Product Description

"Watership Down" is stunning - a compulsive read. The story is a picaresque saga about a motley band of rabbits who desert their ancient warren when the gentle 'fiver' predicts imminent destruction of all who remain. Led by Fiver's intelligent brother Hazel, the refugees set out on an epic search fro a new home.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26040 in Books
• Published on: 1973-01-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 478 pages

From Amazon.com
Watership Down has been a staple of high-school English classes for years. Despite the fact that it's often a hard sell at first (what teenager wouldn't cringe at the thought of 400-plus pages of talking rabbits?), Richard Adams's bunny-centric epic rarely fails to win the love and respect of anyone who reads it, regardless of age. Like most great novels, Watership Down is a rich story that can be read (and reread) on many different levels. The book is often praised as an allegory, with its analogs between human and rabbit culture (a fact sometimes used to goad skeptical teens, who resent the challenge that they won't "get" it, into reading it), but it's equally praiseworthy as just a corking good adventure.

The story follows a warren of Berkshire rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a land developer. As they search for a safe haven, skirting danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band and its compelling culture and mythos. Adams has crafted a touching, involving world in the dirt and scrub of the English countryside, complete with its own folk history and language (the book comes with a "lapine" glossary, a guide to rabbitese). As much about freedom, ethics, and human nature as it is about a bunch of bunnies looking for a warm hidey-hole and some mates, Watership Down will continue to make the transition from classroom desk to bedside table for many generations to come. --Paul Hughes

From AudioFile
This simple story of the arduous migration of a band of rabbits to a safer home is an artful blending of epic, myth and creative language. While this rendition conveys the basic story, it obstructs deeper appreciation of this rich work. The narrator seems rushed. There are few suspenseful pauses and no modulation of voice for chapter breaks, lexical footnotes, literary extracts or mythic digressions. The result is an amorphous stream of words which are difficult to disentangle. Such a complex book will succeed in audio only with an articulate reading to help the listener follow its many threads. This reading does not. B.M.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

--Chicago Tribune
"Spellbinding...Marvelous...A Taut Tale of Suspense, Hot Pursuit, and Derring-Do."

Customer Reviews

Timeless and for all ages
Only the British seem to know how to write for children without talking down to them. While telling a gripping adventure about a group of rabbits, Adams also makes a strong statement about the nature of leadership, contrasting the intelligent and intuitive protagonist Hazel with the repressive and authoritarian General Woundwort. The book's environmental message is also as relevant today as when it was written.

Classic Work of Literature for ALL ages
i read this book when i first started my second semester english class because it was lying around and i couldnt find another book to read, but now, im glad i did read it. its a wonderful book, full of adventure of thrill.. it really left me on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what was going to happen next with Hazel and his friends, and the dictionary in the back is fun to look at when u dont know what one of the authors words mean. Best of all, kids of all ages can relate to the book, and even if your not a kid, its still a good book to read in your spare time. i reccomend this book to people who have nothing better to do.. enjoy a good story once in a while.. even if it is about a fantasy world of rabbits and their society.. although i did get wrapped up in the book, because the author uses imagery strongly, leaving you with an almost movie like version of the book playing in your head.. buy this book.. not becuase you can, but becuase i said so...

We Need More Bunnies!
Watership Down is one of those delightful books that I love to re-read when I little down--a little funky. I know it will pick me up and brighten this somewhat dismal world that sometimes comes down the road.

Watership Down is the allegorical story of a warren of rabbits who have to flee because their country domain is being destroyed by modern man and technology. It is the story of Hazel, Bigwig, Fiver, and the rest of their friends and family as they try to find a new living space in this sometimes cruel world. They have their own bunny language, their own epic heroes, and their own lives which every reader can equate to his or her own self.

I thought this is one of Adam's best works, and I found in it much suspense as the rabbits make their way across the English countryside with just enough pauses for me to catch my breath and continue on. After all, these are rabbits.

In this sometimes cold and callous world, we need more bunnies.