"Rabbit, Run" is a novel written by John Updike and published in 1960. It is the first book in a series of four, known as the "Rabbit" series, which follows the life of the main character, Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom.
The novel begins with Rabbit, a former high school basketball star, now in his mid-20s, working as a salesman for a local appliance store. Despite being married to his pregnant wife, Janice, and having a young son, Nelson, Rabbit is unhappy and unfulfilled with his life. He feels trapped in his mundane existence and longs for something more.
One day, Rabbit impulsively decides to run away from his responsibilities and obligations. He leaves his home and family behind and begins a journey of self-discovery, trying to find meaning and purpose in his life. Along the way, he encounters a variety of characters, including Ruth, a young, free-spirited woman who becomes his mistress, and Reverend Eccles, a disillusioned minister struggling with his own faith.
As Rabbit tries to escape from his problems, he finds that he cannot outrun them forever. Eventually, he must confront the consequences of his actions and make a choice about the kind of person he wants to be.
Updike's writing in "Rabbit, Run" is masterful, capturing the restless, searching nature of youth and the complexities of adult relationships. The novel is a poignant exploration of identity, faith, and the human condition, and it remains a classic of modern literature.
John Updike: Rabbit Run creek named for one of his novels get signage
Despite my having not read the novel, there was no way for a book review reader like me to have missed that, since 1960, Updike published four more Rabbit books which, Wikipedia tells me, are Rabbit Redux 1971 , Rabbit Is Rich 1981 , Rabbit at Rest 1990 and Rabbit Remembered, a novella in the collection Licks of Love 2001. Judge, suburb of the city of Brewer, fifth largest city in Pennsylvania. He catches it on the short bounce with a quickness that startles them. Then the ball seems to ride up the right lapel of his coat and comes off his shoulder as his knees dip down, and it appears the ball will miss because though he shot from an angle the ball is not going toward the backboard. In fitting the little key into the lock his hand trembles, pulsing with unusual exertion, and the metal scratches. There is real pain in the book, and a touch of awe. He was popular in high school but got dismissed from his job due to a "scandal".
Rabbit, Run (Rabbit Angstrom, #1) by John Updike
It is in middles that extremes clash, where ambiguity restlessly rules. On the TV is the Mickey Mouse Club. Over at the pavilion the rubber thump of Roofball and the click of checkers call to his memory, and the forgotten smell of that narrow plastic ribbon you braid bracelets and whistlechains out of and of glue and of the sweat on the handles on athletic equipment is blown down by a breeze laced with children's murmuring. Kenhorst Public Works employees put up signs for "Rabbit Run" a creek that runs under route 625 in Kenhorst, PA Wednesday morning September 22, 2021. The third section, much shorter, just 37 pages, has to do with tragedy.
Rabbit, Run By John Updike: An Analysis
So tall, he seems an unlikely rabbit, but the breadth of white face, the pallor of his blue irises, and a nervous flutter under his brief nose as he stabs a cigarette into his mouth partially explain the nickname, which was given to him when he too was a boy. John Updike was born in Shillington, Pennsylvania, in 1932. In his relationships with Janice and Ruth, in his sex with them, he discovered he could not enter into what he wanted. No flight would reach it. Fleeing from the cemetery, he goes to Ruth's apartment; but Ruth, who is now pregnant with his child, refuses to let him in unless he agrees to divorce Janice and marry her.
