The Istoriaphile’s Corner

I’ll never forget reading that blurb.  It was on the back of a beige book my mother had brought from the library and when I read it, I said, “Well, that’s a bit much.  I flipped the book over and looked at the pen-and-ink cover drawing and the red and black type underneath. It still didn’t look very promising.   I looked askance at my mother who shrugged her shoulders.  “Read it or don’t” she said. “I thought you might like it, you liked animal stories when you were little.”  She looked at the cover and added.  “It has rabbits in it.”  That’s how I met Watership Down. I didn’t know it at the time but I was merely the latest in a long line of people to underestimate this story, starting with its author.  Richard Adams entertained his daughters during rides to school with stories of what they saw along the way: country roads and rabbits.  It wasn’t until the girls demanded a written account that he started to shape the tale.  Then, four publishers and three agents turned down the manuscript saying “Adults won’t read an animal story and it’s far too scary for kids.”  The publisher who printed…