Rabbit, eine Rückkehr

Rabbit Angstrom #5

by John Updike, Maria Carlsson (Übersetzer)

Bisher war Janice es eigentlich gewohnt, ihre Töchter und nahen Verwandten immer wieder einmal zu verlieren. Erst war es Becky und dann Teresa, die nach über 20 Jahren Janices Sohn Nelson verließ. Und nun schottet sich auch noch ihr 19-jähriges Enkelkind Judy hinter einer Wand aus Walkman-Klängen von ihr ab. Aber dann steht plötzlich eine Frau vor der Tür, die sie noch nie gesehen hat, ihr aber merkwürdigerweise irgendwie bekannt vorkommt, und behauptet, die uneheliche Tochter von Janice' verstorbenem Ehemann Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom zu sein. Kein Wunder also, dass Janice sich später beim Bridge nicht konzentrieren kann. "Harry, Harry, er war ein Problem", heißt es im Roman Rabbit. Eine Rückkehr von John Updike: "Immer hat er so ein Durcheinander angerichtet und nie hinter sich aufgeräumt, auch jetzt, zehn Jahre nach seinem Tod, überlässt er das den Lebenden".

Ein Problem scheint Harry Angstrom tatsächlich immer noch zu sein: für seine wenig aufgeräumte Witwe Janice und ihren neuen Mann und ehemaligen Rabbit-Rivalen Ronnie besonders. Deshalb sind beide wenig begeistert, als die verlorene Tochter Annabelle plötzlich vor ihrer Türe steht. Nur Nelson ist sehr angetan von der 39-jährigen Krankenschwester, mit der er sich nach einem ersten, verschüchterten Date in einem Schnellrestaurant blendend über seine Arbeit als Therapeut -- und über seinen Vater -- unterhalten kann. Denn Rabbit ist allgegenwärtig in den Gesprächen der Figuren, und irgendwie, als Auslöser eines Streits zum Thanksgiving-Diner, schafft er es dann sogar, dass Nelson sich von seinen allzu eng gewordenen Familienbanden etwas emanzipieren kann.

Fans der grandiosen Rabbit-Romane Hasenherz, Unter dem Astronautenmond, Bessere Verhältnisse oder Rabbit in Ruhe werden sich über das unverhoffte, indirekte Wiedersehen mit dem am Ende der Tetralogie arg verfetteten Familientyrannen Harry Angstrom freuen. Für alle anderen hat Updike wieder einmal einen fulminanten Kurzroman vorgelegt, der tief hineinleuchtet in die US-amerikanische, von Doppelmoral geprägte Familienseele. --Thomas Köster

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literature, Audiobook, Novella, Literary Fiction, Novels

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

John Hoyer Updike was an American writer. Updike's most famous work is his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and Rabbit Remembered). Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest both won Pulitzer Prizes for Updike. Describing his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class," Updike is well known for his careful craftsmanship and prolific writing, having published 22 novels and more than a dozen short story collections as well as poetry, literary criticism and children's books. Hundreds of his stories, reviews, and poems have appeared in The New Yorker since the 1950s. His works often explore sex, faith, and death, and their inter-relationships.

He died of lung cancer at age 76.

Reviews

[Vonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interestingly, now that Rabbit is gone this is sadly the best in this series. Because not having to exert any energy holding back my hatred for his misogynist, discriminative, and racist ways made it much easier to like.

Rabbit, Run (1960)/Rabbit, Redux (1971)/Rabbit is Rich (1981)/Rabbit At Rest (1990)/ Rabbit Remembered (2001)
Author: John Updike
Read: July-August 2020
Rating: 2.5/5 stars; 2/5 stars; 3/5 stars; 3.5/5 stars; 4/5 stars

**** Spoilers ****

"Rabbit is Read" (A Haibun Review)

So it begins. We are unceremoniously introduced to Harry Angstrom, nicknamed "Rabbit" because he vaguely resembled the animal as a child. Right away, he isn't exactly likable. And as the book continues, this doesn't get any better. More familiar, used to, and maybe accepting of his ways, yes. We are also introduced to the fictional universe in which Rabbit resides. He lives in Mt. Judge, a suburb of Brewer, Pennsylvania. Other locations mentioned are real, including Lancaster, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. We begin Rabbits story with him impulsively abandoning his pregnant wife Janice and 2-year-old son Nelson; he drives around, intending to maybe go cross-country, loses his confidence and returns; instead of actually returning home, however, he meets up with his high school basketball coach-cum-mentor Marty, then shacks up with a part-time prostitute named Ruth. He has a couple conversations with a local priest, Eccles, who finally convinced him to return to his wife when she is in the hospital- in labor. Supposedly this is enough for him to suddenly feel guilty enough to re-establish his wedding vows and find it in his heart to move back home. Yet. In the following mere days to weeks after giving birth to their daughter Rebecca June Armstrong, he very nearly cheats on her twice with two different women! Tragedy strikes when- following their first argument post-reconciliation- a drunken Janice drowns baby Rebecca. At his daughter's funeral, the turmoil in his head reaches an apex. And surprise, surprise- Rabbit does what is easiest- he runs. His feet carry him to Ruth's place, where he is greeted with the news of her pregnancy- immediately followed by her proclamation that she is determined to keep it. Alas, this first volume of Rabbit's sorry ends with him no better than it began.

