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This is probably a good one to "listen" to!

Julie wrote: "This is probably a good one to "listen" to!"

I agree! I think if I had to "read" this one, it would be a struggle!

It's a great book! I've read it three times already!

Twice through for me. I am waiting until my granddaughters are older to read it again (with them).

Julie wrote: "It's a great book! I've read it three times already!"

Julie, after hearing the ending, I may even listen to this one again some day, just for the sake of catching things I might have missed the first time.

HBalikov wrote: "Twice through for me. I am waiting until my granddaughters are older to read it again (with them)."

I agree that waiting until your granddaughters are older to read it out loud to them is the way to go. That way, grandpa can stop and discuss with the girls any questions they may have, or parts of the story you want to point out to them. I would like to hear their opinions!

I loved thiis book. I read during a semester in college.

Deacon Tom wrote: "I loved thiis book. I read during a semester in college."

A ŷ������ friend was surprised that I never read it yet, so here it is!

I'm with Deacon Tom. I've read it three times now. I wish I could remember if I read it to my oldest son, but I can't remember. My 12-year-old has watched the recent series of it on Netflix and she has proclaimed it "surprisingly dark!"

Glad you enjoyed this so much, Debbie, and the ending was worth sticking with it. I tried it once and hated it.... but only a few pages.

The accents would have been fun to hear.... and the misogyny not so much! Terrific review, Debbie!

Julie wrote: "I'm with Deacon Tom. I've read it three times now. I wish I could remember if I read it to my oldest son, but I can't remember. My 12-year-old has watched the recent series of it on Netflix and she..."

Although I've never watched a show about this story, I can understand why your daughter would think that!

Jenna wrote: "Glad you enjoyed this so much, Debbie, and the ending was worth sticking with it. I tried it once and hated it.... but only a few pages.

The accents would have been fun to hear.... and the misogy..."

Oh, Jenna! There were many a time I was ready to give up on it and swore it would get, at best, 3 stars from me; however, as it approached the ending, I got more invested with the story.

My daughter still talks about when we watched this when she was young. As Julie said in her comment, it is quite dark! Very nice review, Debbie.

Kat wrote: "My daughter still talks about when we watched this when she was young. As Julie said in her comment, it is quite dark! Very nice review, Debbie."

Thank you, Kat! I would imagine watching rabbits savagely attacking other rabbits could come off as a little disturbing!

Nice review, Debbie. I remember reading this book years ago.

Kathleen wrote: "Nice review, Debbie. I remember reading this book years ago."

Thanks, Kathleen! Somehow, I never had the urge to read this one until another GR friend "admonished" me for not having it on my "Read" list! Haha!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! However, I have to comment on your review and take issue with a couple of points. First, misogyny: this was written in the 70's, in the traditional style where the men go out to fight and the women stay home to clean, cook and take care of the kids. Any book has to be taken into the context of its time or you'd have to discard all the classics as well, where women were confined to silly chatter and looking for a suitable sire for their progeny. You wouldn't necessarily want an update, like Peter Jackson did for "The Hobbit", injecting a female character as a market ploy in the interests of satisfying some concept of political correctness. Second, now that I've mentioned "The Hobbit", this reminds me of the young people who look at The Lord of the Rings and say, "Wow, that's a lot of pages! I'll just watch the films again." I'm not an audiobook fan because I like to savor the words, go over them again, and I can't see myself glued to "rewind". For me, a long book is a journey taken slow and enjoyed at my own pace, not the pace of the other reader who has no time to dawdle. Accents may be necessary in audiobooks to distinguish characters but I kind of look the voices in my own head, drawing out the characters without any help. I saw the Watership Down film from the 70's and didn't like it much because it wasn't what I'd imagined when I read the book, it seemed "light" and I don't think I'd enjoy and audiobook version, either, pushing me ahead. You said it was quicker this way; in this you'd be in agreement with my students! Third, there's a lot of LOTR in this, just as in some Stephen King books with epic battles against evil, and all of these can go back to King Arthur and even further to the classic/epic heroes such as Beowulf and Hercules. Classic theme, never gets old... (Maybe that's the next step for the Marvel Universe, a rabbit!) I think if you had read it on paper, you might have liked it more - expedient is not always better - but that's only an opinion. I'm just glad you liked it!

