Watership Down

WATERSHIP DOWN is both a children's classic and a favorite of adults. Whether this is just a simple tale about rabbits or a complex political allegory depends upon the listener, but Ralph Cosham's narration fits both. He is a calm and steady storyteller whose intimate, understated style draws the listener in. As the rabbits embark on a journey of survival, Cosham communicates their fear and uneasiness. He's sensitive to their personalities and moods as they travel together and meet a number of challenges. For the other animals, Cosham uses various accents that differentiate them from the rabbits. In the introduction Adams says that one of the novel's bird characters was based on a Norwegian freedom fighter. J.E.M. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine


This simple story of the arduous migration of a band of rabbits to a safer home is an artful blending of epic, myth and creative language. While this rendition conveys the basic story, it obstructs deeper appreciation of this rich work. The narrator seems rushed. There are few suspenseful pauses and no modulation of voice for chapter breaks, lexical footnotes, literary extracts or mythic digressions. The result is an amorphous stream of words which are difficult to disentangle. Such a complex book will succeed in audio only with an articulate reading to help the listener follow its many threads. This reading does not. B.M.W. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


Narrator Peter Capaldi's resonant voice is perfect for this rerelease of Adams's 1972 epic. Besides his natural Scottish accent, Capaldi crafts more than 20 distinctive voices for this story of a small group of rabbits who are fleeing an impending disaster. Hazel, the group's leader, sounds likable and capable--but without the machismo of Bigwig, the group's strongest defender. Fiver, too, has a standout voice as the meek prophetic visionary who often influences decisions. Capaldi's pacing is dynamic. His narration of lush descriptive passage of the English countryside is unhurried and soothing, while depictions of battles with rival rabbits and predators bring out all the danger and terror. Capaldi delivers a riveting version of this wonderful classic. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine