Episode 344: Watership Down by Richard Adams, Ch. 41-50

On The Literary Life Podcast this week, Angelina and Thomas cover the final chapters in our series on Richard Adams’ Watership Down. They begin by taking a look at the epilogue in light of the journey of the soul. Angelina also talks about why the many digressions in this book work so well and how they contribute to the overall meaning of the story. She and Thomas also talk about the aristeia finally making its appearance in these chapters, the legend of the Fisher King, the “deus ex machina” that we see here. Finally, they highlight the beauty of the ending of this story and its rich imagery.

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Commonplace Quotes:

It is often the fate of the mystagogue to be made famous by his own spiritual descendants.

Ronald Knox, from Enthusiasm: A Chapter in the History of Religion

When you can state the theme of a story, when you can separate it from the story itself, then you can be sure the story is not a very good one.

Flannery O’Connor, from Mystery and Manners

Selection from “Fern Hill”

by Dylan Thomas

And as I was green and carefree, famous among the barns
About the happy yard and singing as the farm was home,
    In the sun that is young once only,
          Time let me play and be
    Golden in the mercy of his means,
And green and golden I was huntsman and herdsman, the calves
Sang to my horn, the foxes on the hills barked clear and cold,
          And the sabbath rang slowly
    In the pebbles of the holy streams.

All the sun long it was running, it was lovely, the hay
Fields high as the house, the tunes from the chimneys, it was air
    And playing, lovely and watery
          And fire green as grass.
    And nightly under the simple stars
As I rode to sleep the owls were bearing the farm away,
All the moon long I heard, blessed among stables, the nightjars
    Flying with the ricks, and the horses
          Flashing into the dark.

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Lilith by George MacDonald

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