With an unlikable protagonist, a good novel must compensate. And Updike does. Mostly. Typically banal scenarios are made interesting with his eye for detail and description. Insight into the human psyche is obvious. But, sometimes this goes overboard. Details including the ingredients on a television dinner. Descriptions of multiple rooms requiring pages of text that do not necessarily contribute to the story. Long run on sentences; general negligence of proper punctuation. And when one might already have trouble caring about what happens to our main character, these things become much more difficult to overlook.

"Rabbit, Run" up first,
Introducing Updike's world
and writing style.

Began recalling "The Confederacy of Dunces" while reading "Run", but now fully formed conviction that there are many similarities. Both peculiar, selfish, and not entirely likable young-ish American men getting into a series of misadventures. Not a straightforward designated plot; more domestic and possibly mundane scenarios made interesting through their experience. There's a scattered cast of characters, a few main ones and various minor roles. Long harangues and blocks of detailed text can be vexsome- especially those of a religious or political nature. Oh, both Pulitzer winners. But- to finish the perhaps unfair comparison- "Dunces" was funnier and one could at least feel sorry for Ignatius, while Rabbit struggles to come across as anything but the selfish misanthrope he is almost proud to be.

Overall, not impressed with the second book. It's the 60s; Updike uses a fair amount of the text for social commentary. Cannot be denied that Updike has a keen eye for detail and that he knows how to write. But complaints from the first book are only aggravated in book two. It is ten years later, Rabbit is no longer selling the MagiPeeler- he's a senior Linotype operator at the local printing plant. Back with his wife, but now it's Janice's turn to cheat. The beau she chooses is Charlie Stavros, her coworker at her father's car dealership. When she is caught, rather than repent, she decides to move out. Perhaps in retaliation, Rabbit allows Jill, a pretty young runaway from Connecticut, and Skeeter, an African American drug dealer on the run, to stay with him. Thirteen year old Nelson and his thirty-six old father both quickly find themselves attached to Jill- the former out of an innocent first love, the latter as a sexual conquest. Conservative neighbors take issue with this and it results in someone setting fire to the Armstrong house, burning a drug-laden Jill alive before she can escape. Skeeter, sadly, had run out without a second thought to saving her; Nelson and Rabbit were both elsewhere. Unlike the first book, "Redux" ends with Janice and Rabbit back together again, Charlie having never been "the marrying type". Most obtrusive flaws? Excessive soapbox harangues of political and religious natures; substantial excerpts on civil rights and racism texts that serve no real purpose other than filling up space.

"Rabbit Redux" next,
the characters familiar,
shenanigans new.

Three out of four. Here we find the eponymous man- like the time he is living in, America in 1979- "running out of gas". Hand in hand with Updike's social commentary on the country's economic and political situation, Rabbit is conspicuously fed up with things. This includes his marriage, his son, his career, his social life, his sex life. He still clings onto his life's highlight- a high school basketball hero. Rabbit's discriminative, crude, offensive, and racist actions, thoughts, and words have accumulated and continue to do so. It seems even to have gotten worse in this installment, as his (at least ostensible) hatred for his now grown son Nelson shines in full. Not only to his wife and in his actions, but by proclaiming to his face that he is a good for nothing and he wants him gone. Admittedly, part of the problem might be that up to now, he has been living with his wife and mother-in-law under the same roof ever since they reconciled. Thankfully, that is one of the few notable events that occurs in "Rich"- the purchase of the couple's first house, after a successful investment in gold and silver. In his middle age of 46, life consists of reading "Consumer Reports", frequenting the country club where he feels compelled to keep up appearances, and finding new women to pine after, new ways to cheat on his wife. Although, facilitated by repeated forgiveness or naiveté from Janice, he always returns to her.

