Rabbit Redux by John UpdikeMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
It may not be as enjoyable as Run, Rabbit, mainly because of the characters this time around, but Rabbit Redux is a solid progression in the saga of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom. Taking place ten years after the events of the first book, Rabbit is an older man, beleaguered by a boring job and problems at home. It begins with an affair and escalates to some pretty major events, but my main problem with it is two primary characters, Skeeter and Jill. I just don't like them. I'm not really sure what that says about me as a person, as I get the feeling that Updike was painting them to be characters with flaws, but, at the same time, sympathetic characters with flaws, but they just rub me the wrong way. Their chapters weigh down the entire book and I think they reveal less about Rabbit as a person than they intend to.
That said, there are some great moments in this book, and we get to know Rabbit's son much better since he's older. He's definitely a product of his time. I also liked the commentary on Vietnam in this book. I'm sure this was a pretty relevant novel upon the time of its release, and it's interesting to see the various opinions that were swirling around about the war while it was actually occurring.
Overall, though, I just liked and didn't love this book. I'm looking forward to the next two, though, since both of them won the Pulitzer.
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