Rabbit Redux

Beautiful descriptions of a blue collar new england in the sixties - straightneck meets counter culture..veers from normal to darker and twisted. excellent writing. a classic.

This is a book that just refuses to offer hope to the reader. At every turn, all the characters seem to make the worst possible choices. But the darker it gets, the more fascinating it gets. It does end with the faintest, tiniest suggestion of maybe some hope for the main character.
It's also a daring book, when it comes to issues of race and sex, and, of course, it's really well written. If you're a writer, you might find Updike's voice creeping into your head and out of your pen (or keyboard) for a few weeks after reading. Anyway, I'm excited about the next few books, but I'm waiting until there's a little more sunshine here in Montana before I start them.

I liked this one less than "Rabbit, Run".....still not feeling any sympathy for the majority of the characters. I'm in a position now that I feel that I HAVE to finish the series, hopefully for some redemption of these flawed individuals...once again, Updike's writing is really good

If you experience negative sentiments towards Updike's protagonist then you're probably feeling exactly what the author intends, not to mention there are two more books so judgment should be reserved. Furthermore, if the disgracefulness of Harry gets to you so much that you can't grasp anything else in this novel of baffling genius that could be studied for years and still not be fully dissected, then you really, REALLY shouldn't be reading it.

I've got this one on my shelf...

God bless you, Salvation Army! Thanks to you, I can afford to be well-read!

I picked this book off a bookshelf at random and didn't realize it was a sequel until very late into the book. Without the full background this book still shot through me like a knife. I am not usually a fan of dense books with a lot of description but for me this was different. The poetic language, the intricate dissection of the mind, and the darkness laid out were tantalizing and disturbingly resonating. I didn't find the racism and sexism and the horrible things the character did as disturbing as I did the way Rabbit became a catalyst to the dark nature of others. His overbearing attitude and his need for control were replaced in the face of adversity by a taunting of fate. His fatherly instinct was tossed out the window in favor of a litmus test. For instance, if someone were to cut them self with a knife, I have no doubt that Rabbit would offer the tenderness of a band-aid but for the morbid need to see a downward spiral he would leave the knife. It was hard to tell if Rabbit had sadistic needs or was simply giving up. I loved the book. It had life, and honesty, and it interacted with my subconscious in a beautiful bloody way.

rabbit is a protagonist you can't help but cheer for, even though you know he is irreversibly screwed-up.

I have to disagree with many others - this novel was a letdown for me after reading Rabbit Run. In contrast to the first of the Rabbit novels, this one focuses more on seemingly absurd situations to create a plot whereas Rabbit Run seemed much more realistic.

Hmmm... I liked the first one better! This one made me hate Rabbit when I felt like I should have been growing closer to him. I just wanted him to clean up his act the whole time! And the ending isn't anything to talk about, either, like the first one is. I'm not sure if I'll finish reading the other two... I'll have to check out the reviews on them.

I read this novel for school and loved it. I just ordered the other books in the quartet and can't wait to read the entire Rabbit story.