Watership Down (#3)

Pages: 209-300

Favorite Quote: "'Animals don't behave like men,' he said. 'If they have to fight, they fight; and if they have to kill, they kill. But they don't sit down and set their wits to work to devise ways of spoiling other creatures' lives and hurting them. They have dignity and animality'" (249).

What a topsy-turvy quote! We usually associate humanity with civility and being above animalistic urges, but here, the rabbits are talking about how their animality is dignity above human's malicious tendencies. This is another example of how Watership Down brings out human traits to be scrutinized in a fashion that books with human characters cannot. This quote is advocating simple, need-based actions as the more dignified, noble way of life. Maybe intelligence is overrated. Maybe it corrupts some humans to the point of misuse, and is therefore not an asset to humanity.

However, I think that there's another side to this higher intelligence coin. At one point, Hazel is speaking with Holly about the does as if they are just breeding fodder, and "ideas of protection, fidelity, romantic love, and so on" (260) never cross their minds. Humanity can use their intelligence and ability not to have to only do need-based actions for good. At least, People usually think of love as a good thing. But, Hazel and the other rabbits have probably only ever encountered humans on the wrong end of the gun, so this point about spoiling other creatures' lives is from a rabbit perspective. But, the reader can still take it as a warning of sorts, making us beware of victimizing others, reaping benefits the expense of others.

Hazel's really grown in this book. Starting as a young buck, raring to charge straight forward into things, he now has a method to his madness, more wisdom to temper his actions. He has now started to listen to what Fiver says, and thinks actions through as well. As a leader, he's developed wonderful qualities along their journey. He is now able to organize others, reading what they need most at the moment and assigning tasks to the best suited rabbits among them for the job. This leadership he's developed shows through in how the other rabbits treat him. He now commands loyalty from them even in times of hardship and they listen to his suggestions almost all the time, only requiring other encouragement at other instances. This character development is quite nice to follow, almost like an abbreviated version of a teen growing up.

Hazel's policy of helping out other animals that are not rabbits to gain their future support is rather interesting. He starts out with a mouse, but then gains the support of Kehaar, a black-headed gull. It's almost non-rabbit like behavior, borderline human. This fits in with Hazel's group of rabbit's tendency to adopt different, atypical behaviors to survive their situations, like digging burrows when the does usually do. However, with the warren they encounter, Efrafa, we see this has gone too far. Originally started out as a system to avoid any misfortune brought about by humans, Efrafa has a very militaristic society. The dictator, General Woundwort's, system is crumbling though. Overpopulation is forcing lean times on the warren, and the forced compliance of all the rabbits makes it as almost they are not living a life at all. Fiver references the poet rabbit in Cowslip's warren, talking about he had seemed dead even though he was alive physically. He knew where he was going, but it wasn't in this world. He had to pay a price for knowing though, and so his fatalistic poetry reflects the anguish and despair he feels from different pieces tearing within himself. Fiver and the rest of the rabbits are contemplating what it means to be alive, what an existence constitutes. Rather interesting, if I do say so myself.

Rating of the book so far: 10/10 (not to say that I'm lenient with rating books, but the ones I've read so far have been really good)

Watership Down (#2)

Pages: 132-208

Favorite Quote: "In the faint starlight they both saw a rabbit as real as themselves: a rabbit in the last stages of exhaustion, its back legs trailing behind its flattened rump as though paralyzed: a rabbit that stared, white-eyed from one side to the other, seeing nothing, yet finding no respite from its fear, and then fell to licking wretchedly at one ripped and and bloody ear that drooped across its face: a rabbit that suddenly cried and wailed as though entreating the Thousand to come from every quarter to rid it of a misery too horrible to be borne. / It was Captain Holly of the Sandleford Owsla" (151).

Yes, this quote is quite a bit gruesome, but I like it for the effect the last line has. In the past scene, there was a ghostly voice calling out for Hazel, and the atmosphere was very tense because the rabbits thought that it was some sort of legendary rabbit equivalent of the boogey man. Then, there's this very descriptive quote about the rabbit that comes into view. Naturally, the reader wants to know who this is! But, then we see that it is Captain Holly who when we last saw was attempting to stop the band or rabbits from leaving the Sandleford Warren (the original one where the story starts out). This scene of creates so much tension in such a small amount of time. It's quite incredible.

