Book Review: Watership Down by Richard Adams

Watership Down by Richard Adams

A group of rabbits led by Hazel flee from their warren when his brother Fiver has a disturbing vision of near-future destruction. They run through the countryside looking for a new warren to join or a new spot to establish their own warren. After encountering a troubling warren where the rabbits behave in very un-rabbit-like ways, the band finds an isolated spot on Watership Down. Building a warren is just the first step. The rabbits are all bucks. They need some does to make the warren viable long-term. Not too far away is an overcrowded warren governed by Woundwort, a large and totalitarian rabbit who won't let anyone out. Hazel's group makes a bold plan to free some does, which, like all plans, doesn't work out perfectly. 

The story works on many levels. You wouldn't think a writer could make a compelling or exciting story about rabbits going on adventures, but here's proof that such thinking is wrong. The plot is very exciting and makes the 400+ pages fly by quickly. The author builds some interesting history and mythology for the rabbits. The rabbits often tell each other stories, especially about legendary trickster El-ahrairah, a rabbit who often got his way through clever contrivances. The rabbit have their own words for things, like "silflay" which is when they eat above ground (the book even has a vocabulary list at the end!). The story also works as a condemnation of repressive societies and authoritarian leaders. There's so much to like here.

Highly recommended.

Also, this book is the subject of A Good Story is Hard To Find podcast #241 where they have a much deeper discussion of the book. I'm glad they inspired me to read this story!