Rabbit, Run (Rabbit Angstrom, #1) in Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

Apr 19, 2012 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 1001-bymrbyd

Holy Hannah! I don't think I've ever read a book quite like this one. Actually, this is my first Updike book, but I'm sure it won't be the last. Not that it was a pleasant read, necessarily; it may be the only book I've ever read where all the major characters had serious flaws. Rabbit (Harry Angstrom) is immature, irresponsible, selfish and narcissistic, and those are just his best qualities! He's oversexed, his wife is a frigid drunk, and you don't need a crystal ball to see where this one's h Holy Hannah! I don't think I've ever read a book quite like this one. Actually, this is my first Updike book, but I'm sure it won't be the last. Not that it was a pleasant read, necessarily; it may be the only book I've ever read where all the major characters had serious flaws. Rabbit (Harry Angstrom) is immature, irresponsible, selfish and narcissistic, and those are just his best qualities! He's oversexed, his wife is a frigid drunk, and you don't need a crystal ball to see where this one's headed. So here I am, reading this book in which I'm feeling nothing but contempt for the main characters, and I can barely make myself put the darn thing down. It was absolutely engrossing from start to finish.

I think the only thing that bothered me about this tale is that Mr. Updike was fond of very long rambling run on sentences, paragraphs really, that were somewhat confusing. This was probably a writer's device to portray confusion in the mind of the subject but it served to befuddle me just as much. Another thing that had me puzzled was the sexual content. Now this book was apparently banned for explicit sex, among other things; how's this for explicit sex:

Rough with herself, she forces the dry other into his face, coated with cool pollen that dissolves. He opens his eyes, seeking her, and sees her face a soft mask gazing downward calmly, caring for him, and closes his eyes on the food of her again; his hand abandoned on the breadth of her body finds at arm's length a split pod, an open fold, shapeless and simple. They enter a lazy space. He wants the time to stretch long, to great length and thinness. As they deepen together he feels impatience that through all their twists they remain separate flesh; he cannot dare enough, now that she is so much his friend in this search; everywhere they meet a wall. The body lacks voice to sing it's own song. Impatience tapers; she floats through his blood as under his eyelids a salt smell, damp pressure, the sense of her smallness... You get the picture.

I don't know how that passage and others like it in the book portray explicit sex. Cool pollen? Floats through his blood? I don't even know what the heck went on there!

In spite of the very minor observations just mentioned this is a great read, a study in morality really. My favorite quote was uttered by Rabbit's old coach Tothero: Right and wrong aren't dropped from the sky. We. We make them. Against misery. Invariably, Harry, invariably

As a last note, I would like to make a mental thank you to Mr. Updike for refraining from beating the sports thing to death here. I can't abide basketball. Never could. That's the main reason I held off on starting this book for so long. ...more

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May 02, 2014 Casey rated it did not like it

Shelves: 1001-books, the-serious-lit, your-book-sucked, i-don-t-get-the-hype

Most books are bad, not because they're actively terrible, but simply because they're not good. These types of books are easy to dislike, but difficult to despise: it's hard to find the will to hate something that never really stirred up a strong emotion in the first place. Rabbit, Run is not this kind of bad book. No, it's a carefully crafted, well written piece of misogynistic wish-fulfillment that's so unlikeable and so offensive that its status as a beloved American classic is, to this reade Most books are bad, not because they're actively terrible, but simply because they're not good. These types of books are easy to dislike, but difficult to despise: it's hard to find the will to hate something that never really stirred up a strong emotion in the first place. Rabbit, Run is not this kind of bad book. No, it's a carefully crafted, well written piece of misogynistic wish-fulfillment that's so unlikeable and so offensive that its status as a beloved American classic is, to this reader, inexplicable.

Does this review make me sound overly vitriolic? Well, consider this example: (view spoiler)

This is the kind of book that made me look up from my Kindle and say to reading "You know, we've had a long run, but this whole reading thing just isn't working out for me. It's not anything either of us did, it's just the way this book has been making me feel recently. I think I'm going to have to sit on the couch, watch some tv, and think things through."

To which reading replied "I'm not ready to give up on you. We've had so many good times together. Remember when we sat in the park and gasped over plot twists in The Count of Monte Cristo? Remember reading Anna Karenina over and over again? Think about all the good things we have ahead of us: think about the George Eliot novels you haven't read, not the mention the Dickens. You haven't even finished Les Miserables yet! We promised we would do that together."

And, while reading was right, my intense dislike of Rabbit, Run caused us to go through something of a trial separation. Luckily, nothing can stop true love.

Anyway, I still feel terribly conflicted, because I wanted to like Rabbit, Run. The schadenfreude-rooted story that I had been told as bookish teenager with more angst than friends, was that the basketball stars and homecoming queens would be miserable, that they would peak in high school. In some versions of the story, they ended up fat, working late shifts at sleazy bars; in other versions, they ended up working for me. Importantly, in all versions of this story, they end up miserable.

Rabbit is supposed to be the miserable type: he's supposed to realize there's more to life than having 2.5 kids, and he's supposed to decide that he wants more than that. Rabbit, Run is supposed to be a cautionary story that tells those high school basketball types to wake up and get out. But, you know what, that story is just an untrue as the stories I was told. Because those insufferable high school kids have turned into insufferable adults with lovely homes and nice jobs and adorable families. I wouldn't trade my life for a second, but that doesn't stop me from occasionally lusting after their in-home washer and dryers.

And so it is, too, for Rabbit. For Rabbit, despite the running, despite understanding that there's more out there, never really changes anything, just bounces around and gets upset that he never quite has exactly what he thinks he deserves (spoiler alert: what he thinks he deserves is a lot of kinky sex with a wide array of women, and for everyone to fawn over him because he used to be okay at basketball in high school).

Rabbit, Run is surely important as a chronicle of the type of sexual and emotional abuse that women were expected to suffer with during the 1950's and 60's, all the while wearing a girdle and a smile and asking whether they can make their husbands a sandwich. I sighed with disgust when (view spoiler) ...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Joanie rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2012, bookclub, 1001-book-list, south-shore-readers

Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom has no redeeming qualities. He is a world class douche who runs from all responsibility. I don't get why this book was so groundbreaking. It's not a new story, the world is full of guys who run when life hands them a little too much reality. Maybe Updike was the first to write about this so openly, I don't know.

I am an emotional reviewer. If I don't like the main character I have a hard time liking the book and that was definitely true here. I reached a point where I didn ...more

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Jan 27, 2009 Clayton rated it it was amazing

I have had this book on my shelf for about three years. I picked it up on Monday. Tuesday, John Updike passed away. I am shocked and saddened at such a loss, but I am also grateful that someone so talented has left behind such a large body of work. This is a harsh, succinct powerhouse of a novel, and I would venture to say it is damn near the definitive portrayal of a typical American male. It is a book that all should read and learn from.

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Oct 07, 2008 Valerie F rated it did not like it

Shelves: fiction

This book was quite depressing and a sad portrayal of marriage. Not sure if I will chase down the other books in this series. I have minimal sympathy for Janice, and I couldn't muster any for Rabbit. ...more

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