Watership Down, by Richard Adams

Watership Down
Richard Adams

I WANT TO BE A RABBIT. Dammit! Why, God, why was I born a person? I want to be Bigwig. Or Fiver. Or Thethuthinnang, so I can have a cool name I'm not sure I'm pronouncing correctly.

To quote the french, le sigh.

So, anyway, years ago, me mither once told me about her favorite childhood book. She gave it to me to read, and it was all yellowed and weathered, and I saw it was super long, and I was like, oh crap do I really have to read this? But I did and it became my favorite book EVER. I read it about once a year after that until giving the book to my grandmom to read; I haven't seen it since. I still feel bad asking gram for it back, so I haven't.

Fast forward to a month ago, when I finally bought meself a new one. I wasn't going to read it yet, but I'm plowing through Anna Karenina, and, guess what? I'm bored and need a distraction. I'm not even quite 100 pages in, so I'm hoping I'll still be swept away. But for now: rabbits.

So I put Anna down and read this book again for the first time in years. Not surprisingly, I think I loved it more than I remember. Only this time, I didn't cry. (Well, to be fair, I was reading parts of it in work--I couldn't put it down, responsibilities be damned--and students were near. It wouldn't look right to be seen crying over a book about rabbits, so I had to suck it up. But damn, it was close for a minute there.)

This time around, I caught on to a lot of stuff I missed as a child. But the beauty of the story hasn't changed. It's a simply told story of a group of rabbits in search of a better life. The characters make the story, however, and I still, after all this time, can't decide which one is my favorite. There's Fiver, the psychic ; Bigwig, the lovable tough guy; Hazel, their unlikely leader; and El-ahrairah, the mischievous rabbit of folklore.

In a nutshell: A book for everyone of all ages. It's a fairly long read, but one that will fly by. And you aren't human if it doesn't make you even a little misty. I mean, come on. Rabbits, people. Rabbits.

Bibliolatry Scale: 6 out of 6 stars.