Watership Down

Watership Down is one of the most amazing books I have ever consumed. My wife has had to listen to me go on and on about how magical it is. Richard Adams did an incredible job of showing the world from a rabbit's point of view, but my favorite aspect of the novel is in the balance between the anthropomorphized intelligence of the rabbits, and the way their animal instincts are handled. As an example, at one point, the new warren has only two does, and the bucks have a thoughtful conversation about how they must find more does before the breeding season, or else they will soon be fighting and hurting each other over the females. I'm loving things like that. They can intelligently discuss how their instincts will later drive them into killing each other over the does. Examples of that kind of thing are throughout the pages.

I was halfway through when I was ready to declare this a masterpiece, and I was just hoping that the end didn't disappoint. It did not. The final showdown between the Watership Down warren and Efrafa was so intense! I couldn't stop reading, and yet didn't want to go on! Amazing. Amazing.

I think that Watership Down might be in my top five books I've ever read.