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Watership Down

by Richard Adams

4.00 · rating details · 73,588 ratings · 4,220 reviews

A phenomenal worldwide bestseller for over thirty years, Richard Adams's "Watership Down" is a timeless classic and one of the most beloved novels of all time. Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the cert...more

Paperback, 476 pages

Published by Turtleback Books (first published 1972)

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Jul 15, 2007

Rico Suave rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: people, rabbits, not for sailors.

Shelves: ricosbooks

oh man, this book totally tricked me! I got a bad haircut one day so I needed to lay low for a few weeks ("Supercuts", my ass! Liars!). I called two of my hardest, most straight-up thug homies (Zachary and Dustin) to bring me some of their books and this was one of them. I had just watched a show on A&E about WWII naval battles so I couldn't WAIT to read Watership Down! I love sea stories, "man overboard!" and "off the port bow!" and "aye aye cap'n!" ...more

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Sep 01, 2007

John rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: People who like a good story or who have a vague interest in rabbits

Shelves: favorites

Ok, so it's a book about a bunch of rabbits traveling through a small stretch of English countryside. As such, it doesn't seem like something that would appeal to anyone but a preteen. But the fact of the matter is this is a great story, full of rich characters, a deep (if occasionally erroneous) understanding of things lapine, and it can reach moments of depth and profundity that the movie of the same title does not even begin to hint at. I was actually introduced to this book in one of the bes...moreOk, so it's a book about a bunch of rabbits traveling through a small stretch of English countryside. As such, it doesn't seem like something that would appeal to anyone but a preteen. But the fact of the matter is this is a great story, full of rich characters, a deep (if occasionally erroneous) understanding of things lapine, and it can reach moments of depth and profundity that the movie of the same title does not even begin to hint at. I was actually introduced to this book in one of the best ways I can imagine: a friend recorded the entire book on tape, and for a couple months I played the tapes of her reading a chapter or two just before I fell asleep each night. My slow exposure to the book under ideal circumstances may have influenced my perceptions, but I can say on each subsequent rereading of the book I've come to appreciate it more. You can read the book just for the story: apparently, the author wrote the book from stories he would tell his children, and it still can easily serve that purpose. But the richness of his characters lead to many interesting analogies to human life. For instance, from Hazel you can learn profound things about leadership. Throughout the book you feel that Hazel is the natural-born leader of his group of rabbits, but Richard Adams was very careful to develop this impression through character features rather than power-relations. The contrast is clearly intentional since the other leaders of the book achieve leadership status through very different means. Many people think the book takes a strong stance against a particular kind of authoritarian rule, but it is important to recognize the book gives this impression not through structured diatribe or through argument, but rather it evolves out of character considerations, and out of the story itself. This means that the result is far more complex than a simple argument. For instance, although General Woundwort may be seen as the main enemy that Hazel has to deal with, and the authoritarian rabbit is portrayed rather negatively at times, Adams quite intentionally adds some details that make him admirable to the other rabbits, even to the very end. A diatribe would not be so complex. Fiver is another great character. He adds an element of magic to the story, and it allows Adams to link the rabbits he describes to a mythical world that enters into the story quite frequently. One can almost see Fiver as a manifestation of imagination in this world. Big-wig is another likable character, and the story of this rabbits experience in Efrafa is one of the highlights of the story. Besides the characters, the descriptions of England are also quite acute. You can actually track the course of the rabbits on maps, since Adams was careful to describe real places and things. That attention to detail is often missed in reviews of this book. Finally, the thing that brings all these features together and makes the book more than a mere story, or an account of human characters, or a diatribe against fascism, is the fact that Adams is quite conscious of the fact that he is telling the story from the perspective of rabbits. The challenges they face are rabbit-sized, the ideas about the external world are rabbitlike, the philosophical insights seem rabbitized, and Adams brings many of our anthropomorphized ideas of rabbits together with the reality of rabbits in a surprisingly coherent fashion. I suppose the book can be seen as a cultural study of an imaginatively rich but realistic rabbit world. I realize as I write this review that many other readers may not feel the same way about the book as I do. It does have some shortcomings. For instance, female characters only make a few appearances in the book, although I think Adams does show some sensitivity in their depictions. But, even with the limitations, I would recommend the book to anyone who likes a good story and who is willing to think deeply about a children's story.(less)