Most of the book takes place in good old Mt. Judge, where Nelson has returned after his short stint at Kent State University in Ohio. He is adamant about working at the Toyota Dealership, ruffling his father's feathers for months, who is strongly against his son running everything at the lot. It is also eventually revealed that he had knocked up a girl and this was the real reason for his escape. Theresa, who goes by "Pru" (a nickname given by friends that saw her as prudish), arrives by the end of the summer and moves in. Not the most attentive fiancé, Nelson is drunk at a party with her- right behind her in fact- when she falls down some flights of stairs. Luckily it is only her arm that that suffers, and she gives birth to a healthy baby girl soon after. Alas, following the example of his cowardly father, Nelson runs away back to Ohio for a while. Encouraging him to run- going so far as to insist that Nelson is marrying out of obligation, not love- Rabbit finally gives his son some good advice- to not grow up to be like him- something he appears to be disproportionately worried about. Meanwhile, as all this is going on in his family life, after a girl named Annabelle visits the Toyota dealership that he is convinced is his daughter, Rabbit makes a few trips to where he last knew Ruth resided (Ruth from "Run", the prostitute he lived and had an affair with for a few months). He eventually confronts her regarding Annabelle, but Ruth adamantly denies it. Although she admits that even if it were true, she would never admit it. Likely not really wanting the truth, Rabbit declines her highly suspect offer to let him see the birth certificate. The third installment ends anticlimactically with Nelson still gone and Pru having taken his place in the Angstrom residence.

Updike continues to take his eye for detail maybe a little too far into banality- long multiple-page chunks of text with no pause for dialogue, almost stream of consciousness style monologues with run-on sentences of characters' thoughts. There were some sections from Nelson's point of view, which was a nice change of pace. Hilariously, at some point Rabbit comments on how he disdains how "coarse" his friends are. This, coming from him, a misogynist or maybe even misanthrope who uses derogatory language all the time and expresses the most discriminative and racist thoughts!

"Rabbit is Rich" third,
his appalling deeds get worse-
but we're stuck with him.

Final (formal) installment for the tetralogy. It is almost 1989. Rabbit is an old man, at least according to him. In reality, he is only in his mid-50s, "semi-retired", and now spends his winters in a Florida condominium he has purchased with his wife. To further the cliche, he does indeed play golf every week with some buddies. Rabbit turns 56, making it three decades since we met him in Book #1. Baby Nelson is now grown and married with his own children, with Rabbit and Janice now grandparents! Both their own parents, sadly, are no longer around. As we have now come to expect, the plot revolves around a series of events and sometimes mundane happenings in Rabbit and his friends and family's lives. Tangents that often do not readily benefit the story. And the more than occasional soapbox harangue on politics, religion, the state of affairs in this country, or what it means to be an American. The minutiae, too often, crosses the line into tedium. The complete ingredients list on various packages, the play by play of a golf game that literally takes 20 plus pages, a likewise play-by-play mentioning each song and accompanying commentary that comes on the radio during several hours of airplay.

A testament to "people never change", Rabbit is still as politically argumentative, still a womanizer, still cheating on his wife, still as discriminative and racist as ever. Surprise, surprise. Yet. Like a childhood friend we can't help but stick with, we somehow read on, interested in this man's life. He does, after all, have some redeeming qualities. These are especially notable in his role as a grandfather (as opposed to father, in which he is far from ideal) to Judy and Roy. Aging is a central theme; coming to terms with morality and keeping the cynical nature of his in check- at least enough to keep misery at bay (turns out he is evidently not very good at this.) In the first third of the book he has a heart attack and becomes dependent- mostly mentally- on the reassuring nitroglycerin pill he begins to keep in his pocket.

Alas, in this final installment of the series, Rabbit finally does something that crosses the line. No, it does not make it better that it was foreshadowed in "Rich". When one predicts such a thing, it is almost a farce. Because, really? Rabbit sleeps with his son's wife? His daughter-in-law. Yes. A question with no answer for dedicated readers: Can a story with an unlikable protagonist still be good? One almost feels guilty for praising a book where our "hero" does something so appallingly offensive. Without this deed, "Rest" is easily the best book in the series. As it is, the decision is not quite as clear-cut. Updike skillfully provides the advantage of comforting familiarity to loyal readers, while making sure not to exclude new readers- one could start reading "Rabbit at Rest" and everything would be perfectly understandable. However, it is this retrospection and various events that hearken back to decades ago; and the intimate feelings it evokes in readers- as if we really know Rabbit- that makes this final installment more praiseworthy than it would have been as a standalone. Like a Sympathy Oscar, it might deserve its praise- in a collective sense.

"Rabbit at Rest" last,
fine writing for shameful man,
bittersweet farewell.

Short sequel, short story, novella, long epilogue- whichever label you wish to use, here we have the final final installment! In the fittingly titled tale that was included in Updike's 2000 collection of thirteen stories, "Remembered" gives us a much awaited update on the supporting characters; life after Rabbit. The year is 1999, asking with its Y2K paranoia and Clinton scandal drama. Nelson, now separated from Pru, has moved back in with his mother. Janice has ended up with Rabbit's childhood nemesis from his basketball days, Ronnie Harrison. The three of them struggle along, the two men barely friendly. Main plot is introduction of Annabelle, half-sister to Nelson. What was only strongly implied in previous novels- that Rabbit did indeed father a daughter during his short affair with Ruth in "Run"- is finally confirmed. Likely because it reminds then of Rabbit's infidelities, neither Janice nor Ronnie have any interest in Annabelle, and are in fact downright rude to her. Nelson, though, has a soft spot for her, meeting with her for lunch on several occasions, inviting her to Thanksgiving, and defends her in the face of his family's animosity. Without much luck with convincing them, however, he finally moves out. As the book- and sadly the Rabbit series (looks like for real this time!)- comes to an end, things are left in a positive note, with Annabelle being generally accepted into the Angstrom family, with a prospective romantic involvement with Fosnacht, a childhood friend of Nelson's, and Nelson and Pru's once defunct marriage looking promising.

