It's 1969, and the times are changing. America is about to land a man on the moon, the Vietnamese war is in full swing, and racial tension is on the rise. Things just aren't as simple as they used to be - at least, not for Rabbit Angstrom. His wife has left him with his teenage son, his job is under threat and his mother is dying. Suddenly, into his confused life - and home - comes Jill, an eighteen-year-old runaway who becomes his lover. But when she invites her friend to stay, a young black radical named Skeeter, the pair's fragile harmony soon begins to fail ...
Rabbit Redux (Penguin Modern Classics)
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About the Author
John (Hoyer) Updike (1932-) American novelist, short story writer and poet, internationally known for his novels RABBIT, RUN (1960), RABBIT REDUX (1971), RABBIT IS RICH (1981), and RABBIT AT REST (1990). His latest novel is VILLAGES (Penguin, 2005).
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MEN emerge pale from the little printing plant at four sharp, ghosts for an instant, blinking, until the outdoor light overcomes the look of constant indoor light clinging to them. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
MEN emerge pale from the little printing plant at four sharp, ghosts for an instant, blinking, until the outdoor light overcomes the look of constant indoor light clinging to them. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Demob Happy
Format:Paperback
`Rabbit Redux` is the second in Updike's quartet of novels chronicling the life and times of America as seen through the eyes of everyman Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. Written - as with the other three - at the tale end of one decade (here, the 1960s) and published at the beginning of the next, Redux finds its eponymous anti-hero in suitably chaotic circumstances: his wife has left him for another man, he shacks up with a promiscuous teenage runaway, and her friend, a black radical named Skeeter, moves in with them.
Whereas `Rabbit, Run' was virtually perspiring with dank verisimilitude - all-too queasily human and corporeal - Redux comes across as a kind of maddening metaphorical play. Whereas Rabbit's first adventures concerned intimate, character-driven themes, this second novel is a more representational scenario that reflects the upheaval of the generation. Social dysfunction, free love and black power literally invade Rabbit's smallville suburban address, turning his house into a theatre of the late-1960s psyche.
While Redux doesn't always ring true as a credible study of character, it's air of volatility and hysteria capture the spirit of the period, in which the civil rights movement and the dismantlement of the conservative values of the 1950s were reaching a fever pitch. Whereas `Rabbit, Run' was conspicuously apolitical, Redux is almost all politics, with large sections of the book played out in Rabbit's living room like some kind of deranged allegorical play. Harry Angstrom is still rather passive, buffeted by the events that befall him, but this time he goes along with the trip.... Read more ›
Whereas `Rabbit, Run' was virtually perspiring with dank verisimilitude - all-too queasily human and corporeal - Redux comes across as a kind of maddening metaphorical play. Whereas Rabbit's first adventures concerned intimate, character-driven themes, this second novel is a more representational scenario that reflects the upheaval of the generation. Social dysfunction, free love and black power literally invade Rabbit's smallville suburban address, turning his house into a theatre of the late-1960s psyche.
While Redux doesn't always ring true as a credible study of character, it's air of volatility and hysteria capture the spirit of the period, in which the civil rights movement and the dismantlement of the conservative values of the 1950s were reaching a fever pitch. Whereas `Rabbit, Run' was conspicuously apolitical, Redux is almost all politics, with large sections of the book played out in Rabbit's living room like some kind of deranged allegorical play. Harry Angstrom is still rather passive, buffeted by the events that befall him, but this time he goes along with the trip.... Read more ›
By M Chapman
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
the weakest of the four rabbit books although still quite good. the following two novels are more developed and more engaging.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
`Rabbit Redux' sees us return to the world of Harry `Rabbit' Angstrom and this picks up ten years after `Rabbit Run' left off.
Set in 1969, Harry has been living a life with his wife and son in relative stability. That is until his wife leaves him and Harry is left behind with his teenage son and his resentment. He takes in a young woman and a black radical and before long his life is turned upside down.
This book is split into four chapters and this is written with Updike's usual beauty and vivid imagery. The first half of the book was simply outstanding and I was often left marvelling at the rich language he uses and re-reading lines and whole paragraphs to soak up the power and depth of his writing. The third Chapter, which focuses on the radical houseguest, was the hardest to read and all of the philosophical talk of Vietnam and pseudo-spiritual politics got a bit wearing. But by the time the forth chapter rolled round things were firmly back on track and the book ended with a flourish.
