Watership Down

This book was recommended to me by Michael Torpey, a friend whose opinion I value highly. Even though I had not previously heard about it, Watership Down apparently is almost an English classic. Almost everyone around me had at least seen the animated movie version.

  The story is entertaining and easy to read. Though I found that the rabbit mythology, introduced as short stories within the novel, felt at times like they were interrupting the fluidity of the plot. It seemed to me that the plot gained little by including these myths, and that their omission would not have significally changed the course of events. However, I must accept that having included these stories within the story did contribute to the beauty of the epilogue, which left me with a smile.

  I do agree with some of the criticism that I have read. The female rabbits are indeed portrayed mainly as sexual objects, and I do believe that all the current dialogue on sexual misconduct intensified the awkwardness of this portrayal. One must remember that this novel is based on stories that the author told his daughters to entertain them on long journeys, surely he did not mean any harm? Though there was also an ethnic reference which further contributed to making the story feel dated.

  Perhaps I am beeing too harsh. I should leave it on a positive note: Watership Down is a nice story about rabbits.