Rabbit, Run
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Ok, so I’m clearly starting off 2024 with some serious reading duds. I got this because A) I’ve never read John Updike and I know he’s iconic and what not and B) It’s on my ”100 best English-language novels published since 1923" scratch-off poster and I wanted to scratch something off.
Rabbit, Run is about a truly insufferable human male (not rabbit) who does whatever he wants at the expense of others. He meanders through his adulthood, acting on his whims and running from his problems.
I don’t need to root for the main character; in fact, I like someone a lil problematic because it stirs things up and shows the nuances of life. Barney’s Version is a good example of an anti-hero worth reading. However, Harry Angstrom (aka Rabbit) was too bleh in every aspect for me. He peaked in high school but doesn’t know how to process that. He wants something more of his life, but doesn’t know how to articulate that. He’s an immature man-child and there’s nothing likeable about him. He doesn’t even make me laugh!
On one hand, Updike’s skill is impressive; he successfully made me disgusted by the guy. Updike wanted to write about the “scared, dodgy men” trend that he noticed in the 1960s and Rabbit hit the nail on the head. On the other hand, this book reads like a bad indie movie. Updike paints Rabbit in a whimsical light with an over-attention to detail in each scene. It had me asking what is the point of this and the only thing I came up with was …art?
Hard pass on this art lol. I’m unsubscribing from this artistic pursuit. I grew so weary of Rabbit’s point of view. He was a little bunny bitch boy and I can’t believe that people ate up this book so much at the time of publishing that it spun into four sequels. Rabbit, Run receives 1 out of 5 flames.
