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Watership Down

(Watership Down #1)

Richard Adams

4.05 · Rating details · 412,787 ratings · 12,894 reviews

Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition of ISBN13 9780380395866 here.

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 certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of friends, they journey forth from ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, 478 pages

Published June 1975 by Avon Books (first published November 1972)

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· 412,787 ratings · 12,894 reviews

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Jul 13, 2007 Rico Suave rated it it was amazing

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!" all that stuff so I pulled my hat down ...more

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Mar 27, 2015 Sean Barrs the Bookdragon rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Humankind and rabbits

Shelves: favourites, children-of-all-ages, 5-star-reads

I don’t give a shit what Richard Adams says about his book because it simply isn’t true. According to him, in the preface of my edition, this is just a story about rabbits. Its intended purpose was to entertain his children in the car, that’s fair enough, but he also says there is no intentional allegorical meaning whatsoever. I find this hard to believe. The allegories in here are rich and meaningful. They don’t just allude to simple problems. They’re complex and purposeful. So if he didn’t ...more

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Jul 19, 2015 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own

Slowly watching the new Netflix show! Don’t want to cry too much at once!

Re-read on audio is great. Still truly wonderful & sad.

OMG! I can't believe it has taken me all of these years to read this book! It was such a wonderful book. There were some sad things, but I was able to get through it.

I loved getting lost in this world of rabbits, where they talked of their fears, of things they needed to get done, the great camaraderie between each and every one of them. They were all so brave. I ...more

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Mar 20, 2011 Mark Lawrence rated it it was amazing

I read this book an age ago. Maybe 40 years ago the first time.

Lots of authors have written animal stories but they tend to be cute little tales where the level of anthropomorphism is such that the rabbits or whatever are practically, or literally, wearing waistcoats and top hats. We only need to look to Wind in the Willows or Beatrix Potter for examples.

Obviously *some* level of making the animals human is required. I suspect a rabbit's true inner monologue would be rather dull even if it could ...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Jeffrey Keeten rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: book-to-film

"El-ahrairah, your people cannot rule the world, for I will not have it so. All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever 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 shall never be destroyed."

When Fiver, a seer, is overcome with a vivid dream of mass destruction. He tries to convince the rabbits in charge of the validity of his vision. ...more

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Sep 01, 2007 John rated it it was amazing

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 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 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. ...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Lyndz rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: mypod-audiobook, reviewed

I started this book about 2 months ago, got through the first 10 pages or so and I was not interested in continuing. I put it down. In all honesty, it seemed like it was going to be too babyish for me. I mean come on, bunnies though? Seriously?

About a week ago I got to a point where I didn’t have anything else to read so there I was, staring pensively at my obese bookshelf, thinking about reading Lord of the Rings for the 12th time, when I noticed Watership Down poking its cute little bunny ...more

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Mar 08, 2013 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, animalia, fantasy, bingo-2016

Watership Down is a classic fantasy novel, written in 1972, that originated in stories told by Richard Adams to his daughters on long car drives. It's kind of a pastoral fantasy, based on anthropomorphized rabbits, who have an elaborate if primitive society. A group of rabbits leaves their warren when one of them, Fiver, who has second sight, has visions of a disaster to come, after failing to convince the head rabbit of the danger.

The rabbits have various adventures along the way to a new home Watership Down is a classic fantasy novel, written in 1972, that originated in stories told by Richard Adams to his daughters on long car drives. It's kind of a pastoral fantasy, based on anthropomorphized rabbits, who have an elaborate if primitive society. A group of rabbits leaves their warren when one of them, Fiver, who has second sight, has visions of a disaster to come, after failing to convince the head rabbit of the danger.

The rabbits have various adventures along the way to a new home on the top of Watership Down, then more adventures as they somewhat belatedly realize that - oops! - they need some female rabbits to have a viable new warren. Not having a lot of other options, they decide to recruit them from another, overcrowded warren a few miles away, Efrafa, which is led by the terrifying General Woundwort. Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig and the gang may be taking on more than they can handle!

description

The actual Watership Down, a hill in Hampshire, England

On its surface this is a semi-realistic story about the lives of wild rabbits ... well, if rabbits could talk to each other using words. But, in the way of most good books, it's about universal truths, and about human concerns as much as animal ones. Adams makes some good points about how people need to treat animals and the environment, as well as each other, with greater respect and decency. The El-ahrairah tales periodically told by the rabbits' storytellers, about the original king of rabbits, a great Trickster, underscore the events and themes of the novel, and add a welcome dose of humor.

