The Year of the Angry Rabbit

by Russell Braddon

a comicsatire on human nature, taking place in 1999

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Russell Reading Braddon was an Australian writer of novels, biographies and TV scripts. His chronicle of his four years as a prisoner of war, The Naked Island, sold more than a million copies.

Braddon was born in Sydney, Australia, the son of a barrister. He served in the Malayan campaign during World War II. He was held as a prisoner of war by the Japanese in Pudu and Changi prisons and on the Thailand-Burma Railway between 1942 and 1945.

In 1949, Braddon moved to England. He described his writing career as "beginning by chance". The Naked Island, published in 1952, was one of the first accounts of a Japanese prisoner of war's experience.

Braddon went on to produce a wide range of works, including novels, biographies, histories, TV scripts and newspaper articles. He was also a broadcaster on radio and television.

Proud Australian Boy: A Biography of Russell Braddon by Nigel Starck was published in Australia in 2011.

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, light read, a political/social satire from the 60's with some inspired jokes and good lines. The rabbits who begin and end the story aren't really the point of the book; it's much more about the corruption of power and the games politicians play even when they shouldn't.

The book is much better than I expected it to be; I picked it up after seeing "Night of the Lepus" (movie) and noticing that the film is based on this book. There's is only a casual similarity. The film is a strait-arrow monster movie with the mutated carnivorous rabbits, while the book's real monster is the Prime Minister (though the carnivorous rabbits aren't heroes there, either).

[Bev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extracts from this book popped up on a reading list for a university course I'm currently undertaking. Naturally, I googled the book to find out what the whole, rather than just a couple of extracts, was about. Ah, of course: a giant man-eating rabbit; an Australian scientific invention so terrible that the whole world ended up under the control of this land down under; a tale terrifying and hilarious all at the same time. How could I not be intrigued? Fortunately, I didn't have to shell out the $100 or so needed to find a (rare) secondhand copy but was able to get one through the uni library. Insane, amazing, a book that could only have been written while the world was in the grip of the chilliest/hottest days of the Cold War. I finished it yesterday. I think that, in a week or so, I'll revisit it. I can't wait.

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the basis of the B-picture "Night Of The Lepus," but I'm not sure why. This turns out to be a delightful fictional satire of Australian politics. Featuring giant, man-eating rabbits with great sharp teeth, which I think improves any novel.

[Michael Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amusing satire of social and political corruption with Australia as a superpower leading the world. Includes mutant rabbits.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I freely admit elsewhere (Sects and Violence in the Ancient World), I didn’t know what this book was before reading it. I knew a movie from my childhood had been based on it, and I knew it was never a very popular novel, but I got a hankering to read it in a pique of nostalgia. It turns out that it was a funny book. I kind of suspected it was a horror story. It has some elements of horror, but it’s definitely an absurd tale poking fun at war, capitalism, and government (all of which deserve it). Reading it after Trump’s term in office was surreal.

The prime minister of Australia, a politician looking out only for himself (see what I mean?), has his scientists develop a virus (uh-uh) to kill off problematic rabbits. Instead it transforms them into giant killers. They go underground and the PM sets about using the virus, and threats of the virus, to gain world dominance. He eliminates war, but nations want to fight, so he charges them to allow limited wars to take place in his largely empty continent, where he can keep an eye on them. He eventually bankrupts the rest of the world. Then the rabbits reemerge.

The angry rabbits, now the size of large dogs, are carnivores. They eat any other animals, including humans. The prime minister now has to ask the rest of the world for help and Australia is evacuated as he is left to face the rabbit problem he created. That’s the gist of the story. If you’re looking for a silly tale that has some clever moments, this is likely to satisfy. Russell Braddon is downright prescient at a few points, making me check the copyright date again (1964). If you’re looking for a horror story, though, you might look elsewhere.

[Ami Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Political satire and mutant, giant rabbits. Millions of rabbits. Even though this was written in the early 60's and set in Australia, the ridiculousness of government and politicians is universal and timeless. The book is kind of written as if you were reading a history text book or historical document. The book takes place in the future year of 1999- 2004. Funny and enjoyable to read!

