For whatever reason, there are books I simply can't finish. I have started to read
Anne of Green Gables* innumerable times and I have never been able to finish the first book nor even watch all of the wonderful PBS mini-series of the same name. There are many others, but Anne is perhaps the most egregious example. I think I even got to within 20 pages of the end once and just couldn't finish the book. Yes, I stopped reading Stephen King's
The Stand because I got grossed out. I stopped reading
The Canterbury Tales because the book was so old I was having an allergic reaction it it. I stopped reading Kingsolver's book of essays,
The Year of Wonders, because I was irritated by its self-righteousness. And those of you who have been my loyal blog followers will have noticed that
Watership Down has been sitting in the "What I am Reading" section for quite some time.
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Amazon's book image |
My interest in the book was piqued some time ago following an email discussion of Young Adult (YA) literature and how it was "better" or at least more satisfying than adult books (of recent books, the
Hunger Games series comes to mind). I, for one, have always loved to read
Newbery and
Caldecott winners, but I think more than one Booker, Pulitzer, and/or Nobel prize winning novel sits abandoned on my shelves.
It's not uncommon for me to be reading several books at once and for one or two of them to be abandoned, unread, and left to their own devices**.
Watership Down seemed to be the next likely resident of the abandoned book pile. After being chastised for not having read the book, during our work discussion of what was or was not a YA book, I ordered the book and started to read it. And didn't get very far. But I was determined to be determined in finishing the book. I had purchased the book to participate in discussion, it wasn't right for me to stop reading just because I didn't find it all that compelling.
And so I plugged on. And in fact, started to enjoy the book. I realized that some of my earlier dislike of the book was based on vocabulary bias. The author was clever enough to develop a language for the rabbits. The etymologist in me was frustrated by these words--they weren't based on any words or language I was familiar with. Instead of treating these words as something to be savored and admired, I was fighting against them, refusing to memorize them or acknowledge their value. I, also, allowed myself to be irritated by the names of some of the characters, particularly that some of the male rabbits had names that I associate as female names.
Once I settled into the book, I was able to enjoy the adventures and the myths of the rabbits and it became a rapid and satisfying read. My opinion, not only based on the fact that the book was a book written by a father to amuse his daughters, is that this is a book intended for the YA audience. After all,
- A group of young rabbits, who were already disenchanted with their status, leave their home
- Several characters have "coming of age" moments
- Friends are made with those who are "different"
- The establishment is defeated by the cleverness of youth
Really, the only thing that was missing from the script was the death of mentor (e.g. Obi-Wan or Dumbledore).
There are also some who rail against the treatment of the female rabbits in the story. My opinion, is that one should read the story as an ethnography. Yes, the treatment of female rabbits was abhorrent to our standards, but quite likely representative of rabbit society.
Have you read
Watership Down? What are your thoughts? Are there books you simply can't finish, no matter how hard you try? What's the last book you finished that you had thought was doomed to the discard pile?
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*My mom signs notes to me and my brother with L. M. for Love, Mom. I have always harbored a sense that my mother is also, somehow, associated with Anne's author, L.M. Montgomery.
**This is why I don't use my library card as much as I should. If I have troubles finishing a book, it ends up buried someplace and forgotten until three months have gone by and I owe an absurd amount of money in library fines.