The rabbits have distinct, memorable personalities: Hazel, the quiet, capable leader; Fiver, the seer; Blackberry, the intelligent problem solver; Bigwig, the rough-and-tumble chief of their Owsla (police); Bluebell, the jokester; and others. They have their own language, called Lapine. Lapine words are used frequently in this story, and I'm proud to say that by halfway through it I could understand the words "Silflay hraka, u embleer rah" ("Eat shit, you stinking chief") without the need to consult the glossary at the end. :)

I read this a couple of times when I was in my teens or twenties and adored it, but my buddy read with the Cool Classics Pantsless group was my first read of it in many, many years. It gets rather slow in parts - Adams sometimes gets a little carried away with the detailed descriptions of scenery - but I really do think this novel is a work of art, and a well-deserved classic. ...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Apatt rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy

Most reviews I write just for the hell of it, for my own records and if some people like them I am just happy as a lark. For Watership Down however, I am just a little bit more ambitious. I would like to convince people who feel averse to reading a novel for children about rabbits to drop their preconception and give this book a chance. This is not a book about cute little bunnies running around eating carrots and being adorable 24/7. This is one of the most badass books I have ever read, and I ...more

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Jun 26, 2013 Bionic Jean rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-authors-a-b, classics, fantasy, animals

I remember when Watership Down was first published in 1972. It was a novel by an unknown English author, Richard Adams. All of a sudden the book Watership Down was absolutely everywhere and people were reading it on buses, trains, park benches — all over the place. It captured everybody's imagination. Six years later the animated film came out, and it all happened all over again! If, glancing at the cover, you asked any of those readers "Is this a book about rabbits?" the answer would be a ...more

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May 02, 2010 Nataliya rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, my-childhood-bookshelves, i-also-saw-the-film, for-my-future-hypothetical-daughter, 2013-reads, books-from-childhood-revisited

In memory of Richard Adams (1920 - 2016):
-------

Some books have an amazingly unexplainable ability to transcend the purpose of their creation and take a leap into being an instant timeless classic.

“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.”

Watership Down began as an In memory of Richard Adams (1920 - 2016):
-------

Some books have an amazingly unexplainable ability to transcend the purpose of their creation and take a leap into being an instant timeless classic.

“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.”

Watership Down began as an impromptu entertainment for Adams' two young daughters on long car trips - an adventure of a migrating bunch of somewhat anthropomorphic but yet very rabbit-like rabbits. It is a story full of palpable love for English countryside, full of 'rabbity' allegories of the variations of human societies and ideologies that nevertheless do not overshadow the simple but fascinating impact of the story of survival against all odds, rooted in friendship, bravery, loyalty, courage, quick thinking and learning, ability to see and embrace the new while relying on the ages-tested old, and perseverance despite the unfavorable odds.

“Rabbits live close to death and when death comes closer than usual, thinking about survival leaves little room for anything else.”

I first read the story of Hazel, Bigwig & co. when I was twelve, and read it again and again many times since, loving it more and more with each re-read, appreciating more and more each time how its seeming simplicity is actually made of layers of complexity.

Survival is the big theme, naturally; but another one is the coexistence between the old ways and the new ways, the balance between the natural and the 'unnatural', innate and learned. (It's not just the rabbit society that is plagued by these choices, of course). On a superficial read, it would appear that Adams favors the former: our rabbits are looking for a way to lead the 'normal' natural rabbit life that sharply contrasts with the decadent Cowslip's warren and militaristic Efrafa. But on the other hand, it's precisely the openness to the new things and experiences that allows Hazel's bunch to survive: the raft and the boat, the digging of burrows, the interspecies alliances; but they still hold on firmly to their essential rabbitness. It's the harmony that Adams is looking for, and I love it.