Perhaps the ultimate evidence for the theory that it was disagreement with the character of Rabbit rather than Updike's aptitude as a writer that led to my less than stellar assessment of the tetralogy, this was likely my favorite in the series. Because not having to exert any energy holding back my hatred for his misogynist, discriminative, and racist ways made it much easier to like. After being overshadowed by his father in all the other books, Nelson finally comes into his own here and really becomes relatable in his quest to connect with his long lost half sister, and admirable in his counseling work with drug addicts.

A final verdict on the "Rabbit" series ultimately comes down to whether a reader likes Rabbit or not and whether an unlikable protagonist is necessarily exclusory of a great book(s). Love him? You'll love the books. Hate him? Good luck overcoming that. Updike is to be commended on tying up loose ends- something many authors neglect to do, especially in a book series. It feels "special" to remember reading about such and such an event mostly referenced in this final book that initially took place in "Run". As for my final verdict, I quote Rabbit's last words in a Florida hospital bed, his only son Nelson nervously perching over him, "... all I can tell you is, it isn't so bad."

"Rabbit Remembered",
Angstrom updates post-Harry,
comforting finish.

#Haibun #ReviewPoem #60s #70s #80s #abortion #alcoholism #arson #baby #bathtub #bookseries #childbirth #deathofoffspring #deathofparent #deathofspouse #divorce #drowning #drugs #dubiousparentage #elderly #epigraph #familysaga #farmlife #fatherson #Florida #funeral #grandparents #hospital #infidelity #inlaws #marriage #mentor #motherhood #motherson #NationalBookAward #NBCCA #novella #pagetoscreen #parenting #Pennsylvania #politics #prostitution #PulitzerPrize #racism #religion #runaway #sequel #sequeled #siblings #sports #tetralogy #uniquechaptertitles #unlikableprotagonist #VietnamWar

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rabbit Remembered ties up all the loose threads left at the end of the fourth book, Rabbit at Rest. Harry’s wife has moved on and has remarried. Nelson is divorced snd still living in his mother’s house, but has kicked his addictions and works as a counsellor at a recovery house. Pru and the kids are in Ohio. Ruth is dead. And then Annabelle surfaces to propel the plot.

If you have read through all the previous Rabbit books, by now you are accustomed to Updike’s approach. His writing absolutely sets a stage to a specific time period (think Chrysler LeBaron convertible and tell me I’m wrong). He does not shy away from writing about sex in graphic detail. In retrospect Harry is just as hard to love as he was in the other novels, but there is a kind of nostalgia in looking back. In the end, Nelson finally grows up which is a satisfying hard stop.

Although called a novella, it seemed as long as many novels. I was tempted to give the book just three stars, not quite up to the same high bar set by the previous four, but the writing is just too good to be that stingy. Four wistful stars, staying a final goodbye to Harry.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, my journey with Rabbit Angstrom and clan is at its end. Taking place ten years after Rabbit's death, I enjoyed this novella just as much as the last two books even though Rabbit was not physically present. I was especially pleased to find out how Rabbit's son, Nelson, carried on after where we left him in Rabbit at Rest, and that I was left with a sense of hope and happiness at the end of this long saga.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finishing this series is so emotional. While the novella is not the best, it was so comfortable to read. Losing rabbit and his family feels very real. It was an eye-opening look at America abs relationships, or at least it felt that way at 22 when I started the series. I’m 33 now and less surprised by people And their flaws— still, the books are so raw and honest. Beautiful series.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This "novella" (at 7 hours it's longer than most novels) acts as the denouement to the four Rabbit novels. It's really unfair to rate it on its own - I can't imagine anyone who hadn't read at Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest getting anything out of this "Where are they now" update. One could argue that this shouldn't have been written, that Harry's "Enough" at the end of Rabbit is Rich should have really been enough. But if you look at all the novels as a single entity, then Rabbit Remembered is an appropriately sized denouement - the final 10% or so that wraps things up.

Some of the backstory is interesting - we find out Janice's sexual history before she met Harry, and we find out if Nelson really did have sex with coke whores. (But not about his possible homosexuality, but it wasn't really important anyway.) In Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest, Nelson and Janice acted as powerful foils to Harry and came into their own as fully-fledged characters. The reason why those two novels succeed in a way that the first two didn't is because of Harry's battles with Nelson. But Rabbit Remembered reminds us that Nelson and Janice were always second fiddles, that it was Harry that really made all of the novels shine. With Harry there was this constant sense of danger over what he was going to say. In a sense, Rabbit is a forerunner of Larry David in that Rabbit would often say things that you only wish you could say.

