Book Review
[ My English teacher asked our class to write a book review about one of our summer reading books. This proved to be a challenge, but here is my attempt at writing a book review of John Updike’s Rabbit Run.]
Rabbit Ran From His Life
In Rabbit Run, John Updike weaves a brilliant tapestry of imagery and amazingly complex emotions to tell the story of ex-high school basketball star, Harry Angstrom. Harry received the nickname ‘rabbit’ for a rabbit-like twitch in his nose and his ability to swiftly “hop” around the basketball court.
The past is always right behind Harry. Every aspect of his life is the result of choices he made while still in high school, and it is proving hard for Harry to accept how his life is progressing, post graduation:
I once did something right. I played first-rate basketball. I really did. And after you’re first-rate at something, no matter what, it kind of takes the kick out of being second-rate. And that little thing Janice and I had going, boy, it was really second-rate. (Updike, 92)
Harry has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that he is not the popular basketball star he once was. Harry’s immature and irresponsible attitude towards life is the catalyst for much of the conflicts in Rabbit Run.
Harry marries Janice Springer when he is twenty-three and she is twenty. She was his high-school sweetheart and he got her pregnant when she was only eighteen. Rabbit gets a job at a store demonstrating a tool called the Magi-peel peeler in order to support his new family. Janice’s love for alcohol and Harry’s uneasiness with his life as a Magi-peel peeler spokesperson motivates him to suddenly leave Janice.
It just felt like the whole business was fetching and hauling, all the time trying to hold this mess together she was making all the time. I don’t know, it seemed like I was glued in with a lot of busted toys and empty glasses and the television going and meals late or never and no way of getting out. Then all of a sudden it hit me how easy it was to get out, just walk out, and by damn it was easy. (Updike, 91)
Harry takes their car and just drives, leaving his frustration and hatred of his life behind him. He fantasizes of driving all the way down to Florida and sticking his feet in the Gulf of Mexico. The book is a combination of fantasy pushing out Harry’s depression and sense of reality.
When Harry’s attempt to reach the Gulf of Mexico fails, he finds himself back in Brewer, Pennsylvania. He turns to Marty Tothero, his former mentor and high school basketball coach. Harry tells Tothero of his predicament, but Tothero does not try to convince him to go back to Janice. Instead, Marty takes Harry out for a night on the town with a voluptuous redhead named Ruth and a ditsy brunette named Margaret. Harry is immediately attracted to Ruth because she is the exact opposite of his wife. His loneliness and need for someone other than Janice causes Harry to cling to Ruth and have a seemingly deep relationship with her.
I found Ruth to be one of the more interesting characters in Updike’s novel. Being slightly overweight, she is insecure and gave up a long time ago on having a meaningful relationship with a man. She is the kind of woman who is susceptible to being used; so, when Harry comes along and forces himself into her life, she barely puts up a fight. Although she has a slight attitude when talking to men, she is secretly helpless when it comes to defying their wishes.
Updike’s unique voice pries into the deep recesses of each characters mind, in order to bring the reader closer to the characters’ emotions. He creates chaotic tension in Harry’s actions that drives the reader to be as confused by the situation as Harry. Updike writes in fluid strings of sentences as if they were pure thought. This makes the book difficult to understand at some points because one thought is not separated from another. There are sometimes full pages that are one long run-on sentence. This is an interesting element of his writing, but was generally confusing and annoying.
One aspect of Rabbit Run that made it even more unique was Updike’s set of unlikable characters. Few characters in the novel are truly kind-hearted. The book was dominated by mean and childish characters which, was a surprisingly interesting aspect that separated it from being ‘just another novel.’
There is one voice of reason among the entire crazy cast of characters. Reverend Jack Eccles attempts to patch up Harry and Janice’s disintegrating marriage. But in his attempt, it is difficult to see whether or not he is doing more harm than good. Eccles tries to talk with Harry by taking him out to the golf course every week. Eccles puts himself right in the middle of the conflict and, consequently, is blamed for many of the problems that arise from the situation.
There is no doubt in my mind that Rabbit Run is a well written book and that John Updike is a very talented storywriter. However, since his characters are so unlikable, I found it hard to sympathize with them. At the beginning of the novel, I felt pity for Janice being left alone to take care of her and Harry’s son, Nelson. But as Updike lets the reader know more about Janice’s personality, I became disgusted with her and could understand why Rabbit would leave her. On the other hand, Harry is not such an upstanding man himself. While reading this book, I found myself bewildered as to whom to take sides with.
Harry’s parents are divided on who to blame for Harry leaving Janice. Mrs. Angstrom seems to think that Harry was not to blame. According to her, Janice “wasn’t too shy to get herself pregnant so poor Hassy has to marry her when he could scarcely tuck his shirt-tail in” (138). Mrs. Angstrom still thinks of Harry as a little boy, calling him “Hassy”. She makes it seem like he was too young to have a child, being a child himself, at the age of twenty-one. Of course she does not acknowledge the fact that Rabbit had a role in Janice’s pregnancy. Harry’s father is the complete opposite. He feels as if his son has shamed the family. He wants Harry to return to his wife and take control of his responsibilities. I felt somewhere in-between the two Angstroms. I agree with Mr. Angstrom that Harry should not have run out on his responsibilities, but I also do not think that Harry should necessarily go back to Janice. Their relationship is in too much of a shambles.
Throughout the novel, Rabbit is constantly running. He runs away from his responsibility, away from his past, away from his miserable life, and towards his fantasies. He is restless and is never satisfied with the present. I think that is the main idea that John Updike is trying to convey about Harry’s personality. Why Harry is like this can only be answered by reading the book and reaching your own conclusions.
Author’s Afterword
Overall, I thought that this paper went fairly well although it was a little bit of a challenge to write in the style of a book review. It’s interesting how deceptively simple a book review is. It’s so informal and easily flowing that it seems like it would be easy to write, but I thought it was a little difficult just because it was so different from the kinds of papers I usually write. When I was writing it I kept accidentally getting myself into ‘expository paper mode’. In my first draft I didn’t write in the first person at all. Even when I did make things more informal later on, I think that the book review still stayed a little too dry. I feel like it would have been better if I had given the paper more of a personality instead of just analyzing the book. I also feel like I may have dug a little too deep into the analysis of the characters. I’m not sure that someone who hasn’t read Rabbit Run will have any idea what I’m talking about in my book review. I wasn’t sure how to stay more general in my analysis without getting too general.
I think the strongest aspect of my book review was my description of the main characters in Rabbit Run. I think I did a good job outlining their personalities, although I probably dug a little too deep into Harry’s character. I think I revealed enough information for the reader to have an idea of what the book will be like before reading it, but without knowing every detail of the plot.
