The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 14 November 2000
by John Updike
I could see people enjoying this book. I could see some people hating it, as well. Out on the suburban edge of the Pennsylvania town of Brewer, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom makes a bold, if confused and futile, attempt to flee his stale little life. He takes off across the dark countryside of Maryland and West Virginia, only to turn back in ambivalent fear. This ambivalence characterizes all of Rabbit's subsequent behavior. He is forcefully ambivalent, if such a thing could be imagined. In running from his useless marriage, running to a woman of easy virtue, and running around in search of some meaning behind this existence, Angstrom is an unpleasant anti-hero. Updike captures here a very real aspect of the suburban male personality. There is this powerful sense that there is something more to life, but no real drive or understanding how to find it. Meanwhile, in his selfishness, Rabbit tears apart the people around him. And yet, Rabbit is convinced there is something greater driving him. People try to straighten him out, but in the end we're convinced Rabbit will still run. Updike writes Rabbit's story from a very male perspective. Rabbit doesn't treat the women in his life as if they really are people, but this may also be reflective of social morés of the late 50s when this was originally published. At the time, much of the sexuality in the book may have been controversial, but by today's standards may seem shockingly puritan, as well. That sexual energy is a major theme in the work, too. And so, from a female perspective, this reader could imagine how people might hate this book. Nevertheless, Updike's writing borders on the brilliant. He beautifully captures the landscape in which Harry and his contemporaries live. It is both stifling and tantalizingly liberating. As literature, this is a very good book. But its subject, and its lack of a deeply sympathetic protagonist, may leave readers disturbed, annoyed, or just puzzled. (Updike was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for two of its three sequels, both Rabbit is Rich, and Rabbit at Rest.)
Also by Updike:
[Rabbit Redux]
[Rabbit is Rich]
[Rabbit at Rest]
[Licks of Love]
[Just Looking]
[Still Looking]
[Toward the End of Time]
[The Witches of Eastwick]
[The Centaur]
[S.]
[The Poorhouse Fair]
[Of the Farm]
See also: [Updike, by Adam Begley]