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Feb 20, 2009

Manny rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: story-review

It's got nothing much to do with this book, but I want to tell my rabbit story. Feel free to disbelieve me if you must, but it's actually true. I know the person it happened to quite well, though I have changed names and other particulars in order to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent.

So, many years ago, my friend (let's call her Mary) used to have a dog (let's call him Rover). She lived next door to a family whose five year old girl (let's call her Anna) had a rabbit (let's ca...moreIt's got nothing much to do with this book, but I want to tell my rabbit story. Feel free to disbelieve me if you must, but it's actually true. I know the person it happened to quite well, though I have changed names and other particulars in order to protect the innocent and not-so-innocent.

So, many years ago, my friend (let's call her Mary) used to have a dog (let's call him Rover). She lived next door to a family whose five year old girl (let's call her Anna) had a rabbit (let's call him Fluffy). Anna was extremely fond of Fluffy, and spent a lot time playing with him, feeding him lettuce, and doing other stuff five year old girls do with their pet rabbits.

One weekend, Anna's family were going off for a day to visit relatives. They had only been gone an hour or two when Mary's little sister bursts into her bedroom, close to hysterical. OMG, OMG, Rover has killed Fluffy! Mary comes downstairs, and it's true. There's Rover, looking very pleased with himself, and there's Fluffy. He's not just stone-cold dead, but Rover has for some reason dragged him home through the dirt, rather than carrying him carefully in his jaws the way dogs usually do. He's a total mess.

So for a moment both girls are indeed pretty hysterical, but then Mary calms down. She can see a way out of this. They take Fluffy's corpse back to Mary's room, and get out a bowl of warm water, shampoo and a blow-drier. They do a pretty good job of cleaning him up, so he looks more or less presentable. Late at night, they sneak out with a flashlight and put him back in his hutch. They figure that with a little luck they've got away with it.

The next day, the neighbors come back. Shortly afterwards, the doorbell rings. It's Anna's father, who looks like he's near to losing it altogether. At first he can hardly speak, he's so angry, and then he explains what's happened. They were just going to leave, he says, and Anna had gone out for a last check on Fluffy. She'd found him dead, and was, predictably, heart-broken. Despite everything, she'd insisted that they go and bury him properly at once, which they'd done. And then... while they were away... some bastard, some sick fuck had gone and dug up poor Fluffy! and put him back in his hutch!! How could anyone do such a thing!!!

My friend told me she'd looked him in the eye and said she couldn't understand that either, and it was the hardest thing she'd ever done.

*********************************************************

I just got mail from Eric_W, who pointed out that a variant of this story is described as an urban legend at http://www.snopes.com/horrors/gruesome/h...

I heard this story from my friend, who is very reliable, early in 1987, which predates any of the references quoted... the Snopes article claims it started circulating the following year. I believe my friend's account, and I think she actually is the original source!
(less)

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Jun 27, 2011

Joel rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: BUNNIES!

Shelves: classics, favorites, personal-collection, grade-school-books, seen-on-film, 30-day-book-challenge

If you made a Venn Diagram of the longest books I read as a pre-teen and the books I reread the most, this one would be smack dab in the middle. I've read it at least five times, which is a lot for me, and listened to the audiobook more than once on family road trips.