Of course Harry was a great observer as well. Nelson and Janice do a fair bit of observing in Rabbit Remembered, but it's not the same. Updike respects his creations limitations and doesn't transform Nelson or Janice into Harry, even though I suspected that there times he wish he could.

The inciting incident of the story is that Annabelle, Harry's love child from Rabbit, Run visits Janice. It's interesting, but hardly compelling. Interestingly, we don't see the story from Annabelle's point of view. Rabbit Remembered is all about how Janice and Nelson survived after Rabbit. We see Nelson finally (finally!) grow into a man, and this is triggered by his big-brotherly concern for Annabelle. It's good that he finally grows up, and that's not a bad way to end the novel. Ultimately, I think the Rabbit novels will survive in a large part to how Updike presents human development. His theory seems to be that if you give them enough time, people grow up eventually. Harry matures in each novel, but doesn't really come into his own until Rabbit is Rich. Janice is maddingly mousey and irresponsible until Rabbit at Rest.

Of course, the end-of-decade cultural snapshot is a key component to these novels as well. Updike wrote this in 2000, and I wish he would have waited a year before writing it, because he doesn't seem to capture the important events like he did the previous times. Of course, moon shots don't happen every day. But I found myself only dimly remembering some of the 1999 events even though I lived through them. It seemed with the earlier novels, the stuff he chose were invariably BFDs that deserved remembrance.

So why 4 stars? Like I said, it's not a piece that can stand on its own, but if you've taken the trouble to read the four Rabbit novels, you really ought to read this too. It's not a cheap sequel but a worthy end to a masterpiece.

[Aryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this, mostly because when the fourth and final Rabbit book concluded I was distraught at never again getting to read about the adventures of the problematic but loveable Rabbit Angstrom. This novella is held by Rabbit's son Nelson, who has turned from drug addict in the last of the Rabbit novels, to a Dali Lama quoting therapist at a day treatment center. Although the novella centers around Nelson the hoopla is focused around Annabelle, Rabbit's illegitimate daughter by Ruth, the woman he lived with for a short time in the first novel of the series, Rabbit, Run. She is told finally, by her dying mother, that her father was Rabbit and she surfaces in the lives of Rabbit’s son and former wife. So, plot summary aside, it was ok. Not as gripping as the Rabbit series, which I have read through twice each. But, it was nice to have a short glimpse back into the lives of the characters who I came to adore.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect this to be as good as it was. Having read all 4 of the other Rabbit books, I felt like they got stale as the series went on. However, this was a fresh take on the family left over after all of the divorces and deaths. Harry's son Nelson is the main character and keeps the book together well as he struggles to recover his life after kicking his cocaine habit and ruining the auto agency that made Harry rich. The usual sex (mostly thoughts about it)from the male perspective permeates the narrative, and a considerable number of humorous scenes make for quite an enjoyable literary experience.

[Ayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the prior books, guess because Rabbit died and isn’t in this one. Nelson his son, seems to be the main character, and on the whole isn’t too bad. He’s dealing with a separation from his wife and kids, and his recovery from addiction. He has a job counseling others and is learning to be empathic, something his father lacked.
He is introduced to his half sister Annabelle who he generally likes and tries to protect in his new role as big brother.

The cool part of the book was all the tripping through history, this was set at a time I was a young adult and remember well. How we all waited with bated breathe for the 2000 crash.

The bad part again is all the misogynistic talk and all the fascination with male sexuality. Really hated the scene with Ron and Annabelle, what a major pri.. he was !
And let’s not forget Janice still stuck to her bottle, and her insecurities.

In the end Nelson gets back with his wife and kids and has a second chance!

[Terris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book wraps up the Rabbit Angstrom series in a very good way. The reader goes into the future up through New Year's Eve 1999 into the year 2000 with members of the Angstrom family. It was short but sweet and finished up Harry Angstrom's story very satisfactorily.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Anders Demitz-Helin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A not very very good ending...

[KLacroix · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the loose ends from the Rabbit Angstrom quartet nicely tidied up in a more elegiac style and tone.

[Katrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella is a funny but melancholy literary "addendum" to the four remarkable "Rabbit" novels. Rabbit/Harry is long gone but his presence can still be felt by his family and friends as they navigate their lives without him, entering a new millennium. It's a nice touch, at the end, when Nelson, so much like his father, makes peace with his past and appears to be moving positively forward.