Adams succeeded in creating such vivid and distinct personalities for all of the rabbits in the story, making them so human-like and yet unmistakably animal at the same time. Cute fluffy bunnies they are not, however; they are tenacious survivalists full of life force and determination to survive despite their status as prey for the 'Thousand', the many carnivorous predators from cats to hawks to foxes to humans. They are driven by the need to live and multiply and thrive (and when allowed to do so, they are fearsome indeed - just think of how rabbits took over Australia, for example). In Adams' rendition, they are and aren't like us, and it's both their similarities and differences from what we think as 'human' that makes the story unforgettable.

“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.”

Each rabbit has a distinct voice and personality - without being *people* they are nevertheless *persons* - but it's the three that stand out to me: Hazel, Bigwig and Woundwort.

Hazel, the mastermind of the rabbit adventures, is a natural leader. He is not the fastest, the smartest or the strongest - but he has the understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the ragtag bunch he leads. He genuinely cares, and his charisma and leading by example are quick to win the loyalty of others. The parallels between Hazel and the legendary rabbit folklore hero, El-ahrairah, the Prince of a Thousand enemies, are not surprising, and the final scene of the book, lovely but quietly gut-wrenching, comes as no surprise.

"You needn't worry about them," said his companion. "They'll be all right -- and thousands like them. If you'll come along, I'll show you what I mean."
He reached the top of the bank in a single, powerful leap. Hazel followed; and together they slipped away, running easily down through the wood, where the first primroses were beginning to bloom."

His opposite is the eventual villain of the book, General Woundwort, the tyrant leader of an isolated militaristic rabbit warren, a ruler with an iron fist, whose forceful personality is supplemented by ferociously merciless teeth and claws. Unlike Hazel, he leads by force and coercion - but props to Adams for not making him neatly fit into a black-and-white good-vs-bad model as his amazing ability to at least temporarily make rabbits, perpetual prey, into predators was a source of almost legendary fame. And yet Woundwort's vision breaks down because, grand as it may be, it's still just tunnel vision.

“At that moment, in the sunset on Watership Down, there was offered to General Woundwort the opportunity to show whether he was really the leader of vision and genius which he believed himself to be, or whether he was no more than a tyrant with the courage and cunning of a pirate. For one beat of his pulse the lame rabbit's idea shone clearly before him. He grasped it and realized what it meant. The next, he had pushed it away from him.”

And bridging the gap between Hazel and Woundwort is my hero, Bigwig. Big, strong and experienced and therefore bound to succeed almost anywhere in the rabbit 'society', he grows from a careless and a bit bullyish character to one strongly loyal and just, learning to rely on brains over brawn and yet with enough ferocity and determination to be an unstoppable force when combined with Hazel's leadership.

The warren of Watership Down would have been doomed without Bigwig's boundless daring loyal courage, without his resolute determination and willingness for self-sacrifice for the others - a trait he would, of course, have not developed if not for the friends he made on the night of the escape from the doomed old warren in the search of Watership Down promised by Fiver. Hazel learns to see the strengths and weaknesses in others; Bigwig learns to see them in himself.

My strong and loyal rabbit hero, your words at what you thought may have been your last minutes never cease to make me happily grin:

“My Chief Rabbit has told me to stay and defend this run, and until he says otherwise, I shall stay here.”

This book is wonderful, fantastic, and has definitely earned itself a spot on the strategically placed bookshelf in my future hypothetical daughter's room where it will serve the purpose of helping to bring her into the wonderful world of stories and help her see the world for the amazing place it is.

And meanwhile, somewhere in the wild, rabbits would quietly go on with their rabbit lives.
"Underground, the story continued."
...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Delee rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-have-read-more-than-once, favorites, buuuuuuuunniiiieees, own, reviewed, buddy-read

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.

This is my all time favorite book...although some of my love for this book may be an emotional attachment to the time in my life when it was read for the first time. Before this book, my parents used to read to me at bedtime on my ...more

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Jul 15, 2008 Terry rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, desert-island-picks

I think there are generally two classes of people when it comes to this book: those who see beyond the surface and love it, and those who just don't get it and wonder how anyone can praise a silly book about talking rabbits.

