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#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1. Rabbit, Run (John Updike)

2. I don't know if "excited" is the right word, but I can't wait to get my Foreign Service assessment over with ? Looking most forward to seeing the Violent Femmes.

Tag @RaeLovesToRead @Cazxxx @CBee @dabbe @BarbaraBB @Suet624 @jdiehr @jlhammar @Jari-chan and anyone else!

This book is exhibit A in support of my belief that the likeability of a MC is irrelevant if the writing is good. It's clear what Updike's judgment of Rabbit's behavior would be (and he's explicitly stated his feelings in interviews and articles), yet he narrates nearly the entire novel from Rabbit's perspective in a way that makes an understandable, if not terribly sympathetic, character. Whatever else Rabbit might be, he felt undeniably real.

Let's be clear. Rabbit is the absolute epitome of a selfish arse. This is a book about what would happen if a family man shunned his responsibilities and did whatever the hell took his fancy.

It does not lead to greatness.

Rabbit, run neither preaches, nor punishes. It simply describes the mindset of a young man trying to escape mediocrity. He's a character both unexceptional and unforgettable.

Plus, the prose is rather delicious.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" came out in 1957 and, without reading it, I resented its apparent instruction to cut loose; "Rabbit, run" was meant to be a realistic demonstration of what happens when a young American family man goes on the road - the people left behind get hurt. There was no painless dropping out of the Fifties' fraying but still tight social weave."

- John Updike, afterword

"If you have the guts to be yourself," he says, "other people'll pay your price."

Man, I hope Rabbit gets his comeuppance.

He is such a ****

I've already fulfilled my prompt for #pop23 (rabbit on cover), but they just keep coming. Also, The Secret History had a character called Bunny, too.

Well, it is the Year of the Rabbit 🐰🐇

John Updike caught my attention following some super-favourable reviews by a reviewer I trust very much on GR. We shall see...

This was my first John Updike. His writing was incredible, but Harry "Rabbit" Ansgtrom has got to be the biggest asshole main character I've ever read. I swear he didn't have a redeeming quality, but he got away with so effing much! It acted as an interesting social commentary for the 1960s, though.

This truly wasn't an *enjoyable* read. It was kinda like watching a car wreck. Had Updike's writing not intrigued me, I wouldn't have finished it.

Updike‘s writing is brilliant. His prose are packed with observations and insights to ponder and reread. However, I probably won‘t read the other Rabbit books. It seems wrong, but I have enjoyed the personalities of fictional serial killers more than the personality of the selfish man-child that is Harry (Rabbit) Angstrom.

I‘m glad I read but that‘s probably enough Rabbit for me. 🏀

Somehow this reminds me of The Sportswriter (by Richard Ford), which I also DNFed, for the same reasons: an unlikable, unrelatable main character, and an uninteresting plot.

In 1959, 26-year-old Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom flees from his pedestrian rust belt life, abandoning his pregnant wife and young son. Rabbit, a former high school basketball star, is a creature of impulse with a stagnated identity. His existential crisis leads to tragedy. Updike makes Rabbit‘s interior life both sympathetic and infuriating. Do moral norms exist to prevent suffering? I‘ll be reading the series to see if Rabbit‘s thesis holds true.

This is a DNF for me, at least for now. I haven‘t given the book away yet, but I can‘t imagine picking it back up. The misogyny isn‘t just Rabbit‘s - it‘s the entire world-view of the book. If you can convince me it‘s worth putting on metaphorical hazard-gear and going back in, speak up. Because he‘s supposed to be great, but I‘m not seeing the great prose people say he wrote.

Bailed at 50 pages. Not sure if I was getting emotional whiplash from going from the big-hearted Circle of Friends to this cold and tedious book or if this just wasn‘t ever going to be for me, but I was completely bored and could not make myself care an iota about Rabbit. To the reviews that are impressed that such good writing could make the reader interested in such a despicable male character, I say what a waste of talent. ⬇️

Hard to review. Parts of this book I loved, particularly the writing style, but the first hundred or so pages had me thinking ‘not another thick highbrow novel about a man considering cheating on his wife‘. It definitely was one of those and Harry had me rolling my eyes a lot, but the writing was so good it made me enjoy a genre I generally don‘t. The ending felt fresh and genuine to me - no mean feat when I mostly hate books like this

I might just never go home now I know life can be like this 🥰🥰 I‘m hoping to get a lot of reading done on the beach while I‘m in skiathos. It‘s just one island over from@where they filmed mamma Mia!

Never Read it but Rabbit Run
Rick Riordian
Rosemary Clooney
Rush

#manicMonday #LetterR @Joscho

A pickup for the Little Free Library @nicospizzaprovo . “Legalize Marinara” lol
Rabbit, Run by John Updike reminds me of my dad‘s bookcase growing up. Quite the quirky book.

#7days7books - Books that left a deep impression on me.

Though I wasn‘t familiar with the term, this was one of the first books of literary fiction I read where I recognized that writing style could be as important as content. 🤔

Have you been tagged yet @MrsWatsonReads ? Would you be interested in sharing 7 books over seven days that made a big impact on you as a reader?

