Watership Down

Submitted by Reviewer (not verified) on Saturday, November 12, 2005 - 23:38

( A )

Richard Adams: Watership Down

Author	Richard Adams
Made	Avon
Date	1976-01-01
Media	Mass Market Paperback
Catalog	Book
Sales Rank	84875
List Price	US$7.99

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Reviews:

Rating 4.5/5 from 926 reviews

Awesome Book

Rating: 5/5 2008-04-30

This is a good book! Its really detailed, and it is interesting. I would reccomend it!

Incredible imagery and imagination...

Rating: 5/5 2008-04-24

Watership Down was probably the best story I have ever had the pleasure to get lost in. The imagery in this books is absolutely incredable; out of this world: Adams takes the reader deep into the story so that you are experiencing all the emotion, sounds, smells, fears, excitement, and all else that the characters experience. I got so attached to the characters that I cried at the ending. I have never ever cried over a book...a movie...but not a book. I'll never forget this story- loved it so much that I'm on amazon right now checking out some of Richard Adams' other books to purchase. Highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy having their imagination stimulated...not the right book for those who get lost in too much discription

Watership Down: typicality in the untraditional sense

Rating: 4/5 2008-04-23

Watership Down encompasses a journey of rabbits in search for a new warren to live in safety. While this objective may seem simple to accomplish, the rabbits run into many obstacles along the way and such a goal becomes distant but not impossible to these fervent animals. Of course, the rabbits portray human qualities such as emotion, language, and complex cognitive thought. Needless to say then, it is obvious that each rabbit on this journey is an individual who carries their own personality. So while the novel concentrates on the journey of the rabbits itself, it effectively incorporates each of the rabbits journey also. Such a novel about brave rabbits in search for a new home, surpassing barriers, and finally reaching a content end seems to be a typical "hero's journey." Indeed, this plot resembles the stereotypical journey, but the author does so in such a creative and interesting way. I found that reading from an animals point of view is rather interesting, even though the complexities of their thoughts are probably unlike our own. Normally, heroes are associated with people. This novel, however, defeats that archetype extending it to our fellow creatures. Next, their journey was quite suspenseful. At first, reading about rabbits finding a new home may seem anything but engrossing. Yet here again, the author tactfully renders the journey as interesting as our own would be. Reading more into the novel, the characters grow on you and the danger they face becomes important to the reader. True, nature can be so fascinating. The book itself was rather ideal in that I began to think I was reading a child's book. Not in a derogatory sense at all. It was an easy read that was enjoyable to the point where it was as if I was a kid again enjoying a heroic story. It was not as if I as a busy college student reading the book without interest just to quickly memorize the comprehension for an upcoming test. In my opinion therefore, the author creatively takes a classic tale and generates it into an unorthodox novel.

A Great Book

Rating: 5/5 2008-04-22

This is definitely one of my favorite books. 5 stars.

I had to read this book for a humanities literature course. Having never heard of it before, I was a little skeptical when I found out that the characters were rabbits. However, the professor promised us that we would enjoy the book once it got going. It was one of his personal favorites.

Once I got through the first 50 pages or so, I couldn't put it down. I was reading any chance I had to see where the adventure was going next. The rabbits' epic journey makes for a great story that's easy to get into. I'm sure that I will read this one again sometime in the future.

Forever five stars.

Rating: 5/5 2008-03-27

A thousand stars! A million stars! Watership Down is a classic, and deservedly so. It's simply one of the finest works of fiction in the history of fiction. Buy it and read it RIGHT NOW.

Editorials:

Product Description

One of the most beloved novels of our time, Richard Adams's Watership Down takes us to a world we have never truly seen: to the remarkable life that teems in the fields, forests and riverbanks far beyond our cities and towns. It is a powerful saga of courage, leadership and survival; an epic tale of a hardy band of adventurers forced to flee the destruction of their fragile community...and their trials and triumphs in the face of extraordinary adversity as they pursue a glorious dream called "home."

Watership Down is a remarkable tale of exile and survival, of heroism and leadership...the epic novel of a group of adventurers who desert their doomed city, and venture forth against all odds on a quest for a new home, a sturdier future,

Amazon.com

Watership Down has been a staple of high-school English classes for years. Despite the fact that it's often a hard sell at first (what teenager wouldn't cringe at the thought of 400-plus pages of talking rabbits?), Richard Adams's bunny-centric epic rarely fails to win the love and respect of anyone who reads it, regardless of age. Like most great novels, Watership Down is a rich story that can be read (and reread) on many different levels. The book is often praised as an allegory, with its analogs between human and rabbit culture (a fact sometimes used to goad skeptical teens, who resent the challenge that they won't "get" it, into reading it), but it's equally praiseworthy as just a corking good adventure.

The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer. As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a "lapine" glossary, a guide to rabbitese). As much about freedom, ethics, and human nature as it is about a bunch of bunnies looking for a warm hidey-hole and some mates, Watership Down will continue to make the transition from classroom desk to bedside table for many generations to come. --Paul Hughes

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