Rating: 
Summary: Worth a read
Review: The story is a bit drawn out, but it slowly pulled me in and propelled me forward. The tale of a conceited young man, plagued by a sense of futility and decay, alternating back and forth between two imperfect women reflects well a range of honest human emotions. The focus is definitely on the men though. The women in the story remain shallow and primarily serve sexual and reproductive roles. Not the best novel I've read, but I enjoyed it much more than Brazil (my first introduction to Updike's fiction) and plan to continue with the second book in the series.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best characters in 'recent' fiction
Review: This book was not an easy one to get into. It definitely starts slow, with descriptions and monologues overrunning the plot for a time. But it doesn't take too long for the reader to fall in love with Rabbit. Rabbit is a young, married father who is unhappy with his lower middle class life and unexpectedly deserts his wife and son while on an errand. He moves in with the town floozie and plays house while trying to figure out exactly what to do. He is befriended by a priest who tries to set him on the right path during weekly golf rounds. Despite his selfishness and arrogance, Rabbit manages to be immensely likable; somehow i was rooting for this adulterer and liar to succeed in the end. This is mainly due to Updike's skills as a writer. He doesn't paint a pretty picture of his characters or make them bastions of morality. Instead, they are entirely human, which makes them incredibly easy to relate to. I underlined several passages in the book as being remarkably insightful. Updike is able to describe the human condition in three sentences when it would take three paragraphs for even the most skilled writers. At least in this respect, Updike is very similar to my favorite American author, Richard Russo. Updike peppers his book with humor and tragedy, making "Rabbit, Run" a bit of a roller coaster and always surprising. His cast of characters (especially the minister's wife) are colorful and dynamic. Appropriately, there's no great moral at the end (again: Russo), leaving the way open for the other Rabbit books, which after this great opening salvo, I can't wait to read. 4 stars.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best characters in 'recent' fiction
Review: This book was not an easy one to get into. It definitely starts slow, with descriptions and monologues overrunning the plot for a time. But it doesn't take too long for the reader to fall in love with Rabbit. Rabbit is a young, married father who is unhappy with his lower middle class life and unexpectedly deserts his wife and son while on an errand. He moves in with the town floozie and plays house while trying to figure out exactly what to do. He is befriended by a priest who tries to set him on the right path during weekly golf rounds. Despite his selfishness and arrogance, Rabbit manages to be immensely likable; somehow i was rooting for this adulterer and liar to succeed in the end. This is mainly due to Updike's skills as a writer. He doesn't paint a pretty picture of his characters or make them bastions of morality. Instead, they are entirely human, which makes them incredibly easy to relate to. I underlined several passages in the book as being remarkably insightful. Updike is able to describe the human condition in three sentences when it would take three paragraphs for even the most skilled writers. At least in this respect, Updike is very similar to my favorite American author, Richard Russo. Updike peppers his book with humor and tragedy, making "Rabbit, Run" a bit of a roller coaster and always surprising. His cast of characters (especially the minister's wife) are colorful and dynamic. Appropriately, there's no great moral at the end (again: Russo), leaving the way open for the other Rabbit books, which after this great opening salvo, I can't wait to read. 4 stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Aged poorly
Review: This is a well written book featuring an unsympathetic main character who is difficult to identify with. It portrays the suburban angst of the 1950s. This shtick has been done about 10,000 times since then, and I personally am sick to death of it.
Rating: 
Summary: Beginning of a Dynasty
Review: Though the later Rabbit novels would win the awards (Pulitzers and National Book Awards for the last two), the original Rabbit, Run is a towering and memorable book. The character Rabbit Angstrom was fantastic, and although many people complain about his decision-making and morals, I find Updike's search for complex humanity and drive in such a character to be a great achievement. Who wants the vanilla do-gooders from factory belt novelists when you can have the perfect imperfection of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom? Other great acheivments in this book lie in the moments; conversations, sudden reactions, streams of consciousness, epiphanies. The way he structures a conversation alone is mesmerizing: we read what Rabbit thinks, how he wants to steer the dialogue to his advantage, and then witness the battle of words in between. The only difference between this Updike and the later Updike is the descriptions; his prose hits on all cylinders, but sometimes it is too verbose, as if he is swelling himself outward to impress to the extreme. One of the unspoken rules in writing is to not lay all your cards on the table talent-wise, to reign yourself in a bit and make the story matter more. A little bit of that urge to show it all seeps through the cracks here. Regardless, the book is fantastic, one of amazing characters and talented prose.
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