For years I have claimed Watership Down, a novel by Richard Adams, to be my absolutely most favorite book in the world. Since then I’ve read many other fantastic books, including best sellers and others I would give my eye teeth to have written myself. So I decided to reread this old favorite to see if it still held up as one of the best. I first read it in the seventies, and fell head over heels for what many call an allegory. But it is also a great adventure story, and a great example of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s quest. In this case the heroes are rabbits fleeing the destruction of their habitat, seeking a place where they could live freely without interference from man’s destructive nature. It a was timely read, as the Endangered Species Act of 1973 was enacted one year after the book was published and habitat destruction was becoming a huge topic of discussion.
A month ago I ordered the latest reprint with a new introduction by the author, and dove into this amazing tale that is as timely today as it was back when it was first published. As we struggle with the new politics of our time, and the masses of human beings seeking a place of solace away from their war torn homelands, and the very possible demise of the Endangered Species Act, it is right on target again as an important read that has eased some of my anxiety and is helping me to maintain a more positive attitude in a world filled with gloom, the fear of our political situation, and the possible rise of a world we cannot imagine. While dystopian reads like Atwood’s, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Orwell’s, 1984, are selling like mad, Watership Down, is a calming salve in our acidic world.
Richard Adams ingeniously began crafting this story during a long car trip to entertain his daughters, when they asked him to tell them a story that they had never heard before. He continued putting the story together afterwards as he drove his daughters to school, improvising characters like Hazel and Fiver, the two main heroes, with personalities similar to those of friends and acquaintances. As he studied the habits of wild rabbits, he invented the Lapine language to take the place of words that do not exist in the any human language, like the word silflay, which means to go above ground to feed.
If you are looking for a story to get lost in this is one to choose, filled with love, compassion, bravery, and courage along with the chills and thrills of an epic journey.
I will be away next week and will return the following week with a new post.
P.S. After getting this post ready to be published, I read a brief article in the latest issue of Audubon Magazine, about the Endangered Species Act. The writer, Brian Palmer, noted that the Act would be challenging to repeal with About 90 percent of Americans in support of it. However, the powers that be will most likely whittle away the funds literally starving the ESA. This is something to watch.
