Rabbit, Run

By: John Updike

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Rabbit, Run is the book that established John Updike as one of the major American novelists of his - or any other - generation. Its hero is Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, a onetime high-school basketball star who on an impulse deserts his wife and son. He is 26 years old, a man-child caught in a struggle between instinct and thought, self and society, sexual gratification and family duty - even, in a sense, human hard-heartedness, and divine Grace. Though his flight from home traces a zigzag of evasion, he holds to the faith that he is on the right path, an invisible line toward his own salvation as straight as a ruler’s edge.

©1996 John Updike (P)2008 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Brilliant and poignant...By his compassion, clarity of insight and crystal-bright prose, he makes Rabbit's sorrow his and our own." ( The Washington Post)

“A lacerating story of loss and of seeking, written in prose that is charged with emotion but is always held under impeccable control.” (Kansas City Star)

Strange story read by a strange narrator

I like the story, despite it having the most unlikable main character I think I’ve ever read. The quality of the writing is quite good, classic John Updike, but the pace drags in parts. I would’ve liked the listening experience far more with a different narrator; this narrator reads dialogue with sort of a weird false cheeriness in every voice.

Its Updike..

This is always some of the best American writing. Updike is so smart, so beautiful and honest. I first read Rabbit nearly 30 years ago and so wonderful to meet Rabbit, Janice and Ruth again. They are familiar old friends.

The narration was beautifully balanced and sensitive.

4.09 stars........Updike keeps it real

This is the first book in a series of four novels. While this isn't a favorite novel of mine, Updike does enough in this first installment to cause me to pick up Book 2 at some point in the future. Since this is the first book in a series, I would only recommend it to those who are interested in the series as a whole. It is a good listen, but not a great one. However, Updike won two Pultizer Prizes for his later works in this series, so maybe the next books improve on this already above average recording. The narrator is the perfect choice for a book like this.

Overall rating: 4.09

Frustrating

I like the style of the writing. The story felt stringy, trashy. I wanted the run away, like Rabbit.
Disclaimer: I didn’t finish listening, so I have no right to criticize.

Why is it a classic?

Very well written and performed, but a mundane story about an uninteresting protagonist who is not likeable. Not sure why it is such a well liked and reviewed book.

Wow

A devastating, blistering, painful and brutal tragedy. A train wreck of a main character who blithely bruises and ruins the lives of those he touches as he stumbles like an oaf through adulthood no more aware of his impact than a blind bull. A cutting look at men, marriage and meaning --- pretty timeless in its tale and painful to listen to. Superb narration. An unforgettable book that haunts me long afterward. One of the best Audible listens. I could not stop listening and looked forward to this book like few others.

Stick with it

As a man, I was very much able to identify with many of the main characters attributes and flaws. Updike does a magnificant job of turning a character who you should hate for his acts into one who you cannot help but love! Stick with this book as it starts a bit slow, but draws you in through its magnetic main character.

Angstrom Angst

Updike's Rabbit Run is still a hit for me. The book captures the angst in every day life's struggles and the feeling of being trapped in one's role in life back in the 1960's. Wonderful writing.

Great Read

I cant begin to explain how good this book is.
The story, the drama, the back stories. I loved it.

Brilliant Americana

Poorly narrated but a masterpiece nonetheless. Rabbit is the young, spoiled USA, full of vitality but lacking self-criticism, that is about to be launched on a wild ride through history. The series includes several of the best American novels ever.