Rabbit, Run (7)

Rabbit, Run
John Updike
Read 3/8/09


This year I have been reading some popular authors of the past, I liked Vonnegut, and have read lots of good things about Updike, so I had high hopes for Rabbit. Unfortunately I found the writing to be cumbersome and slow. It is basically the story of a young guy who can not decide if he wants to stay with his wife. He has a wife, a girlfriend, and he can’t figure out what he wants. Updike goes into vivid descriptions of everything in an almost poetic way.. but what I really want is a story to read.. the story is slow to develop, in the end it gets quite interesting, but much like life there is no real resolution at the end. I guess that makes you want to read the sequel.
The book was written in the late 50’s and what is interesting is the role woman played in life. We meet Rabbits wife, girlfriend, mother, mother-in-law and a few other characters and it shows how women were though of and their duty and place in the late 50s. Unfortunately that wasn’t enough to save this book in my opinion.