Given my rating of it, I obviously fall into the former group. On the surface this is an engaging tale about a group of outcast rabbits who leave their warren at the promptings of one of their fellows who is able to foresee a great catastrophe on the horizon. Their adventures I think there are generally two classes of people when it comes to this book: those who see beyond the surface and love it, and those who just don't get it and wonder how anyone can praise a silly book about talking rabbits.

Given my rating of it, I obviously fall into the former group. On the surface this is an engaging tale about a group of outcast rabbits who leave their warren at the promptings of one of their fellows who is able to foresee a great catastrophe on the horizon. Their adventures are varied and engaging, both while they trek to the place they will eventually call home (the eponymous Watership Down), and as they attempt to search for does to help re-populate their new warren from the militaristic Efrafa.

Adams does a neat trick in dealing with his rabbit characters. They are not quite humans and the way they try to puzzle out the world around them in a very animal-like way makes them more than just people in bunny-suits, though at the same time they are human-like, and varied, enough to engage the reader. They have their own language (with words and concepts derived from their understanding of the world), and perhaps most engagingly, they tell stories and myths based on their beloved folk-hero El-ahrairah. These stories, peppered throughout the book as chapters, are some of the most enjoyable parts of the tale and add a depth and interest to the rabbits and their 'culture' that is very endearing.

The rabbits themselves fill certain archetypal roles (the leader, the warrior, the seer, the scientist, the villain) while at the same time retaining individual characters and even developing as the story progresses. This is definitely not a children's story of 'fluffy wabbits' even if only taken at surface level; and when looked at below the surface it is a satisfying and fulfilling tale well worthy of the title "classic".

Re-read, September, 2012: Yup, this is still a fantastic read. Man, that ending always gets me *sniff*. I think what really makes this story sing are the layers. Everything builds on all that came before it, whether it's plot, character, or theme. We grow to love a group of characters that may at first have seemed rather silly and what had started out as a simple here-to-there quest turns into, for me at least, something much more. Oh and one other thing: Bigwig is the man, his last stand against Woundwort is an amazing moment, but there's a reason why Hazel was Chief Rabbit. ...more

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May 28, 2017 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

The premise of “Watership Down” may sound ridiculous. To put it simply: it's the story of a bunch of rabbits who leave their comfortable (but doomed) home,and try to make a new and better one, a couple of square miles away. It should be ridiculous. Come on -- bunnies?!
Oh, but it’s not ridiculous at all! It is epic! Distance, as we measure it, is irrelevant. What a human (arrogant lord of the earth) traverses without a thought in just a few strides, is a vast and terror-filled expanse to a The premise of “Watership Down” may sound ridiculous. To put it simply: it's the story of a bunch of rabbits who leave their comfortable (but doomed) home,and try to make a new and better one, a couple of square miles away. It should be ridiculous. Come on -- bunnies?!
Oh, but it’s not ridiculous at all! It is epic! Distance, as we measure it, is irrelevant. What a human (arrogant lord of the earth) traverses without a thought in just a few strides, is a vast and terror-filled expanse to a ten-inch-tall animal at the bottom of the food chain. This tension was beautifully captured, and thrummed throughout the book.

It can be difficult to explain how a book about rabbits can feel so touchingly human. What the characters have to go through is totally relatable. In “Watership Down”, Hazel and the other rabbits have to figure out who they want leading them, whom they trust, what they want their home to be like, and what they're willing to sacrifice in order to make their world the way they want it to be. "What sort of world do I want to live in?", is the question that Hazel and his rabbits ask themselves when they go out to start a new home. This is the same question that each of us have to ask and act on as we go out and try to make a life for ourselves, especially when we're young and questing out into the world to find (or make) a place for us.
This life-or-death question gets asked whenever Hazel's rabbits meet a group of rabbits who are living according to certain choices. (view spoiler) We may not face the exact dangers that Hazel's rabbits face -- no farmer is going to kill and cook us (we hope). But we do have to ask ourselves these questions about our values and which values we value more.

