Friday, October 5, 2012

Rabbit At Rest by John Updike - Book Review

This book really intrigued me. It tells the story of Rabbit Angstrom, the last in a series of books about this character apparently, a one-time basketball hero, and latterly, a car distributor for Toyota, though the business is never truly his, much to his chagrin.I like the easy way that John Updike writes, the sardonic way he notices the tiniest of things that are passed by, by so many of us. If you are a budding writer, or have any ambitions to become one, you could do far worse than go to school on John Updike.They say that to become a good writer you must first become a good reader, and this series of books about the life and loves and troubles of Rabbit Angstrom is as good a place to start as anywhere. My guess is that you will come out a better writer for reading books such as this, without even noticing it.Somehow he makes the most ordinary things, the most mundane of chores, become interesting and riveting. One word of warning though, if you suffer from heart disease
of any kind, or imagine that you might do, the increasingly detailed scenes regarding Rabbit's failing heart, autobiographical one wonders, and subsequent hospitalisation may test your resolve to the limit.Other than that, read it, and soak up the craftsmanship of a man at the peak of his career. It made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. Though this is the last in the series, many judges say that this is a good place to start. I am not going to argue with that, I thoroughly enjoyed it as the, sometimes sad, story of the latter part of Rabbit's life and times slowly unfolded.

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