Despite the fact that the story is deeply silly on the face of it (a bunch of rabbits move from one field to another... wow, what an adventure...), it's actually pretty thrilling. A soothsaying crazy rabbit has visions o...more

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Aug 23, 2007

John rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone

It was the summer of 1986 when, rumaging through the long unused bedrooms of my grandfather's house, I stumbled upon the book Watership Down. At twelve, I was at that wonderful age when any book was a source of fascination rather than embarrassment, and so I sat upon my uncle's old bed and, in the dusty sunlight streaming through the window, began to read a book which would stay with me years later.

Fiver, a small and nervous rabbit, is plaugued by visions of the coming destruction ...more

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Apr 12, 2009

Kirsty (Blatant Biblioholic) rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, young-adult, classics, favourites

Well... who knew that the life of rabbits could be so engrossing?!

This book was a joy to read. The author used beautiful imagery to the point where I could imagine every little detail of the scenery and surroundings. He definitely has a way with words and I loved how he interspersed the writing with 'Lapine' (rabbit-talk) to make it that bit more believable. His writing made me want to keep reading and I would have happily read another 500 pages. I was sad when the story ended.
...more

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Apr 21, 2008

Loren rated it

· review of another edition

Adapted from ISawLightningFall.blogspot.com

Watership Down has a lot in common with the ancient epics. In it, a lone warrior leads a band of harried outcasts into the wilderness in search of a home. They’re aided by a seer who can touch the future with his dreams. They face perilous quests and hair-breadth escapes, ferocious foes and desperate siege assaults. But unlike the works of Homer and Virgil, Watership Down is also about rabbits. Which is appropriate, as almost all of its char...moreAdapted from ISawLightningFall.blogspot.com

Watership Down has a lot in common with the ancient epics. In it, a lone warrior leads a band of harried outcasts into the wilderness in search of a home. They’re aided by a seer who can touch the future with his dreams. They face perilous quests and hair-breadth escapes, ferocious foes and desperate siege assaults. But unlike the works of Homer and Virgil, Watership Down is also about rabbits. Which is appropriate, as almost all of its characters are rabbits.

Most four-footed protagonists in literature have been little more than humans with fur. (Think Stuart Little or Redwall.) But Adams takes a very different tack, which is evident from the get-go. The tale begins with two young rabbits named Hazel and Fiver living in a peaceful warren ruled by an old veteran named the Threarah. Scrawny, meditative Fiver has premonitions of doom falling on them all, a doom that will stain the fields with rabbit blood. But when the Threarah ignores Fiver’s counsel, Hazel decides to rouse anyone he can and flee. The two are joined by Bigwig (a massive bruiser once part of the Threarah’s personal guard), Dandelion (a storyteller par excellence), Blackberry (the smart-as-a-whip innovator) and Pipkin (a loyal but timid runt). When the Threarah’s minions discover their plans, the motley crew must plunge into the wilds under threat of death.

Adams’ break with Disney-esque anthropomorphizing becomes even more apparent in the culture he created for his rabbits. Much like Tolkien did in The Lord of the Rings, Adams created a language with its own detailed grammar and vocabulary. An example: Fiver’s true name, Hrairoo, comes from hrair, the term for any number over four, which is how high rabbits can count. They call these greater sums "thousand," and Fiver's name literally means "little thousand." He was so christened because he was small and one of the last born in his litter. Other words that crop up -- including elil (“predators”), silflay (“to graze”) and narn (“something good to eat”) -- possess equally detailed explanations. Frith, the word for the sun, is particularly interesting since it contains religious connotations. The rabbits, you see, are sun worshippers. They adore Lord Frith and the first rabbit he created, El-ahrairah, whose mischievous exploits get recounted several times in detail and who would put Odysseus to shame with his inventiveness.