Many contemporary authors could learn from Richard Adams on how to create characters that a reader can believe in and commit to. Few human characters that I have read in recent books can compare in depth and dimension to the rabbits of Watership Down. Trying to choose a favorite is impossible -- Hazel is of course the hero; but my heart also belongs to Big Wig, Fiver and Pipkin for their courage; and to Blackberry and Dandelion for their lightness of spirit.

The creation of a culture and language for the rabbits, and other creatures, rivals Tolkien’s masterpieces. I loved the rabbit constructions to try to label human concepts. I loved the fables reminiscent of the Brer Rabbit tales that offered deeper insight into the culture, and the life lessons gently taught through the various adventures in creating the new warren. It was only halfway through the book (maybe further)that it struck me that these tales, which were supposed to be timeless and ancient, all featured men who smoked cigarettes, and drove cars and trucks. And then, by the end of the book, it all made sense. For one thing, twenty or ten years ago is ancient history to a rabbit who packs all of his own adventures into, perhaps, three quick years. Another more important thing is that the tales of El-ahrairah are not concrete and set in stone, but an oral history which grows with the generations. That moment towards the end of the book that proves this also brought home to me, with a greater clarity, how utterly beautiful Richard Adams's portrait of lapine culture is. How extraordinarily wonderful the whole picture of rabbit-kind is.

I used to think that rabbits were just cute, floppy-eared carrot-eaters with a penchant for hopping. After this read, I will never be able to look at them the same way ever again! ...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Jason Koivu rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, fantasy

REVISION:

DAMN YOU, 2016, STOP THE MADNESS!!!

https://watership-down.com/2016/12/27...

* * * * * *

ORIGINAL:

DAMN YOU, WATERSHIP DOWN, STOP MAKING ME CRY!!!

When I was in school, the teachers played the movie version (the one with Art Garfunkel songs, Zero Mostel as the bird, and a bevy of well-respected English actors providing voice-overs) of this epic drama of courageous rabbits and us kids just bawled. The sadness, she was too much!

It's been 30, maybe 35 years on since then and I figured, despite ...more

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Mar 28, 2017 Monica rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fantasy, kindle_scifi_fan, audio, popular

There is an ongoing discussion on goodreads about whether or not your friends' opinions of books influences your own when writing reviews. Prior to this book, I would have said not really. Possibly because many of my friends have similar tastes in books. With Watership Down, my first instinct was to assail this book. Mock it mercilessly! But in my long list of friends, the question seemed to be "Is it a great book or is it the best book ever!?!" Now this will not be a favorite for me, but it did ...more

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Dec 09, 2014 Scott rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favourites, classics, fiction

Every conversation I have ever had about this book:

Me: "Really? You haven't read Watership Down?!'
You: "Nope"
Me: "Read it! It's beautiful! A work of touching, thoughtful genius!"
You: "What's it about?"
Me: "Never mind that, it's a stunning book. Just read it. You'll love it."
You: "So it's a naval theme then? Like a Das Boot-y book? Or a Titanic style story?"
Me: "Well... no, its more, well, it's based on land. In England. Seriously though, Richard Adams is a hell of a storyteller."
You: "Oh! OK, so ...more

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Dec 20, 2008 Manny rated it liked 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 call him 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 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/gruesom...

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!
...more

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May 22, 2019 Justin Tate rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Watership Down is a classic because no one else--except maybe Elmer Fudd--has ever been this obsessed with rabbits. Adams explores rabbit lore, rabbit religion, rabbit social hierarchy, rabbit culture, rabbit war strategy and so much more--all while being chased by cats and driven to procreate. What could be more rabbit than that?

Unfortunately I have the minority opinion here that it's not very good. If I'm being completely honest, the rabbit protagonist novelty dissipates around page 75 and the ...more

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Feb 20, 2018 Johann (jobis89) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"We do not take moonlight for granted. It is like snow, or like the dew on a July morning. It does not reveal but changes what it covers. And its low intensity---so much lower than that of daylight---makes us conscious that it is something added to the down, to give it, for only a little time, a singular and marvelous quality that we should admire while we can, for soon it will be gone again."

