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'Watership Down' Author Richard Adams Died On Christmas Eve At Age 96 (theguardian.com)
Initially rejected by several publishers, "Watership Down" (1972) went on to become one of the best-selling fantasy books of all time. Last Saturday the book's author died peacefully at the age of 96. Long-time Slashdot reader haruchai remembers some of the author's other books: In addition to his much-beloved story about anthropomorphic rabbits, Adams penned two fantasy books set in the fictional Beklan Empire, first Shardik (1974) about a hunter pursuing a giant bear he believes to be imbued with divine power, and Maia (1984), a peasant girl sold into slavery who becomes entangled in a war between neighboring countries.
Adams also wrote a collection of short stories called "Tales From Watership Down" in 1996, and the original "Watership Down" was also made into a movie and an animated TV series. In announcing his death, Richard's family also included a quote from the original "Watership Down".
"It seemed to Hazel that he would not be needing his body any more, so he left it lying on the edge of the ditch, but stopped for a moment to watch his rabbits and to try to get used to the extraordinary feeling that strength and speed were flowing inexhaustibly out of him into their sleek young bodies and healthy senses.
"'You needn't worry about them,' said his companion. 'They'll be alright -- and thousands like them.'"
Adams also wrote a collection of short stories called "Tales From Watership Down" in 1996, and the original "Watership Down" was also made into a movie and an animated TV series. In announcing his death, Richard's family also included a quote from the original "Watership Down".
"It seemed to Hazel that he would not be needing his body any more, so he left it lying on the edge of the ditch, but stopped for a moment to watch his rabbits and to try to get used to the extraordinary feeling that strength and speed were flowing inexhaustibly out of him into their sleek young bodies and healthy senses.
"'You needn't worry about them,' said his companion. 'They'll be alright -- and thousands like them.'"
I don't think it would have had much impact. It's a little-known work.
Anthropomorphic personification is not a new phenomenon, as well. There are depictions of it in literature, art and artifacts going back many centuries, typically just before collapses of otherwise developed societies.
If anything is responsible for the rise of the so-called "furries" during the last 25 years, it is the breakdown of society and morals in the Western and Japanese cultures.
We've seen the gradual rise of leftism (which is, of course, distinct from liberalism, although the two are often confused) and political correctness, which has pushed Western society away from its traditional values and morality.
That is what political correctness is: it's the enabling and legitimization of inherently deviant behavior. People who would have been shunned and ridiculed are instead wrongly held up as models of reasonable behavior.
Under such a system, deviant behavior, like dressing up as neon-colored furry animals and inserting sexual pleasure devices into one's anus and dipping one's genitals into warmed cooking oil while pretending to be molested by the pack's alpha furry, is promoted as being "normal".
A single literary work, and any related movies, can't impose this sort of change in society. It can only happen when a leftist agenda is forced upon entire generations of people, often through their schooling, from a very young age.