Great review, Debbie!

Dennis wrote: "I'm glad you enjoyed it! However, I have to comment on your review and take issue with a couple of points. First, misogyny: this was written in the 70's, in the traditional style where the men go o..."

Sorry that you had issues with my review, Dennis. To be honest, I really waffled between giving this one 3 or 4 stars. I totally understand why some people love it, yet many did not. Books are subjective, and just because it's a "classic", doesn't mean a reader has to look past its author's thought processes.
I would never expect "classics" to be rewritten for political correctness. If I recall correctly, Tolkien did have a couple female characters in the LOTR trilogy (published in 1954!) that were pretty bad-ass! I just wonder what message Adams sent to his daughters about females when he invented this story for them? I was a young girl in the '70s, and my dad never insinuated to me and my sister that we were expected to cook, clean and have babies when we grew up. Having the rabbits get females for their new warren, I get it; I just think the comments made about their usefulness were cringe-worthy at best. Because of this, I believe that if someone were to read this story to youngsters, discussion would be important.
I prefer print books, but because of a towering WTR pile and failing eyesight, audiobooks have come in very handy for me. I've read my own print copies of The Hobbit, or There and Back Again and the LOTR, and not once did I think, "Get on with it!" I enjoy descriptive writing, but Adams's endless descriptions of every wildflower, leaf, etc., well, it was over the top for me, print copy or no.
I've noticed, after writing my review, that several people wrote similar reviews; therefore, I stand by my thoughts. I had a print copy of this book in my classroom, but I never had to urge to read it, so thank you for encouraging me to do so!

Brenda - Traveling Sisters Book Reviews wrote: "Great review, Debbie!"

Thanks, Brenda! This one was tough to write!

Hmmm, not issues, exactly... the book is centered in a 70's mentality and I think it tended to ignore women rather than denigrate or integrate them. (Like "The Hobbit".) I understand your view on audio/print but I think some books benefit from print. Similar to films in a cinema vs a telephone. The content is the same but the experience is different. I also think this is true for reading it at distinct points in their lives; you may have had a different feeling for the book reading it the first time 45 years back and I might have felt differently now.

Dennis wrote: "Hmmm, not issues, exactly... the book is centered in a 70's mentality and I think it tended to ignore women rather than denigrate or integrate them. (Like "The Hobbit".) I understand your view on a..."

"...but I think some books benefit from print." I agree wholeheartedly on this point, as I have had to abandon some audiobooks to read the print versions instead, and I'm glad that I did so. Like I said, books are subjective, even to the same person over a period of time! Books assigned as a reading assignment would most likely get a different response from someone 20 years later, as well as books read and loved during younger years may arouse the thought, "What was I thinking?" several years later. I also feel the same way as watching a movie based on a novel. There are very few movies that I thought were just as good as the book. Usually, I'm quite disappointed with the results. To each his own!

One of my favorites ever. To those who are thinking about listening to it. Be careful where you listen to it. I decided to listen to it in work last year. At the ending I had to run into the bathroom because my eyes were so watery and I was afraid one of my coworkers was going to ask me what was wrong.

Jim wrote: "One of my favorites ever. To those who are thinking about listening to it. Be careful where you listen to it. I decided to listen to it in work last year. At the ending I had to run into the bathro..."

Right? That is some ending! Luckily, I was sitting alone on my couch when it hit me!

I still remember this one from my youth.

Nancy wrote: "I still remember this one from my youth."

I gather you enjoyed it, Nancy?

Yes, but I always wonder if I would enjoy books as much now as I did back then. It’s been a long time.

Nancy wrote: "Yes, but I always wonder if I would enjoy books as much now as I did back then. It’s been a long time."

True, and I guess many people would feel the opposite; that is, disliked a story in their youth but enjoyed it later in life. Either way, it's funny how our tastes change over the years, even with books we've already read!

