Watership Down, Richard Adams

There are probably better books than this in the world, but who would care?

Watership Down is the best. It’s the Lord of the Rings, but with bunnies! It’s an entirely beautiful book, and it can mess up your entire childhood, should you happen to have been a hyper-sensitive youngster, which, as we’ve established, is most of our readership. You might even grow up to build a ridiculously-detailed website featuring the real-life locations of various warrens and landmarks.

The mythology, the language (Lapine!), the FUCKED-UP WARREN OF BRAINWASHED STOCKHOLM-Y RABBITS, the super-terrifying General Woundwort, the…not-particularly-interesting lady bunnies, and, um, Bigwig. Who’s got two thumbs and a mad childhood crush on Bigwig? (This girl!)

(You can also be a real hit on the playground by trying to get other kids to play Watership Down with you. Especially if this involves building easily-collapsible “warrens” in massive snowdrifts during the Canadian winter. Let’s just say you’ll develop a real appreciation for how difficult it was to hold the fort against the Efrafran hordes.)

And there’s a whole thing about socialism/religion/Virgil, etc., when people write Actual Scholarly Things about Watership Down, which I always miss, much like I was about fifteen before I went ohhhhh Aslan is Jesus, but you don’t need any of those things. It’s just a lovely, lovely book, and haunting, and Silverweed’s poems are actually…kind of great. When you do a re-read as a grownup, you may find yourself being a little sympathetic towards both Cowslip and Woundwort. Governing is tough, y’know? Myxomatosis is sweeping the countryside, there are foxes and other natural predators EVERYWHERE, farmers are setting snares…sometimes you need to get a little Wrath of Khan on your fellow bunnies.

Oh, and just because, here’s the intro from the terrifying movie, which, Jesus, right?