Richard Adams
Teen Fiction 1972 | 475 pages
What a delightful book and story! On the very same day we decided to read a classic in book club, there was an article on NPR talking about the new Watership Down: A Graphic Novel that was just released earlier in the week. We chose to read either the graphic novel, or the full original novel, or both. I read both.
Richard Adams begins this story as a tale for his daughters while on a car journey, but gradually it grows into a life of its own. The story is about a warren of rabbits, Sandleford, who leave their home in search of another place to live, in part because of some destruction by humans, and in part because there are no does in the warren, and without does, there will be no kittens, and without kittens, there will be no warren in a few years.
They travel across Watership Down … an area of pasture and relatively flat land in England, in search of a new home and other rabbits. Fiver, who has extra-sensory powers, and Hazel, the warren’s wonderful compassionate and creative leader, are among the major rabbit characters, along with Bigwig, Bluebell, Dandelion, Wouldwort and others. Each has their own special skills. Each has their own special personality.
Yes, they talk as humans do, often using two primary rabbits languages that Adam created, LaPine and Hedgerow. And we are privy to all of their delightful conversations! This anthropomorphizing, along with violence and prejudice, (and, not noticed by many until recently, the total lack of any personality or action among the females in the book, the does) led to this being a controversial book. Though never banned nationally, some school districts would not allow it on their shelves. Of course, in a book this long, there are many interesting travels (along the metal road; in something that floated on the water) and many fights with Efrafa, a warren that is dictator-led, aggressive, and not compassionate or kind. And we learn many rabbit-isms!
Many reviewers and critics say this book is an allegory for WWII and the various leadership styles … Hitler, Eisenhower, Churchill, but please allow me to quote from Adam’s 2005 introduction to a new publication of Watership Down. “I want to emphasize that Watership Down was never intended to be some sort of allegory or parable. It is simply the story about rabbits made up and told in the car.” (page xvi).
If your read/reread both versions (and I DO recommend you do so), I would read the novel first and then the graphic novel. Because the novel is so rich, the graphic novel cannot begin to capture all the action. It will make more sense and hold more context if you read the graphic novel second. And, oh, to see the marvelous rabbits and land that the artist Joe Stuphi draws! Beautiful!
January 2024