Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, Dead at 96
The family of Richard Adams reports that he died Christmas Eve at the age of 96. Adams is the author of Watership Down, his first book, published at the age of 52. He wrote a small number of novels including The Plague Dogs, of which that and Watership Down were made into animated features. The announcement of his passing included a quote from the end of his most well-known work:
“It seemed to Hazel that he would not be needing his body any more, so he left it lying on the edge of the ditch, but stopped for a moment to watch his rabbits and to try to get used to the extraordinary feeling that strength and speed were flowing inexhaustibly out of him into their sleek young bodies and healthy senses.
“‘You needn’t worry about them,’ said his companion. ‘They’ll be alright – and thousands like them.”’
Personally, I remember reading this book when I was in the fifth grade, and it has stayed with me ever since. There are few works of fiction that have held such a place as I’ve grown. He will be missed. He has had a full life.
Published in General
2016 well and purely stinks.
Seawriter
Much as this has been a rough year, I’m not going to begrudge this. 96 is impressive, and the man accomplished much. For many like me, he lives on in his wonderful work.
It is not him in isolation. It is the accumulation of names over this year. Astronomer Vera Rubin died on Christmas Day. She was the one who first discovered dark matter and the galaxy rotation problem. She was 88, so it was unsurprising, but it has been a bad year.
Seawriter
I read Watership Down aloud at least twice, maybe three times, when my children were at the age where I read to them at least an hour each night. I don’t remember how we came to find this one. I will have to ask them; maybe they remember. They picked some of the books. I had a rule that what I read to them had to be interesting to me, too. This was one of the most successful and memorable books. It made as much of an impression on me as it did on them.
I hadn’t known the author was still with us until now, but the important thing is that we have his book.
A terrific grade-school read that was more than the sum of its parts. As one with an over-active imagination, I completely bought in to the idea that rabbits talked and plotted war. Which in retrospect is somewhat surprising. The illusion was so complete that a glossary was needed to navigate the warren’s culture. Great stuff.
I too found the book captivating and haunting for long after I finished it.
I enjoyed reading his novel “Traveller”. It is an very enjoyable telling of the life of Robert E. Lee’s main horse, Traveller. The story is told by the horses and other animals around the Army of Northern Virginia.
96.
You are correct. My apologies. I think I got a few numbers crossed.
He was a youngster. Beverley Cleary is still alive and will be 101 this April.
Seawriter
Funny that you mentioned that because I just looked her up after I wrote that, remembering that she had been approaching 100 when I looked her up a few years ago.
As a kid I devoured her Henry Huggins stories. The girls in the class went for the Beezus and Ramona series. But when I was in the sixth grade I knew Henry Huggins was better. It was about boys like me.
Seawriter
Henry was a more interesting character than Beezus. Ramona was also interesting.
I read Watership Down as a child and later. I think it is really a book for adults. I honestly did not know Adams was still alive either as I discovered his work so many decades ago. It will always be one of my favorite novels.
I read Watership Down when I was in 7th or 8th grade and it was on the bestseller list. I had read the reviews in Time and Newsweek, and I wanted to have actually read an adult book. It took me a long time to finish it, as I kept putting it down, and that was unusual for me, as I usually swallowed books in one gulp. I still remember things from it, but I never went back to read it again, as was my usual practice.
The big thing was reading thick book from the NYT bestseller list, with which I was impressed at the time.
You can have your Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, etc. For my money, Watership Down is the ultimate fantasy epic. The movie, while imperfect, is an important work in adult animation and an antidote to Disney’s toxic levels of saccharine. Plague Dogs is even better, though I confess I have yet to read the book.
The only other Adams’ novel I’ve read is Shardik, a fantasy about a hunter pursuing a giant bear which is said to possess mystical powers. I quite enjoyed it, though be aware it is extremely light on magic and other fantasy elements. His follow-up to his most famous work, Tales From Watership Down, may be worth another go, but I stopped part way through my first attempt. Didn’t feel the same magic.
Forgot to mention Adams served in the British army during WWII. Truly a life lived to its fullest.
In my teens and twenties, I didn’t consider reading the book. (Talking Rabbits ? Really ?) But I watched the movie last night and thought it was so good that, today, I got the book and movie for a relative. I’ll also be reading the book.
What an interesting man this Richard Adams was.
The novel is wonderful. Much better than the movie. I still think about the different societal constructs Adams created while contemplating the limits of security and the meaning of freedom….
I find it interesting that it suggests the only time women are interested in libertarian utopias is when they’re refugees from totalitarian dictatorships. :)
Don’t be fooled by the presence of rabbits. The story doesn’t shy from violence and death, but isn’t sensationalistic. People claim to have been traumatized as children by it, especially the movie. That’s a bit dramatic, but caution is advisable when introducing children to the story. I think young people can benefit from fiction that features the harsh realities of life. Also, it’s a cracking good adventure.
Wikipedia’s page has a section devoted to feminist gripes about the female characters (what doesn’t?). Note that some of the main characters are based on men Adams met in the military. Also, before it was a novel, Watership Down was stories he told his two daughters to whom the book is dedicated.
One final thing to remember about Adams: he was 54 years old when Watership Down was published. It was his first novel and rejected so many times, he almost gave up trying. It has sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
They eat their droppings.
So do chickens. And we eat them.
This book is in my library, and is one of my favorite tellings of the Civil War. Traveller’s understanding of Appomattox was flawed, but moving nonetheless. I had forgotten that ‘Watership Down’ and ‘Traveller’ were by the same author.
Side note: Two other well written books using an animal’s POV are “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by G. Stein, and “A Dog’s Purpose” by W. B. Cameron.