Tales from Watership Down

Last updated

Tales from Watership Down
TalesFromWatershipDown.jpg
First edition
Author Richard Adams
Illustrator John Lawrence
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Fantasy
Children's literature
Publisher Hutchinson (UK)
Publication date
1996
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages198pp
ISBN 0-09-180166-4
Preceded by Watership Down  

Tales from Watership Down is a collection of 19 short stories by Richard Adams, published in 1996 as a follow-up to Adams's highly successful 1972 novel about rabbits, Watership Down . It consists of a number of short stories of rabbit mythology, followed by several chapters featuring many of the characters introduced in the earlier book. [1] [2] Like its predecessor, Tales from Watership Down features epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter and a Lapine glossary.

Contents

Overview

Tales from Watership Down is in three parts: the first consists of five traditional tales of El-ahrairah and two more modern rabbit stories, the second contains four episodes recounting events that befell El-ahrairah and Rabscuttle on their return from visiting the Black Rabbit of Inlé, and the third contains eight chapters dealing with the Watership warren in the months following the events of the original book. [3]

New characters are introduced, such as: Flyairth, a doe who threatens to undermine the stability of Watership Down; Sandwort, a disrespectful young buck who eventually changes his ways; Coltsfoot, a depressed buck whom Fiver befriends; Stonecrop, an escaped hutch rabbit; and Nyreem, an Efrafan doe with an injured leg. Although most of the characters from Watership Down retain their roles, Hyzenthlay, a doe, rises to the position of Co-Chief Rabbit with her mate, Hazel. [3]

Literary significance and reception

A reviewer for The New York Times wrote that while it was a "lighthearted companion piece" to Watership Down, it was "a little disjointed as a stand-alone volume". [3] The book was praised by another reviewer at Salon , who wrote: "The pure, unfamiliar feelings evoked in 'The Story of the Three Cows' and in the gory 'The Hole in the Sky'—just two of the stories here—persist for quite a while after you've finished reading them". [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bo Hansson</span> Musical artist

Bo Hansson was a Swedish musician best known for his four instrumental progressive rock studio albums released throughout the 1970s.

<i>Watership Down</i> 1972 adventure novel by Richard Adams

Watership Down is an adventure novel by English author Richard Adams, published by Rex Collings Ltd of London in 1972. Set in Hampshire in southern England, the story features a small group of rabbits. Although they live in their natural wild environment, with burrows, they are anthropomorphised, possessing their own culture, language, proverbs, poetry, and mythology. Evoking epic themes, the novel follows the rabbits as they escape the destruction of their warren and seek a place to establish a new home, encountering perils and temptations along the way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protagonist</span> Main character of a creative work

A protagonist is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a story contains a subplot, or is a narrative made up of several stories, then each subplot may have its own protagonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Story within a story</span> Literary device

A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story. Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes called nested stories. A play may have a brief play within it, such as in Shakespeare's play Hamlet; a film may show the characters watching a short film; or a novel may contain a short story within the novel. A story within a story can be used in all types of narration including poems, songs, and video games.

"Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" is a short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.

Lapine is a fictional language created by author Richard Adams for his 1972 novel Watership Down, where it is spoken by rabbit characters. The language was again used in Adams' 1996 sequel, Tales from Watership Down, and has appeared in both the film and television adaptations. The fragments of language presented by Adams consist of a few dozen distinct words, and are chiefly used for the naming of rabbits, their mythological characters, and objects in their world. The name "Lapine" comes from the French word for rabbit, lapin, and can also be used to describe rabbit society.

<i>Shardik</i> 1974 novel by Richard Adams

Shardik is a 1974 fantasy novel by Richard Adams. Shardik is his second novel, and first of two novels set in the fictional Beklan Empire. The events revolve around the discovery, capture and military and symbolic uses made of an incredibly large bear, called "Lord Shardik" by those who subscribe to a set of religious beliefs in the novel.

<i>Watership Down</i> (film) 1978 British animated adventure film

Watership Down is a 1978 British animated adventure-drama film, written, produced and directed by Martin Rosen and based on the 1972 novel by Richard Adams. It was financed by a consortium of British financial institutions and was distributed by Cinema International Corporation in the United Kingdom. Released on 19 October 1978, the film was an immediate success and it became the sixth-most popular film of 1979 at the UK box office.

