I’ve read many books in my 17 years, but never any­thing like Water­ship Down, by Richard Adams. At first, it was slow-going (the book is, after all, about rab­bits). But I per­se­vered, and found myself enjoy­ing the book more and more.

It’s about a group of rab­bits who, on the sug­ges­tion of a young buck who thinks some­thing ter­ri­ble will befall their war­ren, leave for a bet­ter life. Turns out they made a good choice, for they find out that their war­ren was raided soon after they left.

Really, though, I think that this is a story about sur­viv­ing in a world dif­fer­ent than what you’re used to. The char­ac­ters, although ani­mal, seem as human as any of us, and I love the way it was writ­ten. Some of the char­ac­ters remind me of Ani­mal Farm by George Orwell. Oth­ers remind me of how our soci­ety really oper­ates, how some humans are power-hungry. Some parts seem sym­bolic, and oth­ers a mir­ror image of our world.

A clas­sic in its own right, Water­ship Down is a won­der­ful read, and one I hope to read again soon. I highly rec­om­mend it.