I have faint childhood memories of watching a cartoon that I believe was based on Watership Down. It left me with the impression of it being slightly scary and sad. When I decided to actually read the book, I wasn’t quite sure what I would find. I have been pleasantly surprised. Somewhere between a children’s book and … reality? I don’t know how you would class it really. But it was thoroughly enjoyable. And slightly scary and sad too.
Plot summary
In the Sandleford rabbit warren, two young rabbits, Hazel and Fiver, begin to feel restless. When Fiver has vision of the destruction of the warren, they decide it’s time to leave. Gathering a small band of rabbits who believe Fiver’s vision, they set off to start a warren of their own. Along the way they meet with humans, farms, strange seabirds and other rabbits both warlike and captive. There is death and new life, adventure and story telling as the small group seeks a new place to call home.
Watership Down has the appeal of a fairytale and the realism of a nature journal
I would say, on the whole, that this is a children’s book. Yet, it has a wider appeal than you might think. While it has the elements of a fairytale, it is told with factual directness. Rabbits get wounded and die or are eaten by predators. They mate. They don’t build houses or wear clothes. I think it would appeal particularly to slightly older children, as younger ones might perhaps be put off or confused by some of these elements. However, it’s a pleasant and innocent read for adults too.
Adams captures the natural world beautifully. You can tell how much he loved the area about which he writes. The rabbit characters are multidimensional and the story line is really quite fascinating. I found myself thoroughly engaged, rooting for Hazel and his band through all their adventures. The writing conjured up the English countryside for me, from a rabbits perspective and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
For me, I think it was the dark parts that made the lighter side of this novel all the better. The battles, death and struggle of the rabbits made their successes more piquant. When they cosy up in their warren to tell stories, it’s a delightful balance to running scared from enemy rabbits or fighting to save themselves from a snare. Perhaps that’s just life in general: our sweetest moments are all the sweeter for the suffering that has gone before.
