book 1 of The Rabbit Books

by John Updike

isbn: 0449911659
subject: Fiction and Literature
finished: 8/10/1998

Rabbit is a man who has, until the beginning of the book, played by society's rules; he takes it on faith that if he's a good person, life we be good to him too. Upon realizing that this is not the case, he leaves his dead-end job and his wife who he's no longer interested in, and goes to live with another woman. It's difficult to decide whether to sympathize with Rabbit or not; on one hand he's trapped in a life he doesn't want and didn't really choose, and on the other hand he's being selfish and stupid, abandoning his pregnant wife at the first hint of difficulty. Rabbit's aesthetic is different from that of the people around him; he has a lot of trouble communicating, and as a result he's often misunderstood, and is constantly frustrated by the actions and expectations of others. Rabbit, Run asks a lot of hard questions about the responsibility of individuals to society, and about growing up in America. Recommended.