Thursday 10 November 2011

Adams, Richard "Watership Down"


Adams, Richard "Watership Down" - 1972

When I looked up the year this was published, I could hardly believe it. Almost forty years ago. Seems like yesterday.

I saw this story as a sign how careless we are with Mother Nature, how easily we destroy our home planet, how little we consider our fellow human and animal beings. A very sad story.

Apparently, the author based this tale on his own war experiences. No wonder it is so gloomy, yet real, and - therefore - fantastic. It is full of symbolism, retells stories of old, and thus turns into a timeless philosophical account.

Everybody should read this.

From the back cover:
"Watership Down is one of the most beloved novels of our time. Sandleford Warren is in danger. Hazel's younger brother Fiver is convinced that a great evil is about to befall the land, but no one will listen. And why would they when it is Spring and the grass is fat and succulent? So together Hazel and Fiver and a few other brave rabbits secretly leave behind the safety and strictures of the warren and hop tentatively out into a vast and strange world. Chased by their former friends, hunted by dogs and foxes, avoiding farms and other human threats, but making new friends, Hazel and his fellow rabbits dream of a new life in the emerald embrace of Watership Down."

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