<i>In Our Time</i> (short story collection) 1925 Ernest Hemingway collection

In Our Time is the title of Ernest Hemingway's first collection of short stories, published in 1925 by Boni & Liveright, New York, and of a collection of vignettes published in 1924 in France titled in our time. Its title is derived from the English Book of Common Prayer, "Give peace in our time, O Lord".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessamyn West (writer)</span> American author (1902–1984)

Mary Jessamyn West was an American author of short stories and novels, notably The Friendly Persuasion (1945). A Quaker from Indiana, she graduated from Fullerton Union High School in 1919 and Whittier College in 1923. There she helped found the Palmer Society in 1921. She received an honorary Doctor of Letters (Litt.D) degree from Whittier College in 1946. She received the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize in 1975.

<i>Watership Down</i> (1999 TV series) Canadian-British television series

Watership Down is an animated fantasy children's television series, adapted from the 1972 novel of the same name by Richard Adams. The second adaptation of the novel, it was produced by UK's Alltime Entertainment and Canada's Decode Entertainment in association with Martin Rosen, with the participation of the Canadian Television Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit and the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit from the Government of Ontario.

<i>1001 Nights of Snowfall</i> 2006 graphic novel

Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall is a graphic novel prequel to the comic book series Fables written by series creator Bill Willingham with a variety of artists. It was released on October 18, 2006 by Vertigo.

Watership Down is a 1972 adventure novel by Richard Adams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Adams</span> English writer

Richard George Adams was an English novelist and writer of the books Watership Down, Maia, Shardik and The Plague Dogs. He studied modern history at university before serving in the British Army during World War II. Afterwards, he completed his studies, and then joined the British Civil Service. In 1974, two years after Watership Down was published, Adams became a full-time author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Br'er Rabbit</span> Fictional rabbit in Uncle Remus folklore

Br'er Rabbit is a central figure in an oral tradition passed down by African-Americans of the Southern United States and African descendants in the Caribbean, notably Afro-Bahamians and Turks and Caicos Islanders. He is a trickster who succeeds by his wits rather than by brawn, provoking authority figures and bending social mores as he sees fit. Popular adaptations of the character, originally recorded by Joel Chandler Harris in the 19th century, include Walt Disney Productions' Song of the South in 1946.

An animal tale or beast fable generally consists of a short story or poem in which animals talk. They may exhibit other anthropomorphic qualities as well, such as living in a human-like society. It is a traditional form of allegorical writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European rabbit</span> Species of mammal

The European rabbit or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula, western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has been widely introduced elsewhere, often with devastating effects on local biodiversity. Its decline in its native range due to myxomatosis, rabbit hemorrhagic disease, overhunting and habitat loss has caused the decline of the Iberian lynx and Spanish imperial eagle. It is known as an invasive species because it has been introduced to countries on all continents with the exception of Antarctica, and has caused many problems within the environment and ecosystems; in particular, European rabbits in Australia have had a devastating impact, due in part to the lack of natural predators there.

<i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i> 1954 part of novel by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It is followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King. The action takes place in the fictional universe of Middle-earth. The book was first published on 29 July 1954 in the United Kingdom. The volume consists of a foreword, in which the author discusses his writing of The Lord of the Rings, a prologue titled "Concerning Hobbits, and other matters", and the main narrative in Book I and Book II.

<i>Watership Down</i> (2018 TV series) 2018 UK animated television TV series

Watership Down is an adult CGI-animated adventure fantasy drama mini-series directed by Noam Murro. It is based on the 1972 novel of the same name by Richard Adams and adapted by Tom Bidwell. It was released on 22 December 2018 in the United Kingdom and internationally on Netflix the next day. The BBC broadcast comprised two back-to-back episodes per day.

References

  1. Tales from Watership Down at the Internet Book List
  2. 1 2 Sally Eckhoff (26 November 1996). "Tales from Watership Down". Salon.com. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  3. 1 2 3 J. D. Biersdorfer (1 December 1996). "Books in Brief: Fiction". The New York Times .