Watership Down. A Classic for Everyone.

Watership Down, by Richard Adams, is a classic tale of adventure and friendship, but I somehow missed the opportunity to read this novel as a child, which is odd because it's almost always on school reading lists ever since it was first published in 1972. I am glad I picked it up as an adult though, because the child "me" would have been too scared to read past the first deathly encounter.

In many ways, Watership Down seems like a children's novel, but it isn't. The rabbits may be cute and cuddley in our minds, but they're really a band of brothers running away from a certain death, as was prophesied by Fiver, and into the dangerous unknown. Watership Down is about death in many respects, but that's just one of the themes this novel explores. The rabbits serve as an allegory for the nature of society and the necessity for leadership, hard choices, and sacrifice.

The leader of the group is Hazel, a rabbit who is not very strong or intimidating, but who uses his wits to protect his friends and found a new warren. But, this group of rabbits is comprised only of males, so the warren cannot be complete until Hazel comes up with a plan to bring some does, or female rabbits, to the new warren to serve as mothers. Throughout their search for the "mothers" Hazel and his friends continually tell stories of the greatest rabbit that ever was, the mythical El-ahrairah, and these stories represent the trials and adventures of the first rabbits, which seemed hopelessly insurmountable, but that were ultimately

solved by the cunning Lord of all rabbits. Telling these stories not only keeps Hazel's band of brothers in good spirits, but it also keeps their wits sharp, unlike those rabbits in new societies who have forgotten the old tales and the invaluable life lessons of El-ahrairah's adventures.

A book that emphasizes the importance of storytelling, and passing down information in the form of a mythical tale is a book I will treasure forever. I recommend this novel to older children, young adults and all adults, young and old. Watership Down was adapted as an animated film in 1978 and a television series in 1999 - 2001.