Part of the joy of reading Watership Down lies in not only in its mythological color, but in letting yourself be carried along by every twist and turn of the plot, which is half adventure and half thriller (with a smattering of British botany, warren geography and seagull dialect thrown in to keep things interesting). If you find it hard to believe that it could be a coherent read with so many disparate elements (much less an entertaining one), join the crowd. It took months of nagging from a friend to get me to crack its cover. But it most certainly works, which is a testimony to Adams’ skill, as is the fact that when you reach the final page, you’ve begun to feel that Hazel and his friends are every bit as courageous as Achilles or Aeneas -- no matter the length of their ears.(less)

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Jan 06, 2008

Ernest rated it

· review of another edition

Probably the greatest fantasy/adventure book I have ever read just happens to be for young adults and is about talking rabbits in search of a new home. I initially thought I'd be overcome with unintentional laughter and an inability to suspend my disbelief. I thought wrong. By the book's end, when this ragtag collection of refugees from the obliterated Sandleford warren reaches the end of their journey, I was figuratively elevating Mr Adams to the gold medal platform of fantasy writers, just ...more

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Jan 07, 2008

Mick rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: hate-it, fantasy

While I was trying to put together a preliminary list for the books I was going to try to read this year I came across the title Watership Down a hundred times. I’ll admit that when I first came across it I thought it was going to be a space adventure. Much like the movie Ice Pirates, I thought it was going to be about a over laden supply ship crashing in enemy territory with the only know water supply that existed in the galaxy, or at least something like that. As it turns out the book contains...moreWhile I was trying to put together a preliminary list for the books I was going to try to read this year I came across the title Watership Down a hundred times. I’ll admit that when I first came across it I thought it was going to be a space adventure. Much like the movie Ice Pirates, I thought it was going to be about a over laden supply ship crashing in enemy territory with the only know water supply that existed in the galaxy, or at least something like that. As it turns out the book contains a children’s story – about bunnies.

Of course – they aren’t your normal rabbits. These guys can talk, and have feelings, and some can even see into the future. With abstract thought and freethinking comes the ability of others to oppress those things that make them human – or ahem – bunnies. That is the essence of the story.

Two brother rabbits are sitting around eating on some leaves, and a bigger meaner rabbit comes and takes the best leaves away. The bigger and brighter of the brothers is like “this sucks!” but the little pussy brother is like “We are all going to die, this place sucks ass, we must flee!” Keep in mind the little one is a 'seer'. So they basically the pack up the truck and they move to Beverly – hills that is. Those hills are called the Watership Down.

There are of course obstacles, dangers and adventures along the way, and then when they finally get there. “Oops you mean we forgot to bring any chicks? Damnit! Well we’re boned now dawg. Unless, yeah! Let’s go steal some bitches!”

The story itself is clever and decent enough, but muck like Jackson’s King Kong remake, it’s so focused on the evils of man that the whole story gets dragged down by it. Every time the group comes across a man he is described by the cigarette smoke he is inhaling, and they all carry guns, and have evil dogs that bite and chomp, yada yada yada. Tractors and cars and trucks are evil. Trains run animals over. Man's Dogs and guns always protect gardens. Don't forget that all the rabbits that show any "manish" qualities die right away. Miliatary Stategy, Art, Poetry, and Culinary Skills are all evil man things that eventually lead to the poor little bunnies doom. Oh how awful it is to live in the constant fear of man. Those darn rascally rabbits!
(less)

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May 17, 2008

Melissa rated it

· review of another edition

Going to read it for Skinner. And I have to do a book project on it. Everyone says it's boring.

