of life and survival from the rabbits point of view, but also giving them a bit of our human characteristics and beliefs.

The sun, “Frith”, was their god that guided and protected them. The moon, “Inlé”, the black rabbit of death. “Efrafa”, the name of another warren of rabbit’s, reminded me of the exact dystopian climate and total control as described in the book “1984” by George Orwell. Every rabbit was marked and under control, doing what they were told without question. They were all wandering around the burrows emotionless and docile, but hey, they were safe. There is a small dictionary of “fantasy” terms used in this story at the back of the book to help you along.

Siblings, Fiver and Hazel (both bucks), round up a group of other bucks who believe in Fiver’s premonition of the rabbits current warren being in danger of being destroyed by man. The land was going to be torn up for development. They try to warn the others, but no one believed them. This group of rabbits took off on their own and this is the story about their survival, and struggles of finding and getting to Watership Down, creating a new warren, and adding females to grow their population. It is full of adventure and seriously had me turning the pages.

The hardest thing I had to overcome in this fantasy was the fact that Hazel and Holly were both male rabbits. I absolutely could not create a “voice” for them. It was high, it was low. Kehaar, the seagull’s voice, reminded me of Tim Conway’s character as Mr. Tudball when he’s talking to Mrs.’a Wiggins on The carol Burnett Show back in the ‘70’s. Good example on page 343: “Meester Pigvig, I t’ink ees not goot ve talk much.” Anyway, that writing had me stumped a few times. It didn’t read natural, so thank God there wasn’t a lot of it.

NOTE: My copy of this 20th Anniversary Edition (1996), pages 15-18 (Chapter 42: News at Sunset) are printed out of order.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard George Adams (1920-2016) first began telling this story to his two girls on a road-trip before he wrote and published it in 1972. His manuscript was turned down by four publishers and three other agencies before it was finally accepted. It sold millions of copies around the world for the next several years and became the 6th best selling book in the UK in 1979.

He was an activist against animal cruelty and campaigned against furs. So, I’m sure this influenced his writing in this story. He suggested the book, “The Private Life of the Rabbit” (1966), by R.M. Lockley, for anyone interested in learning more about rabbits and their behaviors.

Another influence may have been the ignorance and ungratefulness of young people towards soldiers who fought in World War II for their freedoms. Adams did serve in the British Army from 1940-46.

P. 290: This was the attitudes of the young bucks and does toward the old bucks who tried to tell them legendary stories of how El-ehrairah and the other old bucks fought for their freedom against King Darzin and his men for the survival of their warren back in the day:

A buck says, “That war lark, old fellow? That’s all finished now. That’s got nothing to do with us.” Then one of the young does pipes up, “If this Loosestrife fought King What’s-His-Name, that’s his business.” And yet another doe says, “Shameful really. If nobody fought in wars, there wouldn’t be any, would there? But you can’t get old rabbits to see that.”

Meanwhile, old El-ahrairah, the legendary rabbit, walks away pitying these new young rabbits coming up because “they do not know when a gift has made them safe”.

BOOK SERIES

1. Watership Down (1972)
2. Tales from Watership Down (1996)
…19 short story tales)

BOOK-TO-MOVIE

“Watership Down” (1978) animated movie - Cute…but if you don’t read the book, you’ll be missing out on a lot. You really get to know each rabbit in the book.

Can stream free on YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IYfgg_ebvC4

“Watership Down” (2018) TV mini series ( )

I really enjoyed this super clever book. You could summarize the plot in two or three sentences, but it was so well written that I could hardly wait for the next chapter. I partially listened on audible, and partially read the ebook. The audible version was hugely entertaining. Additionally, I was impressed that Amazon's kindle and audible keep your bookmark, so you can leave off and pick up in either format! At first I didn't write a review, I just gave it stars, but because I continued to look for places to use the new words/phrases this book added to my vocabulary, I decided it deserved a written review. For Frith's sake, I now know I drive a hrududu, and how could I have lived without knowing the story of Rowsby Woof and Queen Dripslobber? Read it. You'll be glad you did. ( )

Here's whatI wrote in 2009 about this read: "Surprisingly captivating. The world of rabbits can be quite interesting, especially their quest to establish a new, lovely home. As of this writing, still trying to convince Katie to read, too :-)" ( )

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5567009807 ( )

My aunt Jackie, may she rest in peace, said that she wouldn't read this book because she didn't like 'whimsy'. This is not a children's book, or at least not just one. The author acquires great power and flexibility by the use of talking animals. A fat, boring or clever human character is just that (except, perhaps in Dickens), but a fat, boring or clever rabbit benefits from our common understanding of rabbitness - both our accumulated feelings starting back with Peter and the fantastic world that must be created for them to live in. ( )