Chapter Ten - Watership Down by Richard Adams

Well, hello there and a very warm welcome back to the Never-ending Book Story to you! 

It's been a funny few weeks to say the least, hasn't it? I've found it really hard to concentrate on reading - let alone blogging! I received my beautiful limited edition, cloth-bound, signed copy of The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel and I just can't read it at the moment. Despite having waited YEARS for it. Its time will come. For now, I need something a bit more easy-going. I need escapism; anything to take me away from reality. What utterly astounding luck that Chapter 10 finds us up to our knees in the splendour of the English countryside (you'll recall from the previous chapter that Watership Down is actually a real place) with a visit to the rabbit warrens of Watership Down...

...More on the rabbits in a bit...

Before I get into this chapter proper, I wanted to do a brief re-cap of where we have been on this never-ending journey so far - just because reaching chapter 10 feels like a bit of a mini-milestone. So, here's the route we've taken so far:

• Chapter One  How to be Invisible - Kate Bush
• Chapter Two The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
• Chapter Three The Last - Hanna Jameson
• Chapter Four 21 Lessons for the 21st Century - Yuval Noah Harari
• Chapter Five Arcadia - Iain Pears
• Chapter Six Tolkien - Michael White
• Chapter Seven The Secret Commonwealth - Philip Pullman
• Chapter Eight Once Upon A River Diane Setterfield
• Chapter Nine The Writer's Map Huw Lewis-Jones

It goes without saying, of course, that all these chapters are still available if you've missed any. Find them via the sidebar.

So, back to the main topic of this chapter and the sublimely pastoral Watership Down. You'll be delighted to know that there's no Coronavirus here. Not really even much myxomatosis. I'd be most surprised if you didn't have some idea what this book is about. But just in case, here's the blurb:

Set in the beautiful English countryside of the Berkshire Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage, and survival follows a band of very special rabbits fleeing the destruction of their home by a developer. Led by a stout-hearted pair of brothers, they leave the safety of Sandleford Warren in search of a safe haven and a mysterious promised land, skirting danger at every turn.

I feel sure this book will give you such much needed respite from the dreadful horrors we’re seeing play out in the news each day at the moment. I expect many of you will be very familiar with the story. If not from reading the book itself, then certainly from the brilliant animated movie from the late 70s. I gather the recent BBC/Netflix version is a poor cousin. I read this years ago as a young boy and, settling back in to it again as a grown up, I was immediately struck by how very grown-up this book feels - not so much in subject matter but more in the style of writing. It has a classic feel to it despite being reasonably modern. I suspect kids these days would find it boring which is a bit of a shame. It’s a charmingly written book and it’s the descriptions of nature and the natural world that really shine through as you read. You can almost feel the warm sunshine radiating from the pages. In these bleak times, this could really help lift your spirits. It feels like you’re talking a walk in the countryside without ever leaving your armchair. A perfect addition to the Never-ending Book Story, then! Almost every page is bursting with beautiful imagery of the English landscape:

In July the still blue, thick as cream, had seemed close above the green trees, but now the blue was high and rare, the sun slipped sooner to the west and once there, foretold a touch of frost, sinking slow and big and drowsy, crimson as the rose-hips that covered the briar.

Or, what about this:

The very plants were unknown to them - pink lousewort with its sprays of hooked flowers, bog asphodel and the thin-stemmed blooms of the sun-dews, rising above their hairy, fly-catching mouths, all shut fast by night. In this close jungle all was silent.

You can open the book on almost any page and find examples just like this.

Another aspect of the book I love is that you forget, or - more accurately - accept, quite quickly that these are animals talking to each other. The characters are distinct and likeable. You invest in them as you would any human character in any other novel. The seagull, who I remember as being a bit annoying in the film, is much less so in the book, too!

That said, there is one element of the book I didn't enjoy so much and these are the sort of 'folk tales' or legends that the rabbits share with each other (and, unfortunately, with us). The fables of El-ahrairah were not for me and I just wanted to get back to the gripping story of Hazel, Fiver and friends. 

When I started reading this again, I steeled myself for it being a sad and emotional read. I really remember being horrified by the film version which was graphic and upsetting despite being 'only' a cartoon. I expect I am not alone in this. Everyone of a certain age will no doubt have strong memories of rabbits in dreadful peril (and worse). Well, I'm happy to say that the book is not nearly so harrowing. 

I decided when I finished reading this that, given the current unprecedented situation we find ourselves in, I needed more of the calming power of nature writing in my life. It's enormously helpful to focus on the natural world in a 'mindfulness' kind of way. In the next chapter, I'll be looking at Under the Rock by Benjamin Myers. It's described on the back as 'a truly elemental read' so it ought to be just the ticket.

Before I sign off for now, I couldn’t leave without sharing the chance to relive the tearjerker to beat possibly all other tearjerkers. Bright Eyes (thankfully not the goddawful Stephen Gately cover version!). Grab a hanky, people, you’re going to need it! Until next time....