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book isn't bad--mutant rabbits wreak havoc in Australia. I don't, however, recommend the movie-- which had little to do with the book, and in which you could clearly see that the "rabbits" were actually dogs with bunny tails and ears!

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Russell Braddon's The Year of the Angry Rabbit has earned a small place in pop culture history for inspiring Night of the Lepus, everyone's favorite killer rabbit movie. Which is unfair, as Braddon's novel a) bears little resemblance to the film, b) is a singular slice of satiric weirdness in it's own right. Written in 1965 (when the idea of President Richard Nixon still inspired derisive jokes in Australian novels), it imagines Australia in the near-future, reeling from economic turmoil and massive infestations of rabbits. The Prime Minister commissions scientists to solve the latter, inadvertently creating a super-weapon that transforms the Land of Oz into Earth's only superpower. The Australians run the world's economy, provide free education to foreigners and stage manage wars between nations fought in a soccer stadium outside Woomera. Only then do the giant, man-eating rabbits appear, defeating humanity not only through their ferocious appetites but developing agriculture and gold reserves of their own! Then an Aborigine chief summons a god and smites the bunnies, a mixed blessing that leaves Australia a wasteland occupied by dead bunnies and obese humans. It's more Dr. Strangelove than Them!, in other words, which makes you wonder what inspired Hollywood producers to discard the jokes, the setting and 90 percent of the plot for a straight horror movie. Probably drugs.

[stormhawk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm one of those people who always looks for "based on the book by" at the beginning of movies. This one is on a 1970s horror film that I saw again recently, The Night of the Lepus. Yes, that one, about the rabbits. Cute, little, fluffy bunnies, that suddenly aren't. I honestly didn't expect much out of the book, but have gotten quite the surprise. Okay, there are rabbits. But mostly this is a political satire, quite bizarre in it's way, and far better than I would have expected. The book was published in 1964, and most of the action takes place approaching the year 2000. There are changes in world politics that start out the story, with more to come, no few digs at America, the space program, Her Majesty the Queen, and the character of Australia and Australians. Well worth the read if you can find it.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief but blackly humorous and twisted tale from 1964 set in Australia around 2000, where an unscrupulous Prime Minister exploits the development of a super-deadly myxomatosis virus and uses it as a weapon to blackmail the rest of the world into peace whilst they become economically subservient to super-power Australia. Things go awry as a killer rabbit evolves leading to a surprisingly dark ending to a story that is much better than it sounds, with a sardonic tone and effective satire

[George Kyros · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book probably 40 years ago. I love satire, and the year of the angry rabbit serves that up hugely. I have just reread it, and straight away I found it is actually very topical in regard to current politics. A bloody good laugh.

[Zwahk Muchoney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant piece of political satire, this narrative uses the absurdity of the idea of the world brought to its knees by killer rabbits in a clever manner that shows the folly of human nature. This book is definitely one of the more interesting tales of the Apocalypse to be found

[Diane Cranson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set at the beginning of the 21st century, this interesting and entertaining political satire written in 1964 has interesting and unsettling echoes in the current political landscape.

[Barak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a typical Australian satire, mocking both Australia and global politics. The characters in the book, though not developed in any depth, are still as deep as they should, which is, in this kind of book, the "deep" of politics and politicians.

The plot, despite being far-fetched and completely unrealistic is still charming and even consistent, and the story itself is ingrained with a lot of good Australian humour.

The only drawback I can think of is that at some point, somewhere along the second half, the plot becomes a bit too predictable as the main interesting ideas have been at that stage already exhausted.

Having said that, on the whole the book is a good read, providing a most refreshing perspective on politics at large and the Australian mindset in particular.

[Sam W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like other reviewers, I discovered this book after our bad movie club watched Night of the Lepus. To say this book inspired that movie is kind of hilarious. The rabbits do begin and end this book, but mostly it's a political satire, and a rather silly one at that. It is a quick, easy read, with a few uncomfortable 1960s descriptions of women or people of color sprinkled throughout. It didn't blow me away but it wasn't bad either. And hey, I'm trying to read 100 books this year, so there's one more.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read: punchy and funny satire of the future.

[Brown Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated, but still funny all these years later. In the vein of Dr Strangelove.