Rabbit Redux

Rating:
Summary: Morbid
Review: I am reading the Rabbit series nearly in backwards order. I began with the third book, Rabbit Is Rich, and liked it so much that I picked up the book on Amazon that includes all four in the series. Curious about how it all ends, the next one I read was Rabbit At Rest, the final book. It is excellent, and the ending is very emotional and powerful. I then decided to read book 2, this one. Midway into it, I couldn't believe how bad it was.

To put my reaction into a sort of context, I walked out of the movie Leaving Las Vegas, or whatever it was called, because it was simply too morbid for me. These sad sack addictive personalities drive me nuts. I can't sit there and watch them destroy themselves. I'd greatly prefer that they killed themselves quickly and left me alone. I do not enjoy wallowing in garbage. I do not sympathize with self destructive morons. I can't help them, and I don't want to suffer with them.

This book features a weak young girl named Jill who allows herself to be destroyed by a nut case named Skeeter. Skeeter has some very valid points to make about American history, but he's not much of a house guest. I can't say I learned anything of value from Jill or Skeeter, so their sad sack story, their viciously morbid story, is pointless to me. Why suffer through it.

Rabbit just lets things happen to him and to the people around him. For a few moments he wakes up and exerts himself. He objects to Jill turning his son into a lying beggar on the street, and he goes so far as to smack her around. Then why doesn't he object to Skeeter turning Jill into a pathetic junkie? That seems quite a bit more serious. What is wrong with this idiot?

Another problem in the book is that Rabbit's wife Janice leaves her lover at the end, for no reason I can see. Her reason seems to be that the author told her to, after making it clear that she loves him desperately.

Judging from the more mature work, Rabbit At Rest, I thought John Updike was among the great writers of all time. Judging from this garbage, Rabbit Redux, I have modified my view. All I can do is shake my head and say to the author - what got into you?

Rating:
Summary: RABBIT REDUX GAVE ME MIGRAINES!!!!!
Review: John Updike's Rabbit Redux was sadly dissapointing. Though it is fast paced and an often exciting read, it does not accurately portray "Middle America" as the book cover proclaims. Affairs, drugs, criminals, a runaway girl --this book has it all, except an ending that's believable. One comes away from this book with less faith in morality, and a sad outlook on the institution of marriage. Indeed the character "Rabbit" and his wife "Janice" never seem to rise above their stupidity, which,of course, is what we're waiting for them to do. I can forgive Updike since this was written in the '70's, but it's awful

Rating:
Summary: An improvement from the first book in the series
Review: This book is a significant improvement over the first book in the series and a clear marker of the writer's development. He makes the protagonist, Rabbit (or Harry Angstrom) into a a true anti-hero, someone we really don't like, yet can't help caring what happens to him. Rabbit is 36 in this book and his son is 13. Still struggling with marriage, sex, family and himself, we see a new phase in his life's development. There are strong sexist and racist tones to the book, especially at the beginning, some of which are dealt with by the characters by the end, others which reflect the unfortunate but real attitudes of the times. The middle section of the book gets a bit bogged down in dialogues on political theory, but the rest is fresh and engaging. This book is the best of the three Updike books I've read so far.