Once and again: Watership Down
Review of the graphic novel version of "Watership Down" by Richard Adams.
Watership Down: The Graphic Novel
By Richard Adams (Author), James Sturm (Adapter), Joe Sutphin (Illustrator)
Ten Speed Graphic, 2023
Here’s a true story of a retired teacher’s dream encounter with a former student. It happened this past August. I knew who he was, but, 45 years later, would he recognize me? I held out my hand, about to say, “It’s Mrs. Smith,” but I didn’t get the chance. With the widest smile possible, he pointed at me and whooped “Watership Down!” Wow. Identified by a book I taught. Best compliment ever!
It was wildly ambitious for me to tackle this lengthy novel with a Grade 11 class. Although a winner of the UK’s Carnegie Medal for “Children’s Literature,” make no mistake, Watership Down is no sweet juvenile animal story, but a gritty combat tale tracing the journey of a wandering band of rabbit brothers through treachery and trials to final victory. Modelled on the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid, it’s replete with epic similes, literary allusions and epigrams, and a compelling lapin mythology. What was I thinking? Frankly, it was mostly a teacher-read. But, hurray, obviously memorable!
All these decades later, enter a new Watership Down, a graphic novel edition adapted by James Sturm and Joe Sutphin under the auspices of the Richard Adams Estate. Daughters Juliet and Rosamund enthuse, “Dad would have loved the result!” I’m sure they’re right. During my brother’s and my extraordinary stay with Richard Adams back in 2004 (Up Close with Watership Down | Christian Courier ), he invited us to a personal watch party of the 1988 film adaptation of his novel The Girl in a Swing. He was conspicuously proud of the movie, a supernatural thriller, relishing its crossover popularity. There’s no doubt he’d welcome this foray into the world of graphic novels.
The book is substantial, worthy of the coffee table. The artwork is neither overtly childish nor hyper-realistic, but a sensitive blend that crosses generational lines. The muted palette, echoing the greens and browns of a misty morning meadow, breathes the very soul of an English “down.” The countryside evokes fresh wonder viewed from the ground-level of a mouse or the aerial gaze of a seagull. Similarly, the rabbits themselves are rendered with exquisite care, lovingly individualized by their comparative size, the colour of their eyes and fur, and facial expressions that capture their unique personalities. Intriguing details in the illustrations sometimes reveal themselves later as adroit instances of visual foreshadowing. The masterful congruence of art and text is deeply satisfying.
Are graphic novels worthy of serious time and attention? In an era of widely publicized deficits in literacy, shouldn’t we be nudging our young learners to “real” novels? The CBC recently reported that the latest PISA (Program for International Assessment) study indicates that the reading scores of Canadian students dropped by 13 points from 2018 to 2022. The pandemic is one obvious factor. Oft-cited shorter attention spans may be another. Cultivating competent literacy in a digital age is challenging, but I think graphic novels have their place. All of the traditional interpretive skills such as accessing background knowledge, using context clues, building vocabulary and honing critical thinking can be achieved through a quality graphic novel. Additionally, for the reluctant reader, a fast-paced plot enriched with visual clues can function as an immersive bridge to comprehension. Today’s youth must navigate information-gathering and story-telling in a vast interactive media universe quite unimaginable in my childhood. Visual literacy is an essential proficiency for them, as essential as prose fluency was for me.
So, pick up Watership Down: The Graphic Novel and enter a magical realm with your children. Cuddle up and learn about rabbits and humans, villains, heroes and everyone in-between, adventure and friendship, death and life. (Preview the intensity of the concluding battle scenes for your sensitive youngster.) There is still no better teaching technique than sharing an enthralling read-aloud. Just ask my new favourite student, Steve.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts about this. My question is this: “Why ‘read’ the graphic novel when the written book is available? Read it first, and then do whatever it is that you call looking at a graphic novel.
(P.S.: I was one of the first people I knew to look at Maus, perhaps THE classic graphic novel, which I loved. But mostly, I don’t have time to get to them when there are some many written works –fiction and non-fiction–available to me.)
Thanks for reading, Curt! I appreciate the comment! I’m with you, generally. I prefer written books. But I do think we’re in a broad and deep cultural transition in which visual input is increasingly competing with or perhaps even supplanting print. Witness the death of the daily newspaper. In a short review I didn’t have time to note the widespread evidence provided by college profs that students are flummoxed by long reads that used to be considered required classics …. Interesting times we live in! 🙂