Imaginary Interviewer: Who is the next author that you'll be reading?
Humble Writer: Next up is Richard Adams, and his novel 'Watership Down'.
II: Have you read it before?
HW: I have. I read it sometime in the past decade but I don't remember much about it. Only that it involves rabbits and is not a warm and cuddly book at all.
II: Not cuddly?
HW: No. It's a very Tolkienesque story that involves a group of rabbits. They're on a quest and they face dangers. The world of rabbits is shown to have very vicious elements.
II: And it reminds you of Tolkien?
HW: Well, most modern 'quest' books have Tolkien to thank in some part, so yes. This one also has a fairly developed rabbit culture, complete with defined words and concepts that are created as if by rabbits.
II: Was Adams a Tolkien fan?
HW: I don't know. After browsing the internet, I can see that I'm not the only one to make the connection, but I don't see any strong evidence either way.
II: What about Adams other work?
HW: Per Wikipedia, I can see that after 'Watership Down' Adams became a writer and published quite a bit. I don't recognize any of the other titles but that could obviously be my own limitation. I don't see any awards given by science fiction or fantasy groups, so it doesn't look like he had much of a legacy there. Interestingly enough, 'Watership Down' won some awards for children's books. I don't really see it in that category.
II: But 'Watership Down' is popular?
HW: Yes, very much so. It was a worldwide best seller when it was published. There was a film version and a couple of television versions. It inspired a role playing game. It was *big*.
II: Does it deserve the acclaim?
HW: Yes. It regularly pops up on lists of best books and I remember enjoying it when I read it a few years back. It's a good read and deserves its place on our reading list.
