...and there's a hutch... ...and a river...

[deird_lj]

I have just finished reading one of the most incredible novels I've ever seen.

I first heard of Watership Down about a year or so ago, when someone on the internet was talking about how she tried to explain it to her daughter, as follows:

Mother: "Well, I read it in high school. It was really great."
Daughter: "What's it about?"
Mother: "Rabbits."
Daughter (with a blank stare): "Huh?"
Mother: "You see, they live in this warren, and they have this big scene where they're running away from a fox..."
Daughter: (just stares blankly some more)
Mother: "Oh, and there are these other rabbits, too... And a farm..."
Daughter: (clearly thinks her mother is nuts)
Mother: "Oh, just read it. You'll thank me later."

Fun story. I giggled a bit, and then forgot about it.

...until I saw someone else on the internet mentioning Watership Down, and trying to explain that it's "about rabbits, and they're trying to live in a warren, and... just read it. You'll thank me later."

How odd.

...and I forgot about it again.
Until I happened to click on the Watership Down link on TV Tropes. Which had a bit more of an explanation, but ended up giving up in disgust and just saying (and I quote): "Trust us, you will thank us later."

What was this book?!


It's incredible. That's what it is.


I could try to explain.
I could talk about the incredibly detailed plot.
I could mention the fun characters, and Bluebell's great jokes, and Bigwig's courage, and Hazel's sheer Hazelness.
I could tell you about the way that they're actually rabbits, who worry about grass, and foxes, and to whom figuring out that a piece of wood will float on water is a huge triumph of intellect.
I could discuss the folktales told, in the middle of the story, by the rabbits, to keep their spirits up on cold, fox-containing nights.
I could use words like "spectacular", "touching", "exciting", "heartwarming", and "scary as hell".

...but in the end, I'd never be able to do it justice.

So instead, I'm going to join the chorus, and just say the only thing that can be said:

IT'S A BOOK ABOUT RABBITS. DOING RABBIT-TYPE STUFF.

AND JUST... READ IT. YOU'LL THANK ME LATER.

Comments

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Yay! It really is extraordinary - it manages to make sense of what could have been a ridiculously Disneyish plot and repeated violations of the "never call a rabbit a smeerp" rule (Silflay hraka, u embleer rah! - one of the most badass comebacks in fiction) and turn it into a truly great story.

Now you have to see the movie too. Well OK, it's not perfect, especially the way Kehaar basically gets turned into a clown, but definitely worth watching.

[rebcake.livejournal.com]

"It's an epic tale of a scrappy band of rabbits trying to find a new home in a dangerous world." Or so the voice over for the movie trailer should go. Though the movie can never, never, never stand in for the book. It freaked my kid out something awful.

I have a friend who loves this book so much, she named her kid Hazel. She finally got me to read it, and well, I thanked her...later.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Yes, it really is a great novel. And if you can find it, look for A Rustle in the Grass - which is about ants.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Just wait until you read The Plague Dogs.

[swellen.livejournal.com]

Oh no - DON'T read The Plague Dogs, especially not just after Watership Down. Really. Just don't.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Yes, do. It has far more emotional impact than Watership Down, partly because dogs are more sympathetic than rabbits, and in my opinion is a greatly superior book. Although don't read it if you have any suicidal tendencies and make sure you have at least thirty boxes of tissues handy.

[washa-way.livejournal.com]

I liked The Plague Dogs, but it's nowhere close to as good as Watership Down, IMHO. (I'm also a fan of The Girl in a Swing, but I've never finished Shardik.)

I genuinely envy you this reading experience, deird. It was a looooong time ago for me, and I still haven't gotten over W.D. There's simply nothing else like it out there.

With that said, I'd avoid the "Tales from Watership Down" collection that came out a couple of years ago. It was a great disappointment to me, and if anything dulled the shine of the original novel.

[mtgat]

I read Shardik for the first time a few months ago. It was terribly painful to read, but getting to the end made it work for me.

TGiaS managed to hit a lot of my buttons in the "this is great fiction and I intend never to read it again" way.

[lilachigh.livejournal.com]

I adore this book. My godmother lived close by to Watership Down and we traced the whole journey one day, as best we could, especially crossing the river! It isn't that wide to a human, but obviously is to a rabbit! And oh, Fiver!

[mtgat]

That's so COOL! Was the farm still there?

[lavastar.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...I've never actually read it. I saw like half of the animated movie as a kid, but it scared the shit out of me. :P

I think I'll go read it now...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Gosh - it hadn't occured to me that there was a generation younger than me who weren't all major Watership Down fans since their teens.

Must go and send a copy to my daughter!

[cereta.livejournal.com]

You know, I've never read it. I'm checking my library for it now.

[cereta.livejournal.com]

And got it ;).

[lyr]

Aww, that was a childhood favorite. It still has a place of honor on my shelf. It's a hard book to explain, but quite an experience.