Search - Watership Down

honestly, I put off reading this for a long time. not outright, but I always had other books higher in the to-read pile. I did not know what the book was about, except that it had to do with rabbits, and perhaps a boat. there is a boat, of sorts I guess, but that’s not where the “Ship” in the title comes from. for moon-calf Americans like myself, I will explain that Watership Down is a place name. it’s a hill.

so the book is about rabbits on a hill? well, yes, but no, of course not. honestly this is one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I immediately went out and ordered it in hardcover as I know I will be rereading it at least once every two years for the rest of my life. that’s how amazing it is. so, no, not just rabbits on a hill.

and the rabbits are not Disney rabbits, or Lewis Carrol rabbits, wearing waistcoats and top hats or helping a princess with the household chores. Adams, with fantastic storytelling, weaves you into the world of real rabbits in a delightful, astonishing, and sometimes quite harrowing way. oh, if you only know rabbits to be fluffy little poopsies, you can think again. and you might not feel so comfortable wearing bunny slippers after this, either!

this book is an adventure unlike anything I was expecting. I was laughing; I was on the edge of the bed with my eyes wide open; I was even crying, and it takes one hell of a story to make me cry. I was practically blissful at the end of the book, even though it was over.

yay, Watership Down :D

A Hare-o-ing tail of courage and survival on the Down. Written from a rabbits point of view its quite unique. I liked it.

I recently gave a copy of this to a friend who said to me, "Rabbits? For years I thought this was about a boat!" Guess she'd never seen the cover of the book. *g*

That said, this ranks right up there with Betty Smith's 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' as one of my all time favourite books. Who would have throught a book about RABBITS would be engaging?

It was a very emotional read - sorrow, anger, joy and every emotion in between was felt as I read this book. I have vague memories of the animated movie and lots of blood - so I had been scared to read this book even though I had wanted to do so for several years. I'm thrilled that I read it now and found it a wonderful read - a fantastic story of survival against all odds. (Yes, I might hunt down the movie just to see it 'in action'!)

The great classic I remembered as a child....still intriguing as an adult....

Epic tale of a hardy band of adventurers forced to flee the destruction of their fragile community.

If there was a rating higher than 10, I would post it. I think (along with many others) that this is the greatest book ever written. The author gives wonderful description, narrative, and dialogue. Watership Down is the story of a group of rabbits who flee their doomed warren in search of safer meadows. The reader is pulled into the journey as they become oddly attatched to the rabbits of the story. I recommend anyone to read this book, or at least give it a fair try. And don't fool yourself into thinking it's about just a bunch of animals. It's so so much more than that!