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

RABBIT REMEMBERED is a John Updike novella which is included in a collection of his short stories called, LICKS OF LOVE. Updike's 'Harry Angstrom' books occurred to me when I read Jonathan Franzen's, FREEDOM, and I did not realize that Updike had written a new work in The 'Rabbit' Series which takes place ten years after the main character had died. Both authors construct wonderfully diverse and multi-faceted family situations which occur over long periods of time.

Here is what Publisher's Weekly had to say about RABBIT REMEMBERED-

Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom has been dead for a decade in Rabbit Remembered, the novella that closes this latest, richly evocative Updike collection. His widow, Janice, is married to Ronnie Harrison, the widower of Thelma, with whom Harry had a long-time liaison. His son Nelson's wife, Pru, whom Harry also briefly bedded, has left Nelson, who has kicked the coke habit and still lives in the old Springer house with Janice and Ronnie. The past surfaces unexpectedly when Annabelle Byers, Harry's illegitimate daughter, makes herself known to the family. The ramifications of Harry's legacy include a strained Thanksgiving dinner that degenerates into political argument and acrimonious insults, and a mordantly funny flashback to a scene in which Harry's cremated remains were inadvertently left on a closet shelf in a Comfort Inn. While Updike explores the dark territory of bitterness, resentment and guilt, he also includes his trademark ticker-tape of current events (Hillary's candidacy, etc.), a typically muddled millennium New Year's Eve and a surprisingly upbeat denouement. For Rabbit fans, this is a must-read.

One of these days I want to go back and read the other books in the series one more time. RABBIT REMEMBERED can be read as a 'stand alone' novel, or, as in my case, it can whet your appetite for more of the Harry Angstrom saga.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It could never be as good without my favourite jerk - Harry - but getting the 'updates' on the family in Updike's familiar prose was just like visiting an old friend. I was fascinated with the changes, with the recollections from after his funeral and with Janice's history pre-Harry. The characters were, IMO, rock solid and completely believable incarnations from the past books. Updike isn't afraid to age people. But I must admit there were elements that bored me (in other words. some feedback for Mr Updike, that fledgling author. Rest in peace.):

* The descriptions of Brewer and its buildings really are tiresome. Far too detailed. It's not even a real city
* Just like Rabbit is Rich, the references to the current affairs and culture of the time were too heavy handed and obvious (e.g. Let's discuss Clinton over lunch; e.g. Emails in the text)
* It's possibly my poor literary tolerance, but the head jumping was jolting at times
* I don't care what Nelson did for NYE 1999. I just don't. Then again, it was deliciously anticlimactic...
* Nelson getting back with Pru was predictable, surprisingly so for Updike
* The final chapter was cloying, and the last paragraph - almost nauseating

It's clear from this that Janice and Nelson are fundamentally unlikeable to me; not for anything they've done, but something else - undefinable. They're not Harry, I guess.

[Joel Buck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why it wasn't until I started reading this that I realized I wouldn't be hearing Rabbit's voice again. It's a change to approach these characters and settings without having Rabbit as our lens, and while Updike manages the change expertly, it's impossible not to miss the character we've gotten to know so well, which I guess is half the point of this novella. Rabbit is a fuck up, as we know, and none of the ways his life has had negative repercussions on the people he left behind come as surprises to us. In fact what is surprising is the forward movement of many of the characters, and the ways that they've been able to forgive or at least understand their late husband/father/rival/friend. If nothing else, this is a reminder to all of us that followed Rabbit through four novels that he was just a man, one person among so many other people he knew, that maybe he wasn't as great or blameless as he often tried to convince himself he was, but also that he was maybe never as hopeless as he seemed, or as disconnected from the people who'd go on to remember him.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This entire story made me sad that Rabbit was gone. I wanted to know what he thought of Monica Lewinsky, American Beauty, and email. The other characters are interesting in their own realm, but not the same way that Rabbit was. I love the ending and the entire night of New Years 1999-2000. It is strange being of an age that I have adult memories of dates that now seem so long past.
This series is similar to the 7UP series and the Before Sunrise series. I always love stories that compress a life into a few meaningful soundbites. There is something very zen about that for me, a great reminder that it is all fleeting and to let others go. Pain is resistance to change, some of it is a good thing but too much can end you.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I said I wouldn't read another book in this series after each one. I guess Updike made me a liar. He's that good. In each book, certain scenes and emotions haunt you in such a way that when you run into a cheap paper back copy of the next book in the series, you are at the cash register book in hand before you know what is happening.

[Darryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my favorite book in the series. But it seemed a fitting ending and tied up the loose ends.

[Jeff · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won't belabor it. It's Updike's nostalgia, nothing more.

