Richard Adams - His other books

[Azerane]

So I am just wondering, have people read other books of his besides the Watership Down ones, or not?

I have read The Plague Dogs, Traveller and I own Shardik, but have not yet read it.

The Plague Dogs is an amazing book, it has a more serious theme, animal testing etc but it's very interesting and compelling. I really loved reading Traveller, had trouble putting that one down although it can take a little while to get used to the colloquial language. I thoroughly enjoyed Traveller and would recommend it to anyone. I would love to own it however it appears to be a bit harder to come across. I read it when I borrowed it from the local library, but they no longer seem to have it.

Shardik has something to do with a bear and people, but I don't remember and haven't yet read it. I know Adams has also written non-animal books, but I haven't read any of those either.

So have you read any? If so, what were your opinions.

[Blackavar]

I have not read any of his other books. I am quite content with WD... although I might eventually find the time to read the Plague Dogs.

[Azerane]

I was too until I read his other books Let us know what you think of it if you do

[Tima]

I have indeed read Plague Dogs. But until now, I was under the misconception that Watership Down, Tales and Plague Dogs were the only books that Richard Adams has written... somehow, I've never heard of those other books you mentioned.

With both Watership Down and Plague Dogs, I saw first the animated movie and read the book afterwards. Normally, I'm of the opinion that one should always familiarize themselves with the original work and check out the adaptation only afterwards. It was actually the reason I read Lord of the Rings books; I wanted to see the movies, but I felt I couldn't do that until after I'd read the books.

Anyway, I'm happy I encountered bunnies and Plague Dogs in the "wrong order". With both of them, the adaptation went for a more "bad end" kind of approach and introduced certain grimdark story elements. So, after being familiar with the movies, it was a delightful surprise in both cases to find out that the original book was actually more optimistic and uplifting. While reading the books, I kept expecting The Really Upsetting Things to happen, and then they never did.

Watership Down will always remain number one for me, but Plague Dogs was still an enjoyable book and I'm happy I read it.

Two scenes from the book are particularly memorable to me. The first one is when Snitter is in a barn and thinks he's inside his head. I really like this kind of writing; animals being written as simple, naive animals that have weird animal logic (also, it's coming from a dog whose head has been messed with, so it's extra-weird logic). The second scene is near the end of the book when Snitter recognises the guy and runs towards him, overcome with wild joy. That short scene always painted such a vivid image in my head.

[Azerane]

He has written plenty of books, unfortunately I'm biased towards animal novels so have not read that many of them. I too discovered WD in the 'wrong order' but I found that the characters transitioned really well. The only reason I would like to have more of a seperation is because of Fiver. In the audio commentary of the dvd, they mention that Adams didn't like their portrayal of Fiver. So I would like to be able to read the book without the film image of Fiver in my head, but I find them hard to seperate.

I think I found about the "Plague Dogs" online somehow, and I must have mentioned it to my sister and she found a copy at a second-hand book store and gave it to me. I sourced the movie soon after. I found out about "Traveller" when searching 'Richard Adams' on my local librarie's computer system. I absolutely love the book, however it did take me some time to get through it due to the speech, as it's written to be a southern accent and it takes a while to get used to it. Unfortunately, my library no longer has the book, and I can't seem to find it at a second hand book store, or anywhere at all for a decent price. I would love to read it again.

I should read the" Plague Dogs" again, I loved the extra depth that the book had to the movie, however I also really enjoyed the movie ending, as well as the book ending. I was very surprised when the movie ended differently. Since I own it, I should get around to reading "Shardik" as well.. all in time I guess.

[Tima]

The Finnish DVD release of Watership Down is hilariously bad, it doesn't have the commentary you mentioned (or any other extras either). Interesting to know that Adams didn't like the movie's Fiver, I wasn't aware of that. Just curious, what was the problem with Fiver? For the most parts I'm happy with how the movie handled the book characters, and I have no issues with Fiver.
(Though I have to say I always find it a bit funny when book!Fiver talks about desiring a doe. I always imagine movie!Fiver saying that line and he just seems like such a small and young little runt to be thinking that stuff.)
[/off-topic]

On the topic of Plague Dogs, I like both endings. The book might end on a bit sugary note but I like happy endings so I'm okay with it.

[Azerane]

Unfortunately I don't think they mention what the problem with Fiver was, because I would have liked to known to, they just mention that Adams didn't like the way he was portrayed. In terms of other extras, I don't really think there is much, there is a small Lapine glossary so that you know what the terms in the movie mean. Production stills and photo of the real WD, theatrical trailer and cast and crew biographies. But not much else to boast about

On the topic of Plague Dogs as well, I went out with my mum today to antique stores as a late mother's day thing (as I wasn't here for mother's day) and one shop we went into had all these old books. I thought I may as well look for Traveller while I was there, so I was hunting around for it. Unfortunately, I didn't find Traveller, I did however find a 1st edition hard cover copy of the Plague Dogs in really good condition for $6. I was so pleased! My current copy is a tatty old paperback with cover creases and dog-eared pages etc. Which is good for travelling and reading as many times as I like, but I'm really pleased to have an original book. It made my day at least So I'm going to have to read my hardcover copy at least once. You never know, it might end differently to the paperback

Here's a (bad) picture I found online of the dust cover: worldbookmarket.com/images/books/10001/566029.jpg If you look closely, you can just see the Todd above the waterfall on the left hand side. The actual cover of the book is also imprinted with a really nice landscape image with the gold inlay of the text for the title and author.

[icewolf]

I am reading the Plague Dogs at the moment and I have also read and finally got a copy of Tales from Watership Down. Sadly, I think that a lot of his books are out of print which is probably why people find it difficult to get hold of them. I was lucky enough to get a copy of a non fiction book of his today, called A Nature Diary, which I'm looking forward to reading once I get the chance to!