Watership Down follows the story of a group of rabbits who are in search of a new home after they escape "We do not take moonlight for granted. It is like snow, or like the dew on a July morning. It does not reveal but changes what it covers. And its low intensity---so much lower than that of daylight---makes us conscious that it is something added to the down, to give it, for only a little time, a singular and marvelous quality that we should admire while we can, for soon it will be gone again."

Watership Down follows the story of a group of rabbits who are in search of a new home after they escape the destruction of their warren.

Let's provide some background to my Watership Down reading experience - I've never seen the movie, never read the book before, so I honestly had no idea what to expect. Watership Down is also my friend Mindi's (Instagram handle: @gowsy33) all-time favourite book, which is actually what prompted me to finally read this greatly loved story. I love dogs and I love sloths and cute little animal videos on facebook, but I wouldn't say I was a HUGE animal lover, especially when it comes to animal characters in books.

Well, let me tell you… I was NOT expecting this. I was not expecting to develop such an intense affection for these rabbits in Watership Down. When I wasn't reading the book, I was thinking about them, and I was WORRIED. I was concerned. My boyfriend even knew the ins and outs, my love for Bigwig and Hazel, the hardships these poor rabbits were facing! I feel like this book has really provided me with a newfound empathy for those poor rabbits out in the wild. They just want to survive and live a good life when they have to face so much adversity *cries*

Anyway, let me compose myself again. When I first started reading this book, a number of rabbit names were being thrown at me and I was thinking to myself "I'll never remember who is who, how am I meant to form a connection with these bunnies"… well, by the end, I could tell you that Bigwig was the brave, strong one (although they were all brave to some degree), and Hazel was the level-headed and intelligent leader, and Fiver was such an adorable little bunny who I kinda want to take home with me… they all had their own little unique traits and personalities that just made them so loveable.

The story and the characters are truly incredible, very quickly I was completely absorbed into the plight this warren was facing. However, a special mention must go to Adams' writing - HOLY HELL. Some paragraphs completely blew me away - I would find myself reading and rereading certain parts because they were so perfectly crafted and just so TRUE. The descriptions of nature and the flowers - I'll be honest, I couldn't tell the difference between many flowers - but these descriptions were fantastic. And I was lucky enough that my edition had some of the most beautiful illustrations that really made the experience even more magical.

This book is a rollercoaster of emotions, I was terrified for these rabbits, I was anxious, I felt tense, I cried tears of joy at points (and also some tears of sadness) - my feelings were really put through the wringer here. And I went into this thinking "Pfft it's just a story about some rabbits" when really it is SO much more than that. It's about friendship and bravery and community and making a life for yourself. I'm floored. Completely floored. And I honestly don't think I'd have ever picked this book up if it wasn't for bookstagram. So thank you, bookstagram (and Mindi), for enriching my life with this wonderful story about the rabbits on Watership Down. It's been emotionally trying. ...more

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Jul 04, 2013 Maciek rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, read-in-2013

"I announce with trembling pleasure the appearance of a great story."

In 1972, an unknown British novelist named Richard Adams published his debut novel with a rather misleading title, Watership Down. After being rejected 13 times by various publisher it was finally accepted by Rex Collings, a one-man company which worked on a shoestring and couldn't pay Adams any advance, but had important connections in the London literary scene and made sure that it was read by everyone who mattered. Rex ...more

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Feb 04, 2010 Fabian rated it liked it

I had started this before but shelved it for more than EIGHT years! Worth the wait?

Now, without that adolescent sense of awe, I do not share Donnie Darko's fascination with it (though Joy Division for sure will never go out of style). Yes, because I associate it with my formative (hellish) years, I think I made a bigger deal about getting through this than I should have.