Finally, I can move on.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is a book really a "Rabbit" book without Rabbit? Sadly, for "Rabbit Remembered" the answer seems to be mostly no. In this, the final novel in the Rabbit series, Updike revisits the Angstroms ten years after "Rabbit at Rest" and Rabbit's death. The novel starts from the perspective of Janice, Rabbit's widow, but quickly shifts to that of Nelson, Rabbit's son. For both Janice and Nelson, Rabbit, even in his now-distant death, casts a long shadow. Janice, contentedly remarried to Rabbit's rival, Ronnie Harrison, views her present life and relationships relative to her past life with Rabbit. Things are easier for her without Rabbit, but less meaningful ("Second marriages were lighter. You just expect a little companionship, a little fun that harms no one else." (195); "How utterly selfish [Rabbit] was she had never realized before marrying Ronnie, who was so responsible and methodical." (200)). Nelson, despite his troubled relationship with Rabbit, seems to feel his absence more distinctly; and, in search of some remnant of him, endeavors to for a close familial relationship with Annabelle, Rabbit's illegitimate daughter, upon her introduction to the family.

Still, Rabbit's absence—for the reader at least—feels pronounced. I enjoyed seeing how, even in death, Rabbit upsets Ronnie, who seems to hate Clinton for the same reasons he hated Rabbit (as people who get away with things). I also enjoyed seeing the very-momentary flashes of Rabbit in Nelson (I found his telling Annabelle about her past to be somewhat Rabbit-like in its discomfiting forwardness). And, I enjoyed that—even without Rabbit there to opine on the events of the late 1990s—Nelson and Janice consider what he would think (that, as a man who respected the presidency and reactively defended presidents, he would support Clinton). But, I mostly just felt bummed that Rabbit wasn't there. It's sad to read of Ronnie, like a vindictive Claudius, taking Rabbit's place and openly sullying his legacy. It's also sad, although perhaps realistic that he's simplified to his most memorable attributes and feats (a narcissistic, former high-school star athlete). I kind of wish I hadn't read this book, if only to keep the memory of Rabbit unsullied and unsimplified as it is by the characters in "Rabbit Remembered."

Nelson and Annabelle are both smart, kind people. But, they're not terribly interesting. Given that I've already concluded that "Rabbit Remembered" doesn't really read as a Rabbit book, I wish that instead of writing about them for this spin-off, Updike had written about Mim. The glimpses the reader gets of her over the Rabbit books makes her seem so unique—an independent, no-nonsense, all-business, sort-of caring, but completely level woman. She's not quite Rabbit-like—too self-sure, and indifferent—but she seems fun as a character. I wonder what a novella about her would be like?

[Gaetano Venezia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rabbit Reduced
This book is an oddly useful addendum to the core Rabbit Angstrom series. It's less engaging, less memorable, less challenging, and thus less meaningful overall. It proves the strength of Rabbit's character. With Rabbit dead, so is the spirit behind this series.

We do get more backstory and perspective from the secondary characters through this addendum—which many critics of the core Rabbit series wanted as they found the focus on Rabbit undeserved and problematic. But without Rabbit, the secondary characters—who are invigorated in opposition to Rabbit—become more stale and lifeless. I found it hard to care about how everyone got on after Rabbit's death. Nelson has some of Harry's genes, but he has largely served as foil to Harry and so a shift to his perspective in this book requires much more exposition to get at the kind of meaningful ironies and character development Harry experienced in each of the core novels.

The worst part is that the main plot device of this addendum—Annabelle Buyer's integration into the Angstrom family—collapses the animating ambiguity of whether Rabbit has a daughter. While this revelation creates conflict and forward momentum in this particular addendum, it weakens the meaningful ambiguity of Rabbit's obsession over a potential daughter in previous books. Without knowing the fact of the matter, the reader can more richly interpret Rabbit's behavior as a complicated blend of guilt, Freudian sexual fantasy, escapism, fascination with alternate timelines, aspirational paternal instinct, partial commitment to the potential truth of the matter etc. Now, looking back, his obsession seems more shallow and damning: he's a delinquent and delusional father.

And yet despite failings of characterization and meaning-making for the series, Updike's prose and storytelling craft still carry the drama along. Updike has created a rich set of kith and kin relations in this series. While this addendum felt unsatisfying, I wouldn't hesitate to read another addendum, especially a longer work that could take more time to build subplots and create a stronger character arc for Annabelle or Nelson as stand-in for Rabbit.

[Richard Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not the strongest of Updike's novels about the life of Harry (Rabbit) Angstrom, Rabbit Remembered is no less essential. What's missing, of course, is Harry himself. This novel is about those he left behind, especially his estranged son Nelson.

Except, in some ways, Harry isn't missing as his influence is strongly felt by his family, even after his passing ten years earlier. Updike ensures this by bringing 40-year-old Annabelle into their lives. Annabelle is Harry's daughter from an affair with a woman named Ruth. In previous novels, Updike had allured to her, even bringing Ruth and Annabelle into Harry's life at times, but always at a distance.