Thanks for the tag @Lcsmcat . #NameChallenge Spell your name with book titles. 😀 All the titles shown I have read and liked, though Robinson is not a favorite (I know she is beloved but her genius misses me). I tag @Aimeesue and @Buechersuechtling if either of you are so inclined to play along.

There‘s one very valid reason why I probably won‘t continue on with this series when I finish this book. There are no chapters. NO CHAPTERS. It‘s just one continuous long(ish) book. I can‘t deal. #bathandbook

“The artificial sweetness fills his heart”

📖 Rabbit, Run
🎥 The House Bunny
🎶 White Rabbit - George Benson. If you haven't heard it, it's an amazing instrumental version of the Jefferson Airplane song.

#manicmonday @joscho

“Dreams come true. Without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them. ” -- #JohnUpdike, born on this date.

I'm still reading this book, but I love it. I have about 15% left. If any of you are fans of the Enneagram, this is perfect for a 5w4. I keep setting aside large windows of time to read it but rarely get through without having to take multiple breaks because of how heavy it gets. I will most likely read something a little uplifting before starting Rabbit Redux. Great book, but beware of its dark view of daily humanity.

#Repeat #QuotsyJune18

Self indulgent, self absorbed, selfish and some how also self deprecating. Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom is the center of his own universe. I really didn‘t like him or the people who put up with him. I can‘t believe there are more books. #audio #2018christyread #LitsyClassics 3/16 #R

"a red city, where they paint wood, tin, even red bricks red, and orange rose flower-pot red that is unlike the colour of any other city in the world yet to the children of the country is the only colour of cities, the colour all cities are."

Beautiful, even if shy of a full stop (or three!).

#litsyclassics #litsyclassicsmatches

@Christyco125 @parttimedomestic

I started this book months ago and set it aside because I couldn't get into it. Today I read it in close to one sitting. I think if I had the next book in the series here I would start it immediately but because I don't I doubt I will ever read it. That sort of describes the feeling of reading this book. Rabbit is a horrible human being. Not much else happens in the book other than Rabbit being horrible. Yet I couldn't look away. #litsyatoz

There is a lot of #runningandjumping in basketball. #anditsaugust

St Charles library had a book fair this weekend, at which we went a little crazy. I don't know which I am most excited about! Six of these have been on my TBR list (one for nearly a decade 😱)

I love Updike and so looked forward to his Rabbit books. And again I enjoyed his style and his description of the characters and their interaction. It promised to be a great book, however after finishing it I am still waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. Maybe the next one in the cyclus. I am more than willing to give Updike the benefit of the doubt and am looking forward to read more about Rabbit. #1001books Picture: Sailing in Greece

At Baldwin's Book Barn to take used books in for credit, and of course I brought some home with me. I'll show you my haul later. But, alas, this Easton Press edition of Rabbit, Run was not part of it 😥😢😭. They were asking $100 for it.

This book has been sitting in my shelves unread for likely two decades. I added it to my #litsyatoz list and since there is a lot of basketball in it I am taking that as a sign that today is the today to read about Rabbit Angstrom. #marchmadness #bookaboutbasketball

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! John Updike is probably the only man capable of convincing me to tolerate, let alone enjoy reading about, a man like Rabbit Angstrom. I understand no why this book is such a classic and marked a turning point in literature, I am so excited to read the rest of the series! #books #book #bookstagram #bookworm #johnupdike #rabbitangstrom #classics

This book has been on my kindle for forever, so I decided to finally read it! #tbr

It's that time! Do you have any weird superstitions or rituals in your family?

I once did something right. I played first-rate basketball. I really did. And after you're first-rate at something, no matter what, it kind of takes the kick out of being second-rate.

I have not read these books. I'm waiting another month or two until my book club gets to them...😍!!! I had so many words only covers, but I was too lazy to pull them all out 😋#booktober #wordsonlycovers #day3 #lazyreader

I know I'm cheating here with animals on book covers for #funfridayphoto but this way I can also drop a #bannedbooks here too. Because it turns out Rabbit, Run (circled on my new "disappearing ink" mug from @outofprint ) was a banned book. You may know Rabbit is not an actual animal here but a nickname for Harry Angstrom the main character in this series. Yes the last one doesn't match but it does have an animal on the spine; a Borzoi! @Liberty

"The difficulty with humorists is that they will mix what they believe with what they don't; whichever seems likelier to win an effect."

Rabbit, Run its a complete shock to the system. At the beginning I was thinking, I am going to bail on it, but then the story really turned for me and got me hooked. This is not for the faint at heart, the language is strong and raw and the dialogues are at times painful to follow.

Starting off the weekend by finishing up this book... And then it's time to tackle the chores.

With women, you keep bumping against them, because they want different things, they're a different race. Either they give, like a plant, or scrape, like a stone. In all the green world nothing feels as good as a woman's good nature.

Comments so far: no chapters (WHY?????) and infuriating dialogues between infuriating people!

My TBR pile in print... Looking forward to reading a paper book soon... Lately my reading was pretty Kindle heavy due to my travel schedule.

Currently reading Rabbit, Run by John Updike. First novel I have read by him. Also check out his short story A&P.

Happy Birthday, John Updike, who was born on this day, March 18, in 1932.