In reality, it is actually a sorta Tolkienesque experiment personifying rabbits. As a reader you feel for the critters & ...more

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Nov 06, 2013 Carmen rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: fiction, favorites, traditionally-published, he-says

Actually, I do not give this book a 5. It is worth much more! This book is a classic for a reason. Read it, buy it, read it to your children, give it to your children... Seriously, if you have not read this book yet, READ IT NOW. It is about rabbits. It is also about bravery, warlords, leadership, sacrifice, adventures, spies, friendship, rescue missions and so much more. This is not the first time I've read this book and it certainly won't be the last. Don't miss out on this stunning adventure! ...more

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Oct 21, 2007 Amy rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic, anthropomorphic, abandoned-forever

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 ...more

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Mar 16, 2013 ``Laurie Henderson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-books, animal-books

Watership Down is a modern classic that has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.

Watership Down is my 3rd favorite book of all time behind
Gone with the Wind and
In a Dark Wood Wandering: A Novel of the Middle Ages
I've tremendously enjoyed re-reading this wonderful book again.

Author Richard Adams love of nature and knowledge of English flora and fauna made it so easy to enter the imaginary world of WD to the point of even being able to sniff the flowers and enjoy the scenery.

The delightful and ...more

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Nov 08, 2019 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, novels, fiction, fantasy, british, adventure, young-adult, 20th-century, animals

Watership Down (Watership Down #1), Richard Adams
Watership Down is a survival and adventure novel by British author Richard Adams, published in 1972. Set in southern England, around Hampshire, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural wild environment, with burrows, they are possessing their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry, and mythology. Evoking epic themes, the novel follows the rabbits as they escape the destruction of their warren and seek a ...more

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Jan 16, 2015 Em Lost In Books rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star, 2015, stand-alone-read

read this book last year and was one of my absolute favorite of the year (also now one of my all time favorites), but never came around to write a review for this one. A book like this one deserves a review and so here I am writing one for this.

When I started reading this book, the talking rabbits seems weird and was very near to stop reading but at that time I was on my way to see my newly born niece. so nothing else to do for one hour I kept reading this book and absolutely fell in love with ...more

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Aug 21, 2008 Robert rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

When I was very young I was taken to see this movie that my parents probably thought would have cute, comical bunnies in it. Thusly I was exposed to disturbing images of fields of blood, extreme bunny-bunny violence and weird, floaty and somehow scary black rabbits...there was also an alarmingly bad song called Bright Eyes. The whole thing was incomprehensible and scary and I didn't like it. And the song was everywhere for weeks...

Zillions of years later the scars have healed and I eventually When I was very young I was taken to see this movie that my parents probably thought would have cute, comical bunnies in it. Thusly I was exposed to disturbing images of fields of blood, extreme bunny-bunny violence and weird, floaty and somehow scary black rabbits...there was also an alarmingly bad song called Bright Eyes. The whole thing was incomprehensible and scary and I didn't like it. And the song was everywhere for weeks...

Zillions of years later the scars have healed and I eventually get round to finding out if all that fuss back in the '70s was merited.

Well, by the time I'm at the end of Part 2 (view spoiler) I didn't really think so. It seemed like it had been too easy and anticlimactic. There were no female characters. I also felt that the theme of human impact being negative and destructive was a little too easy: novelists now, as then, have their environmental impact, as do we all. It's easy to suggest that humans are degrading their environment, harder to say what should be done about it given that we are all complicit in it - and Adams makes no effort at all in that direction.

Little did I suspect that this was just the pre-amble to a tremendous adventure in which this theme would be dropped almost entirely and the focus would shift toward questions of leadership, governance and the will to power. Or that the lack of female rabbits would turn out to be crucial to what was going to happen next.

Now, a bunch of talking rabbits should really be laughable, but they really aren't. How does Adams acheive this? Partly by creating convincing characters, something that is, of course, crucial to the success of any novel but that doesn't resolve the absurdity of talking rabbits. One method adopted by Adams is to remember that they are rabbits, not just metamorphosed humans, which one might think would be counter-productive but turns out not to be. So these rabbits behave like rabbits and where human cultural attitudes conflict with the general behaviour of rabbits, rabbit behaviour is kept. Rabbit behaviour is also described in detail, from a position of knowledge. But here's what makes the whole thing really work: The rabbits have a language, folk-tales, myths, legends and religion all their own. The floaty black rabbit from the film symbolises death and in the book is a good deal less floaty, more corporeal and even more scary. This doesn't stop the vaguely Promethean Ancestor-Father-Trickster-Rabbit of rabbit legend taking him on, though!

