Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

| Log in
  1. Follow us on Facebook
  2. Follow us on Twitter
  3. Follow us on Instagram
  4. Follow us on Goodreads
  5. RSS Feeds

  • Home
  • About
    • About CBR
    • Getting Started
    • Cannon Book Club
    • Diversions
    • Event Calendar
    • Fan Mail
    • Holiday Book Exchange
    • Book Bingo Reading Challenge
    • Participation Badges
    • AlabamaPink
  • Our Team
    • The CBR Team
    • Leaderboard
    • Recent Comments
    • CBR Interviews
    • Our Volunteers
    • Meet MsWas
  • Categories
    • Review Genres
    • Tags
  • Fight Cancer
    • How We Fight Cancer
    • How You Can Donate
    • Book Sale
    • CBR Merchandise
    • Supporters and Friends of CBR
  • FAQ
  • Contact
    • Contact Form
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Follow Us
> FAQ Home
> Genre: Fiction > Rabbit, Run – John Updike (1960)

Rabbit, Run – John Updike (1960)

Rabbit, Run by John Updike

January 7, 2021 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

I read this book and its sequels (three more novels and a novella) for a grad class about 15 years ago, and I am returning to it out of curiosity, and as I look into some other John Updike books we didn’t get into for that class. John Updike is pretty much a rorshach test in a lot of ways, not in the sense that it’s indicative of your test or sensibility, but in how he allows you to address the very heart and problems of white middle class masculinity in the US for the 20th century. He’s written some very good novels, and some really bad novels; good criticism and bad criticism; good short stories and bad short stories; and bad poetry.

I was surprised to find how much different I saw this book now that I am around 40 and much older than Rabbit, from when I read it at 25 all those years ago. I am no super sympathetic with Rabbit anymore, while a) never experiencing his exact problems, and b) having some of the same qualities he has.

Rabbit Angstrom is married at 26 with one kid and another on the way. He’s a former high school basketball star living in medium town Pennsylvania (a town comparable to Reading), and his life doesn’t seem to have a lot of purpose or meaning for him. No real job, waywardness, but I wouldn’t call it depression. So he runs out on his wife, seeks his old high school coach, begins an affair with a woman who is sometimes, but not this moment a sex worker, while deciding what if any pull anyone from his old life has on him. And in the midst of it, his local preacher decides this is the right time to minister to him. He’s deciding to live the most indulgent and self-absorbed life his life will allow.

The book is MUCH harsher on him than I remembered, but still allows him to pay out his fantasies. I still find it compelling.

(Photo: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40656712-rabbit-run?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=nvy6WfVn8V&rank=1)

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: John Updike, rabbit run

vel veeter's CBR13 Review No:10 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: John Updike, rabbit run ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

About vel veeter

CBR13 participantCBR12 participantCBR11 participantCBR10 participantCBR  9CBR 8

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/69444656-vel-veeter View vel veeter's reviews»

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Recent Comments

  • wicherwill on Ranging from Excellent to MediocreI totally agree with you on Pride and A Good Girl's Guide to Murder! Pride, in particular, I remember thinking the characterizations felt fresh and...
  • wicherwill on The Wheel of Time (Part I)I have not read Wheel of Time (in a fit of pique? boredom? masochism?) I did pick up the last(?) or close to last books...
  • wicherwill on “Mouths always open, minds never so”I basically was waiting for this review so I can share my headcanon casting--Rachel House for Baradonna, dressed like she was in Thor: Ragnarok, but...
  • llamareadsbooks on Whales… in… space!I think it's more like a space squid, but I totally had the whole Pinocchio thing in mind, too. Just posted my review of the...
  • lowercasesee on Another roundup (sorry)Thank you!! It was the first of this bunch I'd read so I couldn't remember everything.
See More Recent Comments »

Want to Help Out?

CBR has a great crew of volunteers, and we're always looking for more people to help out. If you have a specialty or are willing to learn, drop MsWas a line.

  • How You Can Donate
  • FAQ
  • Shop
  • Volunteers
  • Leaderboard
  • AlabamaPink
  • Contact

Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo
© 2021 Cannonball Read | Log in