This is an excellent continuation of Rabbit's story and whilst he isn't always the most likable character, you can't help but empathise with him and feel his life's joys and slights all the more keenly as a result. Updike demonstrates his mastery for all to see here and I can't wait to read the next book in the series and if you enjoyed the first book then I can also highly recommend this.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
Set in 1969, Harry has been living a life with his wife and son in relative stability. That is until his wife leaves him and Harry is left behind with his teenage son and his resentment. He takes in a young woman and a black radical and before long his life is turned upside down.
This book is split into four chapters and this is written with Updike's usual beauty and vivid imagery. The first half of the book was simply outstanding and I was often left marvelling at the rich language he uses and re-reading lines and whole paragraphs to soak up the power and depth of his writing. The third Chapter, which focuses on the radical houseguest, was the hardest to read and all of the philosophical talk of Vietnam and pseudo-spiritual politics got a bit wearing. But by the time the forth chapter rolled round things were firmly back on track and the book ended with a flourish.
This is an excellent continuation of Rabbit's story and whilst he isn't always the most likable character, you can't help but empathise with him and feel his life's joys and slights all the more keenly as a result. Updike demonstrates his mastery for all to see here and I can't wait to read the next book in the series and if you enjoyed the first book then I can also highly recommend this.
Feel free to check out my blog which can be found on my profile page.
8 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Updike's evocative language and ghostly narrative style combine with brilliantly drawn characters to unearth the bleak voice of the post industrial silent majority. Its grim reading. The moral of the story is that in this world of adultery, faded dreams and shattered prospects life continues, is relentless and seldom will man, in this case Rabbit strive to achieve or hold on to anything of lasting consequence.
A brilliant look at the pitfalls of the affluent, leisure society.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By sft
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Rabbit is back and it's 1969. Set against the backdrop of the first moon landing and the Vietnam war Harry Angstrom is once again thrown into personal turmoil. His wife leaves him for a co-worker, his mother is slowly dying, and his job is none too secure. Harry repopulates his house, and his life, with an itinerant 18-year-old rich girl and a black messianic veteran. His son Nelson remains at home with his father and has to come to terms with this new bohemian lifestyle. It's all sex and drugs and rock and roll (well, the blues anyway) for Harry and chums, but the breakdown of his marriage and the death of his first child haunt him throughout.
Rabbit is as flawed and conflicted as ever. At once open-minded and bigoted, he remains patriotic, even jingoistic, as he continues his struggles to grasp the American dream. And, although his behaviour is at times little short of incredulous, he remains a mostly sympathetic protagonist.
And, of course, Updike's prose is as sharp and insightful as ever. An essential read for all lovers of contemporary American literature.
Rabbit is as flawed and conflicted as ever. At once open-minded and bigoted, he remains patriotic, even jingoistic, as he continues his struggles to grasp the American dream. And, although his behaviour is at times little short of incredulous, he remains a mostly sympathetic protagonist.
And, of course, Updike's prose is as sharp and insightful as ever. An essential read for all lovers of contemporary American literature.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Love Rabbit.He's just a guy like the rest of us, struggling through lifes traumas. Come on Rabbit you can do it
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By L. Williams
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Compared to 'Rabbit, Run', the second book in the Rabbit tetralogy is a lot harder to love. For a start, it's infused with casual misogyny and racism, which probably reflects the time it was written as much as the time in which it was set. The character of Rabbit is morally ambiguous to a much greater extent than in the first book, although as the story develops this moral ambiguity becomes more or less the point - he's a weak character as well as a product of his time, yet he does manage to transcend these limitations, at least part way.
I loved this book, found it utterly absorbing, and lived inside it in a way I haven't with a novel for some time (I've probably been reading too much science fiction recently). John Updike was an incredible writer, even if his sexual politics can appear suspect to your average, 21st century Guardian-reading liberal. There are just so many unforgettable characters and vividly drawn scenes in this book - the politics, sexual or otherwise, are beside the point. In summary, an intense, sometimes disturbing, but unforgettable read. Highly recommended, and then some.
I loved this book, found it utterly absorbing, and lived inside it in a way I haven't with a novel for some time (I've probably been reading too much science fiction recently). John Updike was an incredible writer, even if his sexual politics can appear suspect to your average, 21st century Guardian-reading liberal. There are just so many unforgettable characters and vividly drawn scenes in this book - the politics, sexual or otherwise, are beside the point. In summary, an intense, sometimes disturbing, but unforgettable read. Highly recommended, and then some.
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