Fantastic review Debbie. Glad that the ending bumped up your rating :)

Annette wrote: "Fantastic review Debbie. Glad that the ending bumped up your rating :)"

Thanks, Annette! I've noticed this with a couple of books I've read so far this year - the ending really makes the difference! I just wish the rest of the story was the same for me.

Terrific review Debbie. I'm also one who looks for deeper meaning in a story. Even though Adams said it was not written that way, I still find things, like perseverance. Overall, it's just a fine story.

Ron wrote: "Terrific review Debbie. I'm also one who looks for deeper meaning in a story. Even though Adams said it was not written that way, I still find things, like perseverance. Overall, it's just a fine s..."

Thank you, Ron! I agree! If I were to focus on a moral intelligence while reading this to children, perseverance would be ideal!

Great review, Debbie! I agree with your point about the does being dispensable and the bucks being brave and knowledgeable. Time for those does to burn their bras :-)

Libby wrote: "Great review, Debbie! I agree with your point about the does being dispensable and the bucks being brave and knowledgeable. Time for those does to burn their bras :-)"

Hahahaha! Still, it is a classic, and I would hope that anyone reading this to youngsters has the sense to discuss these delicate parts!

Sadly, misogyny is present in most children's books written prior to the 21st century. Despite that, I've always been especially fond of Watership Down (and, really, all books about bunnies!)😊 Great review, Debbie!

Jodi wrote: "Sadly, misogyny is present in most children's books written prior to the 21st century. Despite that, I've always been especially fond of Watership Down (and, really, all books about bunnies!)😊 Grea..."

Thanks, Jodi! Luckily, writing is changing.

Fantastic review Debbie! you make me want to read this again. All I remember is that it was about rabbits in search of a new warren and plenty of danger...I'm not even sure if that's what it was about because I read it over forty years ago. I need to look for the audio and read again!

BTW do middle grade students and older listen to read-alouds?

Tamar...playing hooky for a few hours today wrote: "BTW do middle grade students and older
listen
to read-alouds?"

Oh, for sure, Tamar! It's all in the telling! I remember as a Grade 9 student, my classmates and I being so enthralled with a teacher's read aloud, that we all jumped, including the teacher, when the bell rang!

Tamar...playing hooky for a few hours today wrote: "Fantastic review Debbie! you make me want to read this again. All I remember is that it was about rabbits in search of a new warren and plenty of danger...I'm not even sure if that's what it was ab..."

Thanks, Tamar! Yep! That's what it was about in a nutshell! There's a lot of storytelling within the plot as well!

Fantastic review, Debbie! This was one of my all time favourites growing up, so it’s got all the nostalgic feels for me. Even loving it as much as I did, I do remember there were parts I’d skim on rereads. It’s been a long time since I last picked it up.

Michelle F wrote: "Fantastic review, Debbie! This was one of my all time favourites growing up, so it’s got all the nostalgic feels for me. Even loving it as much as I did, I do remember there were parts I’d skim on ..."

Thanks, Michelle! Had a lot of up and down emotions while reading this one!

One of my all-time favorites! Great review, Debbie!

J.K. wrote: "One of my all-time favorites! Great review, Debbie!"

Thanks, J.K.! I see by your review that you really enjoyed the book and movie!

Haven't yet read this classic. But I've heard a lot of good thing about it. Shame it has some misogyny. Still, good review, Debbie.

Thibault wrote: "Haven't yet read this classic. But I've heard a lot of good thing about it. Shame it has some misogyny. Still, good review, Debbie."

It is better overall than some of the classics I've read (e.g. The Swiss Family Robinson).
I just really questioned the attitude towards females in this book considering the author was telling this story to his daughters! It made me wonder - what did he secretly think of them?

Lovely review, Debbie :))

Beata wrote: "Lovely review, Debbie :))"

Thanks, Beata!

This book is a favorite. It’s definitely not a bedtime story for children. Glad to see this review pop up today. I’d love to reread someday.

Lori wrote: "This book is a favorite. It’s definitely not a bedtime story for children. Glad to see this review pop up today. I’d love to reread someday."

Thanks for your comments, Lori! Funny how this author told this story to his young daughters while driving in the car and how they encouraged him to write it down!