The Fattest Leech Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Watership Down, the movie and book, are hands down the reason why I got into writing adventure/fantasies for middle grade kids. The movie terrified me (in a good way) and the book just made me weep. Both were awesome experiences for kids of my genre... and hopefully is for modern day children as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 i'm almost finished a re read, i fuck!ing love this book. So looking forward to the remake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 I think "Hazel's not Dead" would be a good band name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 4 hours ago, Triskan said: I think "Hazel's not Dead" would be a good band name. Fiver and the Bigwigs? The Black Rabbits of Inlé? (Death Metal, presumably) Woundwort Lives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lykos Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 Well, there was a band called Fall Of Efrafa with some nice album titles, too bad the music is not what I'm into. I must admit that Watership Down is the only work I've read by Richard Adams, apart from the beginning of Shardik. The topic of Shardik really interested me, but it just didn't click. Wether it was Adams' self-confessed weakness of writing humans or a bad german translation I can't tell. It was also decades ago shortly after my last reread of Watership Down, so it probably just didn't live up to my high expectations. My brother loved Plague Dogs (that's a nice name for a punk combo) and tried to get me to read it, but ... well there was so much other stuff. Is it really comparable to Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH apart from the Animal testing / experimenting? I loved the rabbit mythology of Watership Down and the different models for societies, maybe a bit simplistic, but they were perfect for my ten- or eleven -year old self. The impact on me was, and still is, huge. And then there is the fact that Adams wrote Watership Down, his first novel, when he was older than fifty, which gives me hope that I will still get the chance contribute in some great way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eponine Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Shardik is one of my favorite books (moreso than Watership Down, in fact). I don't think it's the best written, best plotted, or most coherent book (less-so than Watership Down, in fact). I don't know quite how to express this - in the book, it's extremely debatable whether Shardik is anything more than a very large bear, and in real life, I don't believe in religion or spirituality, but Shardik is like a divine power to me more than practically anything else I've encountered either in life or literature - his presence in the book is so strong to me. I first read it on Kindle, but a few days ago bought a first edition hardcover encountered by chance in a used bookstore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 10 hours ago, Eponine said: Shardik is one of my favorite books (moreso than Watership Down, in fact). I don't think it's the best written, best plotted, or most coherent book (less-so than Watership Down, in fact). I don't know quite how to express this - in the book, it's extremely debatable whether Shardik is anything more than a very large bear, and in real life, I don't believe in religion or spirituality, but Shardik is like a divine power to me more than practically anything else I've encountered either in life or literature - his presence in the book is so strong to me. I first read it on Kindle, but a few days ago bought a first edition hardcover encountered by chance in a used bookstore. Shardik starts badly (IMHO) with some horribly purple prose. But, it is a very good book overall, and the final section is truly gripping. Watership Down is justly a childrens' classic. It's probably also the first book I read in which the antagonist (Woundwort) is a grey character, with good as well as bad qualities, rather than a true villain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 5 minutes ago, SeanF said: Watership Down is justly a childrens' classic. It's probably also the first book I read in which the antagonist (Woundwort) is a grey character, with good as well as bad qualities, rather than a true villain. I read Woundwort as a Rounded Black character myself - he's a villain who happens to be brave, charismatic, and competent, but who is still morally repugnant. I think he definitely earns a place on my top ten greatest fantasy villains list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanF Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 1 minute ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said: I read Woundwort as a Rounded Black character myself - he's a villain who happens to be brave, charismatic, and competent, but who is still morally repugnant. I think he definitely earns a place on my top ten greatest fantasy villains list. Woundwort is an arrogant, cruel, control-freak, who sincerely (and with good reason) believes that he's the saviour of his people. As you say, he's brave, charismatic, and competent, but also, in my opinion, genuinely public-spirited. In subsequent rabbit legend, he's remembered more as a hero than a villain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygrain Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 On 30. 12. 2016 at 5:35 AM, The Fattest Leech said: Watership Down, the movie and book, are hands down the reason why I got into writing adventure/fantasies for middle grade kids. The movie terrified me (in a good way) and the book just made me weep. Both were awesome experiences for kids of my genre... and hopefully is for modern day children as well. Confirmed. I've read it to son like a dozen times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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