Weekly Wook Wecommendation

Watership Down by Richard Adams

"'All the world will be your enemy, Prince With a Thousand Enemies. And whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks, and your people will never be destroyed.'"

In a world full of danger, wise leaders and tricks are the only ways to survive. In the bestselling classic Watership Down, the story begins when Fiver, a young, sensitive character, has a vision. He predicts the destruction of their home community, and says they must leave at once. His older brother, Hazel gathers a group of followers who believes the prophecy, and they set off on a great journey that nearly kills them all more than once. Like their culture's legendary hero, El-ahrairah, the Prince With a Thousand Enemies, Hazel becomes their leader and must escape hundreds of fierce creatures, find a safe place to settle in, and even fight against enemies of his own kind.

What makes the book unique is that Hazel, Fiver, and all the other main characters are rabbits. Not humanlike rabbits either, these are real rabbits, speaking their own language of Lapine, eating grass and vegetables, living underground, and always struggling to survive against weasels, foxes, hawks, dogs, cats, and – worst of all – humans.

The delights of Watership Down, which happens to be the name of the warren the rabbits establish, are too many to describe. The characters are rich in personality, while still being animals all the way through. Besides Fiver and Hazel there is Bigwig, a strong, fighting rabbit who believes in biting first and running later; Dandelion, who is a wonderful storyteller and knows all the legends of El-ahrairah; Blackberry, the only rabbit clever enough to understand how boats, traps, and doors work (which saves them more than once); Hyzenthlay, a female full of spirit who escapes from another, horrible, warren, run like a prison camp; and General Woundwort, the most fearsome thing they come across in all their travels.

The result is an unusual tale of heroism, drama, and excitement. These rabbits have souls and gods and poetry, they can both fight for their lives and tell jokes. Watership Down is one of those books that really change the reader, for you will never look at ordinary rabbits in the same way again.