This matter of a society having history that merges into myth and legend, language that is convincingly represented, religious or spiritual elements to its culture seems to me to be a common factor linking the best works of fantasy (and what is more fantastical than a bunch of talking bunnies?). People talk about world-building in relation to fantasy and SF. I would suggest that these aspects of the world to be built are crucial.

The rabbit-language is so well handled that when Bigwig tells his nemesis to "Silflay hraka," it has all the offensive force of any crude one-liner a Hollywood action star has ever delivered and suits the moment perfectly. Was that in the film? I can't remember, but it should be! This happens during a denouement that has several perfect moments and becomes another folk-tale added to the rich store of stories kept in the warrens of the Lapines.

So the wobbly start of parts 1 and 2 turns out in part to be well thought out and necessary for what comes later and in part just forgetable once stuck into the drama of parts 3 and 4, where even the humans turn out to be not all bad after all. ...more

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Sep 30, 2019 Michelle Hilbrands rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 17, 2016 Celeste rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-i-ve-read, fantasy, favorites, best-books-i-ve-ever-read

You can now find this review and more at Novel Notions.

I’ve been a huge fantasy reader since around fifth grade. So how on earth did I miss Watership Down while I was in school? Did our library not have a copy? Was its reputation as a “classic” a deterrent to friends who might have told me of its existence? Whatever the case, I had never even heard of Watership Down until the later years of college. The people who raved about the book then were generally hipster guys, beating everyone else over You can now find this review and more at Novel Notions.

I’ve been a huge fantasy reader since around fifth grade. So how on earth did I miss Watership Down while I was in school? Did our library not have a copy? Was its reputation as a “classic” a deterrent to friends who might have told me of its existence? Whatever the case, I had never even heard of Watership Down until the later years of college. The people who raved about the book then were generally hipster guys, beating everyone else over the head with their favorite novel. Obviously, that was a huge turn off for me. So I never picked up this book until this month (October of 2017), for a bookclub I recently joined. Man, do I regret waiting so long. On the other hand, it’s pretty amazing to discover what would have been a childhood favorite as an adult, and be able to embrace it as a new favorite that can stand proudly next to older favorites on your bookshelf.

Watership Down is the tale of Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig, and other young buck rabbits who leave their home to establish their own warren. Their adventure is fraught with peril and risk, but ingenuity and courage and just plain luck carry them through. I won’t get into details. I don’t want to give anything away, because I really believe that everybody should, at some point in their lives, read this book. It’s a classic for a reason. And the reason is that the story is compelling and well-written and so real that you can smell the grass on Watership Down and feel the heat of the summer sun.

One of my favorite things about the novel was Adams’ use of epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter. It was fun to figure out why the author had chosen each epigraph, as they always related somehow to the plot of that particular chapter. The material he referenced was vastly varied, and added to the entertainment for me. Bookworms love literary references! The mythology that Adams created for the rabbits was wonderful, as well, breaking up the main story nicely and providing some levity.

Another thing I really enjoyed about Watership Down was the fact the author’s rabbits were just that: rabbits. Some of my favorite books from childhood featured anthropomorphic characters. Starting with the Alphapets books that helped teach me to read and carrying on into the worlds of Narnia and Redwall, many of my favorite literary animals were pretty much people with fur and tails. They walked like us, ate like us, and dressed like us. Not so with Hazel and the other rabbits of Watership Down. They were rabbits through and through, with the diets and problems and life expectancies and mannerisms that I would expect from a rabbit.

This review is pretty much just a long, muddled way for me to say, “Hey, you. You should really read this book.” ...more

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About Richard Adams

Richard Adams

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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 Germany. In 1940 Adams joined the British Army, in which he served until 1946. He received a class B discharge enabling him to return to ...more

Other books in the series

Watership Down (2 books)

Books by Richard Adams

Tales from Watership Down (Watership Down, #2)

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Quotes from Watership Down

“All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever 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 shall never be destroyed.” — 798 likes

“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.” — 710 likes

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