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Jun 11, 2008

Alexis rated it

· review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. this is a great book for nine-year-old boys. i read it last month, so i fail both criteria being neither a boy, nor nine. i ran into a fellow adult reading Watership Down when i was running down to catch the L train and i couldn't believe that both of us were so late in picking up this seemingly required elementary-school reading that i just stood in front of him with my copy until he looked up. we both agreed that the book was riviting, but not very good. here are my gripes with it: as milit...morethis is a great book for nine-year-old boys. i read it last month, so i fail both criteria being neither a boy, nor nine. i ran into a fellow adult reading Watership Down when i was running down to catch the L train and i couldn't believe that both of us were so late in picking up this seemingly required elementary-school reading that i just stood in front of him with my copy until he looked up. we both agreed that the book was riviting, but not very good. here are my gripes with it: as military allegories go, it's not very sophisticated. a plucky band of rabbits, who leave to excape certain death - okay - but who also kind of want to be their own bosses, have great adventures striking out to make a new life for themselves. but (spoiler alert!) not one of the original group dies in the process, which just seems like unrealistic plot manipulation. they're rabbits, they are constantly afraid of death, but if this is about war (which it completely is; everything is told in terms of chain-of-command and loyalty and following orders and strategy and Hazel is without doubt the fearless, benevolent, and clever general leading this band of ALL MALE rabbits to some promised land) then it seems incomplete to constantly be worried about losing a member of your platoon, but never dealing with the emotions or events that come up when it actually happens. a couple times there is the perception that a rabbit has "stopped running" and some other rabbit says (paraphrase) "too bad, but everyone's gonna get it sometime and right now we have to save our hides." but the reader always knows that the presumably fallen rabbit is actually still alive. i get it that it's a kid's book, but i'm of the school that doesn't think kid's literature should wear kid's gloves. but, whatever.
then: i noticed back on page 22 when everyone was leaving the original warren that there were no female rabbits, so what exactly were these guys thinking? but somehow it took Hazel another hundred-fifty pages or so to figure that one out. this is the main reason i would have hated this book as a nine-year-old. it's all dudes. there are no female rabbits until the very end and even they they're pretty much all pathetic. it just doesn't give my nine-year-old self a whole lot to relate to.
that said: it's completely riveting. even when the plot is moving so slowly and it's so obvious where it's going next that it kindof made me want to crawl out of my own skin, i couldn't bring myself to just skip a chapter and resume after everyone's finally figured out that Fiver's never wrong. i had to read every word, just in case. and i consider that a good sign.
also, the World-of-Rabbit that Adams creates is pretty satisfying. he's invented language, cultural customs, and best of all, a religious/mythic history featuring the Prince of All Rabbits, who's clearly a jesus figure but is also the uber-trickster, since that is a rabbit's greatest strength after running fairly fast. the sections of rabbit storytelling were definitely my favorite and i have to give props to Richard for stuffing so much lore into one volume. that's a fun trick.
anyway, it's a great beach or train book if you haven't read it and it will make you look at rabbits differently. it will not change your life.(less)

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Feb 02, 2010

Hayes rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everybody!

Recommended to Hayes by: Molly's mom, way back when

Shelves: bookcrossing, read-in-2010, favorites

I liked this even better the second time. It's an adventure story. But what I liked best about it, and which didn't strike me the first time I read it (or at least I don't remember being struck by it), was the theme of how important it is to be true to your nature.

Rabbits is rabbits, and must be rabbits: they need to live in a dry, clean warren, in peace together. There may be disagreements and some fighting, but no animosity. It is the rabbits that have turned into power hungry warr...more

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Feb 10, 2008

Holly Goguen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: literature, favorites

This is undoubtedly a heroic tale on par with the odyssey. How wonderful it is to so thoroughly enjoy a story for its journey and additionally be swept away occasionally by the unique picture of the world it shows you. As daily life consumes you, you tend to forget to imagine the world as it is seen by the small, but when you revisit it in books such as this, you remember that you spent some time there in the past.

How fondly do I think now of Hlao-Roo and Hrairoo, Hazel-rah and pigv...more

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Feb 28, 2009

Peter added it · review of another edition

Richard Adams is surely versed in country things.

Watership Down is the story of an unlikely group of young rabbits that break away from their warren and head out in search of a new home. They venture across the English countryside, through copses and combes, across rivers, and in and out of back yards, and their encounters on the way test their strength, cleverness, and resolve. It’s The Lord of the Rings meets Animal Farm, but without the deliberate political allegory.

