Mind Blogging. Mind Boggling.

Watership Down is a nature fantasy book written in the 70s. I came across the book on Tim Ferris show- a nice episode starring Tom Morello, the front man of Audio slave whose guitaring I really enjoyed. For example in the song ‘Like a stone’.  It’s LOTR based on rabbits because it narrates the many adventures of a gang of rabbits as they break away from their ‘warren’ and set off for greener pastures. In fact, considering the many stories which the rabbits tell each other about El Ahrairah the mythical rabbit god, the book can also be called 'The Lord of the Rabbits'. It can be called that for another reason, which I shall not reveal to avoid giving out a spoiler.    

Nature fantasy is a genre I have discovered recently. That term is my own creation- don’t go and ask at a  book store. The Bear by Andrew Krivak, which I read around 3 months ago, and this Watership down, are examples. Narrative themes this genre touches upon: intricacies of nature, man’s negative impact on nature, fantastical behaviour of nature’s denizens (rabbits in Watership down, and bears and pumas in the Bear). The prose is often descriptive, revelling in the beauty of nature, which slows down the narrative.

I think I read watership down a few years too late in my reading journey. In terms of the plotline, it follows the classic ‘hero’s journey’ as shown in LOTR, Harry Potter, Star Wars and many more epic fantasies. Unlike those, though, the entire world of Watership Down is very much at home on earth. I think it can be a good read for the young lad at home, if introduced at the right age. Just like in the other books mentioned, the rabbits encounter multiple dramatic situations. They display camaraderie and intelligence. The book leans on a created vocabulary, just like Harry Potter and LOTR.

I have lost touch with reading adventure fiction, so I struggled to completely suspend my disbelief. I was also impatient, having again lost touch with reading long books (this one being 605 pages in length). While I was drawn in at times, I did not find the book a rip-roaring ride. I found it slow, often, especially given the multiple long descriptive passages. However, there was one page which was entirely about ‘moonlight’, contrasting to sunlight, which I found beautifully written:

“We take daylight for grander. But moonlight is another matter. It is inconstant. The full moon wanes and returns again. Clouds may obscure it to an extent to which they can’t obscure daylight. Water is necessary to us, but a waterfall is not. Where it is to be found, it is something extra, a beautiful ornament. We need daylight and to that exten it is utilitarian, but moonlight we do not need. When it comes, it serves no necessity. It transforms. It falls upon the banks and the grass, separating one long blade from another, turning a drift of brown, frosted leaves from a single heap to innumerable flashing gragments; or glimmering lengthways along wet twigs as though light itself were ductile.

…We do not take the moonlight for granted. It is like snow, or dew on a July morning. It does not reveal, but changes what it covers”

You can see how it’s nice, but also can be slow if I’m try to power thru.

I have also lost touch with long epic fantasy, so I did not spend time to ponder, imagine and wonder at the world which the author had done a good job in painstakingly creating. The day to day life and dwellings of rabbits are well described. I have read very few 500+ page books on kindle. I found it challenging, because at times I felt as though adrift in a vast sea.

I’ve not seen rabbits in the wild, as I suppose people in England have commonly seen. So I found that slightly difficult to relate to. For people who have seen rabbits often, they can more easily get a visceral ‘cuteness’ response from some of the passages. It's also set in English sceneries and refers to some English towns. The word 'down' itself is: 'rounded and grass-covered hills in southern England that are typically composed of chalk. The name comes from the Old English dūn (“hill”)' 

If not rabbit, what somewhat wild creature have i seen a lot of in their natural habitat? Squirrels and peacocks. And lots of birds- egrets and cormorants. In fact, if watership down was set in Indian settings starring birding protagonists that I relate to, I feel I would have enjoyed it much more. I read 'jungle book' in adulthood, and enjoyed it.    

# posted by Ashwin Ravikumar @ 11:15 PM