One feature of this book I find really enjoyable and interesting are the short interludes where for some occasion or the other, a story from Lapine lore is told. Though they don't directly contribute to the main storyline, they're like little legends that are fun to read. Most of them have the air of the myths and fables we all here, and I find them rather interesting.

This week, I was a little disappointed at how much work I had to do. I didn't get to read as much as I wanted, but I think I got a good size in. I'll be trying to catch up over the weekend!

My rating of the book so far: 10/10 (still such a great read!)

Watership Down (#1)

Pages: 1-132

Favorite Quote: "'No one must ever ask where another rabbit was, and anything else that could make ever ask where another rabbit was and anyone who asked 'Where?'--except in a song or a poem--must be silenced. To say 'Where?' was bad enough, but to speak /openly of the wires--that was intolerable. For that they would scratch and kill" (129/130).

Watership Down's cast of characters is comprised of rabbits, many different ones with different personalities and roles. It chronicles the journey of a small group of rabbits as they journey away from their warren after one of them, Fiver, has a premonition of the warren being destroyed.

Fiver is an interesting character, one whose insight into situations and early warnings of danger are not taken seriously by others. Nobody listens to him until it's almost too late, and it is slightly reminiscent of our own society, where we find that many times, dangers are overlooked and situations unconditionally accepted when we find ourselves grounded in a comfortable spot.

Fiver is the only one who suspects the overabundance of food and luxury of the warren they join temporarily, and the others accept the warren's strange behaviors in favor of staying in a comfortable place. One of their number is almost killed before they listen to Fiver opening their eyes to the sinister nature of the warren, the wonderful conditions supplied by Man in order to fatten the rabbits for harvesting by way of snares.

However, the rest of the warren seems to know about these snares, and instead of attempting to escape from the situation, they semi-accept it, letting themselves fall into a state of denial, defending their attempts to dismiss the situation, their cowardice by fighting tooth and nail against anyone trying to bring it to light. (see Favorite Quote at the top)

Humanity feels the effects of these kinds of actions as well. People unquestioningly accept comfort and ease of living with a dangerous disregard for any hidden strings, later impacts that may show up. And, when the horrible truth comes to light, when they almost die, choking themselves on a snare they run themselves into, they go one of two ways. The rabbits of the warren choose to accept their situation as is, lying to themselves to try to get back to the way of live they once had before the snares. But, this is self-destructive. They lose their identity, obsessively trying to deny what's going on around them and losing themselves, who they are in the process. But, in Fiver's group, they have another option. Reason is like a slap in the face, waking them up to realize that they can't accept this way of "living," and they decide to choose the unknown and possible hardship rather than the madness of living knowing of the possibility of impending death every day.

Rabbits are an interesting form for the characters to take. As in Fire Bringer, they mirror human behavior, perhaps more human than we ourselves see others as. The author's choice to use animal characters over human characters allows for more flexibility and an easier to see commentary on human behavior. Oftentimes, when one reads a book about humans, one subconsciously sees the points the author makes about human behavior, but when animals are used, these stick out much more, allowing for the author's intended point to be delivered much more clearly.

The writing style is very enjoyable. Starting out, it is very much like the format of a true story. One told out loud, one told to children before bedtime. There is just a unique quality around these types of stories. Situations are recurring, the characters on the journey encountering a problem and figuring out how to overcome them to run into another problem. It's an out-of-the-frying-pan- into-the-fire type of format. But, then this novel gets more serious. When the little band steps into the new warren, the tone shifts to a much more serious one, where the stakes are much higher, and the lessons to be learned much more profound.

At first glance, Watership Down may seem like a childish type of novel, but on closer inspection, it reveals itself to be full of profound ideas, teaching of the dangers of snares, both those external placed and those self-imposed.

Rating of the book so far: 10/10 (Yes, it really is a great classic!)

Watership Down by Richard Adams (Begin!)