What ...more

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Dec 06, 2008

Dana rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Dana by: my mom

Shelves: must-read

I remember when I was a little girl, my mom told me how much she loved this book. She even bought my brother and me a videotape of the animated version, to introduce me to the characters. (The movie's great...but I would *not* recommend it for little kids...)
I bought Watership Down at Powell's when I was eleven. I proudly paid for it with my allowance, and proceeded to read the whole book in a matter of days.
On first reading, a few of the more existential allusions in Adams's work w...more

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Jun 18, 2008

Aerin rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: lit-ra-chur, childrens, fantasy

A friend gave me this book several years ago, and it had been sitting on my bookshelf, unread, ever since. How good can a book about talking bunny rabbits be, I wondered.

Turns out, really quite good. Although there's no denying that this is a book about talking bunny rabbits, it's closer to Lord of the Rings than Peter Cottontail. It's a fantasy adventure novel with its own language and mythology, and although it's long it never gets boring.

When young Fiver has a premo...more

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Jan 08, 2011

Susan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: remarkable-reads, animals, fiction, own-in-book-format, better-than-the-movie, to-re-read, read-more-than-once, anthropomorphic-fiction, nature, epic-fantasy, family-relationships, friendship, kindle-format, read-in-2010, reading-challenges, read-in-2011

Watership Down is the story of a small group of rabbits traveling across the English countryside in search of a new home. Their tale begins when Fiver, a small, nervous rabbit, senses an unnamed future danger for the warren in which they live. Fiver has the gift of prophecy, and when he speaks, his older brother Hazel listens. After taking their concerns to the Chief Rabbit and trying in vain to make him believe and understand that they are in great danger, Hazel and Fiver plan an escape from th...moreWatership Down is the story of a small group of rabbits traveling across the English countryside in search of a new home. Their tale begins when Fiver, a small, nervous rabbit, senses an unnamed future danger for the warren in which they live. Fiver has the gift of prophecy, and when he speaks, his older brother Hazel listens. After taking their concerns to the Chief Rabbit and trying in vain to make him believe and understand that they are in great danger, Hazel and Fiver plan an escape from their warren. The brothers, along with a group of like-minded individuals, leave the warren and go through several adventures in search of a safe place to live.

To give anymore of the plot details away would remove some of the enchantment from this incredible book, and I refuse to do that to you. Watership Down is a story of great beauty. As I have stated before, it is my all-time favorite book. I first read it when I was just 12 years old, almost 20 years ago. I have read many other wonderful books over the years, but there is something special about Watership Down, a certain magic that not even time can erase. I have read it many times, and have vowed beginning this year to re-read as my first book of each new year from now on. You may say that life is too short to re-read books, but I say that life is to short not to enjoy your favorite things.

Richard Adams began Watership Down as a story told aloud to his two daughters on a long car trip. In creating his fantastic world of wild rabbits, Adams constructed a new language, a complete culture, and an imaginative folk history for his characters, all of which add incredible depth to the story and to the characters themselves. The rabbits of Watership Down act with human characteristics such as bravery, loyalty and ingenuity. However Adams has written them with a naturalist's eye for real rabbits - the reader is left with the impression that this is simply how rabbits behave.

Watership Down is a marvelous tale of adventure, the breathtaking story of a journey which leads eventually to the safety of a new home, as well as a keen understanding of the outside world and all its perils. If you'll allow yourself to get lost in the story, you will not regret it. Rich in detail and with a compelling and entertaining plot, Watership Down is truly a timeless masterpiece, a modern day classic that is beloved by many (including myself - in case I have not made that clear.)(less)

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Feb 04, 2008

Joshua rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone looking to rekindle their love for books

