Tales From Watership Down (1998) - Plot & Excerpts
I would only recommend this book to people who have already read (and loved) the prequel, Watership Down, as I did. And even then, I can only recommend it with caveats.The title is misleading. Only the second half of the book is devoted to Tales from Watership Down -- several new stories about Hazel-rah, Fiver, Bigwig, and the others. The first part of the book is comprised of rabbit folklore, legends of El-Ahrairah, Prince of a Thousand Enemies. I skipped that first half.For WD fans, these tales should be fairly enjoyable and fairly satisfying (but not as action-packed, emotional, multi-layered, and interconnected as the stories in book 1). I liked them because I got to spend time with the rabbits I grew to love. Sniff. Possibly in response to criticism of book one, Adams provides greater equity across gender and creates a matriarchal society of rabbits, in some scenarios. Thus, a distant warren is led entirely by does, and at Watership Down, Hazel shares the Chief Rabbit (rah) position with the doe Hythenthlay. Good enough, having Hyzenthlay-rah and Hazel-rah lead, but I wonder why Adams had Hythenthlay-rah act so unwisely on her first test of leadership, putting herself needlessly at greater risk than necessary. The storyline about the doe obsessed with White Blindness felt weakly plotted and contrived simply to create gender-balanced leadership roles. White blindness itself was never explained. What is it? What became of that new warren? In that same White Blindness thread, Viltherul is portrayed as a psychic doe, mated to Fiver. She picked up the thoughts and feelings of the obsessed rabbit in a distant warren. (This seems a mistake, because in book 1 Hyzenthlay was the psychic, foreseeing that a rabbit would ride in a car). The rabbits endure a hard winter, and one dies of hunger, sadly. I felt for the rabbits, with little to eat. This story line felt compelling. The scene with the snow, the man, and the car felt vivid. Kehaar the seagull plays a role in the book.Hazel-rah finds his leadership tested by the new generation, particularly by a big buck, called (something)Wort. He's charismatic and very self-centered, so it's easy for him to lead the youngsters away, by showing insolence, etc. The solution to that problem felt a bit lame, but the problem felt realistic.When a new rabbit appears on Watership Down, all the rabbits want to immediately kill it. Why? Because it smells like Man (vile scent that strikes fear and revulsion in every Lapine heart). It takes Hazel-rah and Fiver working together to find a solution. Nicely plotted, except in book 1, the Watership bucks mated with does that they freed from Lucy's hutches at the barn, presumably smelling of Man. The author tries to explain this disconnect, saying that the need for does was very intense in book 1, and they only smelled slightly of Man, comparatively. I'm not buying it, but I still liked that story-line quite a bit. I liked how it was resolved. The last story was disappointing, because it focused on Campione, the Captain of Woundwort's Owsla from book 1. I have developed no bond with him, and wanted more time with the Watership rabbits. Writing style: In book 1, I felt Adams digressed from the plot too frequently, to hold forth on something largely irrelevant about nature ( my review of book 1 cites an excerpt, where Adams digresses about martins flocking and perching on telephone wires). That frustrating degree of digression didn't happen in this book, making for better flow and a more enjoyable reading experience.Typos. At least a dozen. This kindle book cost $9.99. Needs editing.Quibbles aside, I enjoyed this book. I liked seeing the whole gang again.
Tales from Watership Down is a collection of legends and short stories that flesh out the history of the rabbits of Watership Down and continue their story after the events of the original novel. I personally had never read any of Richard Adams works prior to this (I have seen the animated film adaptation of Watership Down however, so was fairly familiar with the events and plot.) I was very impressed with how quickly I was drawn into Adams' world. His writing style is very easy to slip into and I found this collection of tales extremely difficult to put down. Mr. Adams has created a social world amongst his rabbits that is as totally believable and feels as fleshed out as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, albeit Adams world only exists in the one novel and this compilation of short stories. I don't know why I've never read any of his works before as they have always been favorites of my step-father and accessible to me throughout my lifetime, but now that I have sampled his writing, I'm more than eager to delve into more.
What do You think about Tales From Watership Down (1998)?
I'm disappointed I can only give this book a 3 because I love Watership Down. I found part 1 and part 2 of this book lacklustre. The stories of El-hahrairah were OK but had the consistent same theme of fulfilling a quest and after the first few stories it became a little boring. I really enjoyed part 3 which provided some updates on events that happened after the en of Watership Down. I really liked these stories and I loved revisiting old characters. However I found some of the time lines a bit hard to follow.
—Kalen
Amazon.com Review The original Watership Down is one of those wonderful works that appeals to readers both young and old. The story of a group of rabbits on an adventure into unfamiliar yards, farms, and fields made for an imaginative, captivating journey. This latest work follows the aftermath of the original's climactic ending and includes the rabbits' retelling of various myths associated with their rabbit-hood, plus some new twists and developments. This is a captivating introduction to Adams's warren for first-time visitors, and those who loved the original From Publishers Weekly As readers of Watership Down (1974) will recall, Adams reached classic heights of inspired storytelling in that fable of the animal kingdom, performing a finely calibrated juggling act between the real and the imagined. These 19 interrelated tales continue the adventures of the rabbits met in the earlier book, after their defeat of General Woundwart and the Efrafans. The deeds of the hero El-ahrairah are celebrated in the seven stories of Part One (of three). El-ahrairah's stalwart companion Rabscuttle joins him for four tales in Part Two, while the remaining stories, which are devoted to Hazel and his rabbits, have the continuity of a novel. Mystical, occasionally allegorical, full of whimsy, rich in vivid descriptions of the rabbits' society and of the natural world, the tales are often suspenseful, frequently amusing and invariably clever. The rabbits exhibit a wide range of behavior, showing themselves to be manipulative, defiant, ignorant and self-satisfied, along with noble, loving and brave. There is a brief summation of what happened in the initial passages of the first tale, but from there on, the book stands on its own. El-ahrairah's heroic exploits include his perilous journey to obtain a sense of smell for all rabbits and his search for eternal youth, while his adventures with Rabscuttle find them both leading another group of rabbits across a dangerous marsh as they attempt to evade an army of rapacious, savage rats. Eventually, a new warren is founded and various other ones reconfigure and recombine. The collection comes to a satisfying close by ending, as it began, with an account of the bold deeds of another heroic rabbit, formerly an enemy, now a valued member of the new warren. Illustrations not seen by PW. 200,000 first printing. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
—Valentin Mihov
This was worse than I remembered it, actually. Having recently re-read Watership Down, I was really struck by how lightweight and inconsequential the stories in this book seemed. Even most of the tales of El-ahrairah lacked the mythic quality that Adams was so adept at evoking in the original book. The one that bothered me in particular was the first story in the book, which tells of how El-ahrairah gained the sense of smell for his people. What really annoyed me about it was that none of the other animals in the book were described with their Lapine names or really looked at from the viewpoint of a rabbit. When El-ahrairah journeys to the land of the King of Yesterday, he meets many extinct animals -- nearly all of which are called by their human names, including the Oregon Bison. Talk about yanking the reader out of the story! I absolutely could not believe that a warren of rabbits would be sitting around listening to Dandelion tell a story that talked about Oregon Bison and jaguars. SO aggravating. I gave this three stars for the nostalgia factor, but it's really more of a two-star book.
—Kirsten
