Rabbit Redux
John Updike
1971
Around 410 pages
So The Sea of Fertility is one entry, and yet the Rabbit series is separated by volume. When will these crazy kids decide on a system? Anyway, I happen to adore this series, so the Powers That Be can include it in any manner they see fit.
When we left Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom last, he was struggling. In Rabbit Redux, he is still working a dead end job, still married to the incomparable Janice, and raising their thirteen-year-old son, Nelson. Janice leaves Harry for a sexy Greek guy, so Harry starts a commune, much to the dismay of his conservative neighbors. The commune consists of Skeeter, a Black Vietnam veteran, and Jill, a runaway teenager and heroin addict.
We are now firmly rooted in the 70s, as evidenced by Harry's reaction to his wife leaving. Jill represents something different to Harry, Nelson, and Skeeter. I'm not usually a fan of female characters only being around to help us understand the male characters better, but it admittedly worked well here. None of his characters are particularly admirable, so it's a testament to Updike's writing that he can still manage to make them sympathetic.
He also does a great job moving the plot along, when he could have easily become mired in the psychology of his characters. Looking forward to his next entry on the List.
RATING: ****-
Interesting Facts:
The Guardian ranked it number 88 in a list of the 100 Best Novels.
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