Shelves: classics, favorites

There are many holes in my life when it comes to memory, holes that one can fill with a Buick. I don't remember my first kiss. I don't even remember all the places I've visited and lived in. Yet, I do remember the film that sparked my love for movies (Indiana Jones), and the one book that made me a life-long reader. Watership Down is that book. Even 15 years later, I remember how I felt when the "unimportant" Hazel lead a group of rabbits to a better and new life. I remember the brav...more

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Sep 17, 2010

Mariel rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: let's pretend we're bunny rabbits. we'll do it all day long

Recommended to Mariel by: Harvey

Shelves: influential, rubber-ring, babywecouldbefamous, wishitlastedforever

Watership Down is not a children's book. It's a everyman's book. Every animal, too. (Anyone with a pulse and a beating heart that gives a shit about what is around them.) There's a lovely intro in a newer edition about how he "wrote" it with his children (the stories started out a spur-of-the-moment thing when prompted to tell them a story). It's meant to be interactive in a makes you think and makes you feel way. I certainly lose myself in this world whenever I reread (it's funny how ...moreWatership Down is not a children's book. It's a everyman's book. Every animal, too. (Anyone with a pulse and a beating heart that gives a shit about what is around them.) There's a lovely intro in a newer edition about how he "wrote" it with his children (the stories started out a spur-of-the-moment thing when prompted to tell them a story). It's meant to be interactive in a makes you think and makes you feel way. I certainly lose myself in this world whenever I reread (it's funny how quickly I can disassociate with the dangerous men). I did not get the impression that he disrespected his kid's input in any way either. They were his first listeners (as all past and future readers are, as well). The age of the reader is moot, just as the species of the characters is.

I found fascinating also how Adams researched how rabbits really behave, to keep it as close to their true natures as possible. Respect, again.

I feel the point of those efforts was dignity. One of the many things that Watership Down is about is the right to live with dignity.

Aren't some things what everyone could still use at any time? What is too much to pay for freedom? What is the cost of ignoring atrocities because it makes things easier for you (sounds like world affairs for like always)? Love, brotherhood, government, spirituality, what you need to hold on, adventure (Watership Down is also one of my favorite adventure stories), self respect. If you care about the essentials for another, then how can Watership Down ONLY be for one thing? How is giving a shit for kids only?

I'm not sure why the kid statements bother me (other than just being wrong). Maybe I feel it is meant to take away dignity from those rabbits. Put a genus tag on the book and file it away for the past.

Maybe it's the feeling of wonder before cynicism can kick in. But I was always cynical! Hard on the inside and soft on the outside like Paul McCartney. Or hard on the outside and soft on the inside like John Lennon. Hell, people are more complex than that. (So are rabbits!) Something else Watership Down has in no short supply is magic.

Because the world is bigger for them. It's easy to forget that it is still big when you get bigger.(less)

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May 29, 2008

Wesley rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone.

There have been many good reviews of this book and I won't attempt reiterate them. I just want to point out two errors that people often make about this book.

1: This is a novel for young people.

If you examine the vocabulary and sentence structure of this book you will find that it is deceptively complex. The reading level is at the top end of the high school range. It is so brilliantly written that it seems like an easy read, but it really isn't.

2: The nove...more

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Jan 12, 2008

John Wiswell rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Fantasy readers, young readers

Recommended to John by: Erica

The adorable and highly creative anthropomorphic novel of a group of rabbits that seek out a new home. Playing on staples of heroic fantasy (mystical visions, warrior castes, frail but brave protagonists) and granting the rabbits human intelligence but a very rich culture, Adams creates a world more believable than much Fantasy about humans. It's very easy to get lost in their optimistic, sweet realm of simple concerns, where human affairs are almost as unknowable as those of gods, and everyone ...more

like 4 likes

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Jan 28, 2009

Lori rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: lost-lit, fiction, fricken-awesome

When I was a kid, I remember watching Watership Down. At that time, I had no idea it had been a book.

I hadnt thought about it again until I became a fan of Lost, and was made aware of its connection to the show.