Watership Down
By Richard Adams

First thoughts:

Reasons why I picked this book.
1) It's a classic!
2) It's about animals (rabbits, specifically), and I like animals.
3) I saw a review of Fire Bringer (one of my summer reading books) mention that Fire Bringer did for deer what Watership Down did for rabbits. I really liked Fire Bringer, so I thought Watership Down would be a good story to read.

Let's see how it goes!

The Kite Runner (End!)

Pages: 311-371

One thought: Now that is what I call a good ending!

The ending section was quite a whirlwind. It was just full of twists, turns, and new developments. After the calming middle section about domestic life, this part with all the action and adventure in Afghanistan was just spilling over with energy. Not that I'm complaining.

Everything seemed to come full circle here, with Amir going back to the land of his childhood (although he and it are radically changed), and now with Sohrab, the late Hassan's son, he works slowly to redeem himself from past crimes. But, it's not without any bumps along the road. The scene with Sohrab's despair flowing into a suicide attempt is delivered in such a way to strike to the very core of the reader's heart. The panic and horror Amir feels is delivered in an extremely powerful way. The reader doesn't know exactly what happens at first, only hearing Amir "suddenly [...] on his knees, screaming. Screaming through [his] clenched teeth. Screaming until [he] thought [his] throat would rip and his [chest] explode" (343). Amir's panic is almost tangible at the moment, making it one of the most powerful scenes in the book.

Bringing Sohrab to the US and letting him recuperate is not a fantasy cakewalk, something that would have utterly ruined the book. Instead, Sohrab's silence after the trauma he underwent is much more realistic, and it makes the last scene all the more worth it. When Amir describes how he never gave up trying to engage Sohrab and went to run the kite for Sohrab, he shows just how much he has changed as a person. In the first instance of kite flying in the book he ends up betraying Hassan for his own gain, but now, he is much more sincere, a reformed man working hard to redeem himself.

This story was by far one of the best I have ever read. The ending was excellent, wrapping up the novel in a satisfying, but not corny, way. Overall, the writing was very engaging, and I would highly recommend it for any mature reader.

Book rating: 10/10 (a solid one)

The Kite Runner (#2)

Pages: 101-310

One thought: That was a powerful experience!

After departing from the Amir's old life in Kabul, the middle deals with more about him starting over, remaking himself in America. Without Hassan, I thought it wouldn't be as fun read, but the new characters introduced really weren't bad at all. They were each unique and believable. Amir's courtship of Soraya at the flea market was cute in a way. They seemed like children again, Amir talking about how his "heart stuttered at the thought of her. [... his] Swap Meet Princess" (142). It's like touching back on the childhood innocence he once had.

The structure of the book is particularly interesting. Khaled Hosseini uses flashbacks and dreams to juxtapose certain scenes and bring them out very well. Whenever Amir dreams, it's for a reason. His feelings and fears are displayed through twisted scenes that the book has already gone through except with Amir as the "bad guy." When he hears from Rahim how Hassan died, he feels so guilty, dreaming of a "man standing behind [Hassan...]. He takes a step back and raises the barrel. Places it on the back of the kneeling man's head [...and he sees] the face behind the plume of smoke swirling from the muzzle. [He] is the man" (240). Amir's remaining guilt about what he had done to Hassan is delivered to the reader in such a clear and interesting way. His subconscious is showing what he dares not put out on the outside.

Rahim, Amir's dad's old friend, is a fascinating character. He's always hanging around in the back, but he's Amir's tie to his old life. He's the driving force behind Amir coming back to Afghanistan to atone for his past sins, and he really knows what he's doing. He knows that Amir's conscious will not be clear and he will not be able to rest easy if he does not wipe away all the residue guilt from his old life. At one point Farid (Amir's driver) tells Amir that the Caldwells, the orphan caretakers that Rahim suggested never existed. Rahim knew Amir well enough to know that he would not have gone to rescue Sohrab (Hassan's son) if he knew that there was nowhere to take him. He knew Amir better than himself, knowing that taking Sohrab back himself would be good for him, but Amir's distrust of himself would not let him. Rahim lied for Amir's own good, one last one to help his friend's son.

My rating of the book so far: 10/10 (and still going strong!)