4.5* Once I got into this it was a really enjoyable listen. Glad to finally know what the story is actually about. ( )

A story about rabbits which definitely gives some insight into leadership. We get to know a few leaders in this story. They all are different and base their leadership on different foundations.

I liked this story very much. Although it's a book for children, adults can find some interesting thoughts in it for sure. I enjoyed reading about the unity, friendship and true care among the main heroes of the story. I was feeling immersed in cosiness while listening to it. I also have to mention that I was fascinated by the Russian audio version of it. The reader pulled off each one of the characters and thus added to the impressiveness of the story.

I liked that rabbits have their rules, and their organization, something that reminded religion, but at the same time they were not too humanized. And I liked how Adams showed how much more innocence there is in the animal world (as opposed to the human world). For example, he says that the animals only hunt when they really need to eat, otherwise they can just walk past their usual prey. Humans, however, can kill one another for a whole bunch of other unjustified reasons.

It's obvious that Adams did a lot of research to write this book. He includes a lot of scientific facts about rabbits and some of them were new to me. I also liked that he invented the names of the things the rabbits might use. But I have to admit that I couldn't understand what were the white sticks that people carried until I listened to the explanation in a podcast. ( )

Watership Down is easily up there in my favourite classic books. Mostly because I generally don't take to well to classic books.

I have never really read this book properly, I always put it down for a long time or ditched it for the cartoon instead. This time was different, with a week off work I got my nose stuck in and was took into the world of bunnies on the run to a better place and at war with each other.

After reading the book, I took to the movie to see which I preferred, having grown up with the cartoon I had a fondness for it anyway however after getting in deep with these bunnies in the novel, I was quite disappointed with the cartoon. Mostly because (as almost always) the book is just more personal.
The character building in Watership Down (novel) was a slow and yet enjoyable process, I finished the book both satisfied and teary eyed but it is certainly a book to be kept on my shelf. Perhaps with a prettier cover though :) ( )

when i was young i was overprotective of fiver for much the same reasons i adored kari kamiya. on this reread i expected less of that affinity, but no, it just sublimated to moral conviction in all his fragility. i did expect to love hazel all the more, and of course i did; he’s the kindest bravest strongest sweetest of course john hurt would eventually voice him. but then also—look at bigwig! look how like every other rabbit he is so grandly heroic! i love these rabbits—i love their extraordinary courage in the face of so much danger, all in order to help keep one another safe. and of course they must be extraordinarily courageous, for this book more than any other i’ve read is a desperate bid to come to terms with death; it’s never morbid but still soaked in that (embleer?) smell. much more hopeful than the film, though! right down to a completely different rabbit at the end! changes the whole meaning! in fact i never see acknowledged how much of a crowd-pleaser the whole thing is. i know that must sound strange given its reputation for brutality & childhood trauma. but it’s true. how else to interpret silflay hraka, u embleer rah?

must give it four stars though, and really it’s closer to three-and-a-half. i’ve previously been resistant to the charges of sexism but it’s very hard to ignore this time around exactly how much the does are treated as a plot device with very little recognised inner life. i still have readings that aren’t totally terrible—you can probably imagine most of the steps for yourself—but it does sour a lot of what makes the rest of the book work so well. on top of that, adams just can’t stop writing epic similes involving his conceptions of ‘primitive’ people, which is a pity, because when he crafts epic similes referencing literally anything else they’re phenomenal! and it’s sad to see him waste those gifts on such bad understanding of humans. ( )

I heard of this book from a metal band. It's a very good book. ( )