A Cozy Adventure: a review of Watership Down

As we anticipate winter coming to a close, add Watership Down to your Springtime reading list. A wholesome story full of simple warmth. But you will also find that rabbits can be darker than you might have expected!

Perhaps you have watched the movie adaptation of Watership Down, or maybe you were forced to read it in grade school, in which case you already probably have opinions on this book. However, I had never read this book nor seen the movie, but it always struck me as a book I would like. If nothing else, it is about rabbits. You can't get cozier than rabbits!

However, if you are expecting little bunnies in jackets and hats living in little villages with houses and such, you would be wrong. Watership Down is as realistic a story of rabbits as you can get when the rabbits talk, and have religion and folklore. As such, then, you also find that nature's darkness is fully exemplified in this story-- predators, human interference and hunting, weather, etc.

This makes for a far different read than what I was expecting from a book about bunnies.

That being said, this book works, and I enjoyed it! But it did not blow me away.

First of all, it was a bit long and drug a bit in places. However, this was not as bad as it could have been thanks to interludes of rabbit folklore. The folklore was a nice touch, adding depth to an otherwise surface level tale. It felt highly reminiscent of Kipling. That being said, the story itself is fairly simple: a group of rabbits, on a premonition of evil to come, set out on a dangerous journey to find a new place to live. As you can imagine, the interludes of folklore is highly helpful to keep the plot from becoming dull; but I do think that even with the interludes the story could have been more condensed. Particularly considering that the journey ends before the book does, resulting in almost what feels like a sequel, and perhaps it should have been a second book!

Secondly, and despite my criticism above, the story is perfectly charming. The perfect marriage of nature as it exists in reality and fantasy. Obviously, rabbits are cute, and each character is distinct in personality. But additionally, nature is brutal, and the necessity of survival brings out the very best and worst in all of us-- even the tiniest and cutest of creatures.

Finally, and also despite my earlier criticism, I find it rather brilliant to write a story of rabbits as an almost Odysseyian epic! However, this is also equally a difficulty with the book because, unfortunately, rabbits don't have the depth of personality that humans do, if you are trying to write them semi-realistically. While Richard Adams' choice to write realistic animals into an epic tale is brilliant, I also find it equally problematic. Quite frankly, it is a little bit boring.

But all that being said, I enjoyed Watership Down. It met my expectations as a cozy book, with an unexpected element of darkness, which I also enjoyed. It just could have been a little bit shorter.