I strongly believe this is a novel that everyone should read at some point in their lives. Its not just a novel about talking rabbits who have adventures. Its a novel about a group of individuals, each with his own strengths and weaknesses, who are determined to s...more

like 5 likes

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Sep 09, 2007

Meredith marked it as to-read · review of another edition

I NEVER READ THIS... here is why i never will:

when i was four (yes, FOUR) my dad was ready to hand me watership down. now i was a precocious little person but i was, after all, four and barely reading you know, like, easy books. so anyway i started hearing about this book called "watership down" and that it was about rabbits, not a some kind of ship that sinks. this confused little mere-mere. ever since then, my father has bothered me to read this book. seriuosly, he still ...more

like 3 likes

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Jul 22, 2007

Inge rated it

· review of another edition

This is a fantastic book and I can't believe I waited so long to read it. The suspense really pulled me in and kept me up at night reading, but the most poignant moments for me were the hard choices characters are forced to make. Yes, I'm talking about rabbits, but Hazel's character is so layered and richly drawn you forget the whole non-human thing. We're beyond Animal Farm here -- this story is an epic. Expect to shed a tear on the last page - partly because the book's over, but mostly because...more

like 3 likes

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Feb 20, 2008

Amy rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classic, anthropomorphic

I'm 100 pages in, and this book is as boring as they come. So many indistinguishable rabbits hopping around eating various types of green things in the ground. I try to read on it during my lunch break, but I find that I'd always rather do anything than start back on this book. Is it a rule that classics have to be boring? Do books become classics because they are boring and someone has decided that it's a mark of high class to read boring books? Oh, god, please let this book get better since th...more

like 8 likes

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Mar 11, 2009

Relstuart rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fantasy

A really fun story. Very creative to imagine the world of rabbits and the possible perils of their world.

This book is the Lord of the Rings on a rabbit scale. One of my favorite in my memory. :)

like 3 likes

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Apr 22, 2008

Lisa rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: people and rabbits

Recommended to Lisa by: i read it for mr. skinner's class

This book is actually really good and better than you'd think it could be, especially since the whole book is from rabbits' points of view. But it was kinda weird at times, and also sometimes boring, but it was still pretty good. i would recomend this book to patient people because its ok at first, but still kinda boring but then *I*(underlined/bolded)think it gets really good..

like 2 likes

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Mar 06, 2009

Rachel rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-want-in-my-library

I read this book as a child but had very little recollection of it when I sat down to read it again in February. I suppose this is technically a fantasy book, since the characters are all animals, and even though fantasy is not really one of my preferred genres, Watership Down is somehow transcendent in telling the story of the brave band of rabbits who seek to establish a new warren after fleeing their old home. In many ways, Adams tells the standard, archetypal hero's journey, but I was moved ...more

like 1 like

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Aug 03, 2008

Jessgrannis rated it

· review of another edition

you wouldn't think a book about evil bunnies would be good... but you would be wrong.

like 3 likes

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Nov 24, 2008

Tara Lynn rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: booklist-for-2008

I downloaded this as a free E-Book, and had such a different view of it reading it NOW, as opposed to when they tried to make me read it in high school. At the time, the story of talking rabbits was just too annoying for a "suave, sophisticated" high school senior to pay attention to, and I put this book down and didn't think about it again. Now that I'm an adult, the parallels between the rabbit's world and our own are much clearer, and the patience I might have gained with age makes ...more

like 3 likes

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About Richard Adams

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Adams was born in Newbury, Berkshire. From 1933 until 1938 he was educated at Bradfield College. In 1938 he went up to Worcester College, Oxford to read Modern History. On 3 September 1939 Neville Chamberlain announced that the United Kingdom was at war with Ger...more

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Quotes from Watership Down

“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.” — 89 people liked it

“All the world will be your enemy, Prince of a Thousand enemies. And when 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 will never be destroyed.” — 70 people liked it

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