Annabelle is chiefly important in Rabbit Remembered because her presence underscores Harry's absence, allowing Updike's ensemble of characters to explore their life with the sometimes larger-than-life Harry Armstrong. This is especially true of Nelson, who shares stories about their father and, in doing so, makes peace with the past. It's essential for Nelson, who feels like he has lost his mother, Janice, to Rabbit's old rival Ronnie, and his ex-wife Pru, who left him with the kids.

The split between Nelson and Pru's marriage creates another familiarity for readers, as Nelson and his son Roy have a relationship similar to the one Nelson had with Harry. Nelson is well-suited to explore these feelings as a more mature but lonely man and as a counselor at a clinic for emotionally troubled patients.

All the familiar themes and characters make Rabbit Remembered an overall win; only its linear plotline might leave readers feeling like the fifth install is an extended epilogue. Still, it's always a pleasure to read Updike. So, even though it doesn't earn five stars, it will still find a place among my favorite books as part of this greater work.

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

People talk about the Rabbit tetralogy and they rarely acknowledge the fifth coda of a novella, included in this collection. It's called Rabbit, Remembered, and it isn't. This is because it's totally unnecessary. It's not bad, it's just irrelevant.

It picks up about a decade after Rabbit's death, and here come some spoilers for this and previous Rabbit books. (view spoiler)

Updike revisits some of his favorite themes here: oblique references to incestual longing that he likes to drop and then skitter away from, and self-conscious references to contemporary events. (We're in the last days of the 1900s, and "Now the bitch is going to run" says one woman about First Lady Hillary Clinton.) The sex is mostly missing, which of course is sortof a relief since Updike's sex is mostly uncomfortable.

Nelson continues to be basically unpleasant. He's a good character: he means well and he tries, but he is not much of a person. He's small, like Rabbit was, but in a different way; he lacks Rabbit's grudging charisma.

Updike has a talent for seeing these small, unsuccessful people. He lived in Beverly, Massachusetts, where I went to high school and fled as quickly as possible, so I know first-hand that he had plenty of sources to draw on. That's a town of rabbits. It has nothing very interesting to offer, and neither does this book.

[Taylor Bush · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice coda to the Rabbit series that really is just fan service. It lacks the hard-hitting thematic core of the novels that gives the story something to orbit around. Without something deeper to say about life the story just floats away. Basically it was just a checklist: catch up with Janice, catch up with Nelson, tour Brewer and update us on its progress, have a conversation about the Clintons and New Millennium. Still, it was nice to get new perspectives on this world we've spent so much time in, and to check in with these characters one last time. I also felt that the prose was less overcooked and the momentum of the plot more streamlined for whatever reason (the shorter page count or Updike's talent growing with his later age). I can't believe that's the last I'll ever read of these characters; I'm really going to miss them! They were all difficult, but humans are difficult and that's why I love/hate them. It's been an interesting year reading these five books. They've definitely changed me and made me think about life deeper. I'm sad I'll never read these books for the first time again. But some day (though probably not for a long time) I hope to read these all again, hopefully at a different phase of my life so I can get something new out of them.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's like reading The Cursed Child - pleasant enough to revisit some familiar characters but not the same without the lead man. This is the only Rabbit book set during my memory (I was a toddler for the time period of Rabbit at Rest) and it felt so oddly OLD. I remember thinking about Y2K and having email when not everybody did and all that, but it didn't REALLY feel like it was set during my lifetime. Kind of like walking in off a busy modern city street into a Grandma's living room and suddenly being thrust into a different time period (which I guess is basically what happens in the book). It's not just the familiar and aging characters and omnipresent glass green egg and frequent sentimentality - there's some unnamable extra element that makes this book feel so much older and more distant than 22 years in the past. It's not a bad thing but strange when the characters suddenly talk about the internet or argue about Bill Clinton's impeachment. In the end, it was fine to have read but only for the sake of nostalgia.

[Ascoyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Updike had published a 'Rabbit' novel every 10 years since the publiation of Rabbit Run in 1960. Following Rabbit at Rest in which he killed off his protagonist Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom he rounded out the century by issuing this which is in affect a long short story or novella which covers the aftermath of Harry's death and how it affects his family 10 years later.

Janice (Harry's wife) has married again to Harry's 'Frenemy' Ron Harrison, Annabelle his daughter by another mother presents herself to the Angstrom family, Nelson the son is now working as a social worker/councellor and has split up with his wife Pru and his children Roy and Judy.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the novels but it was interesting to meet up with the family again. In particular it was good to see Nelson had finally grown up from the mixed up kid who 'snorted an entire car agency up his nose' into a mature, competent adult.

[Caleb Michael Sarvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Rabbit haunts the pages of this closing novella, there is no Rabbit. Instead, there is Nelson, his now forty-two-year-old son, and there is Annabelle, his daughter by Ruth with whom we only had passing moments in the previous novels.

Not sure this one has the juice, really, but when read as an epilogue to the series, it’s a pleasant winding down. To think, this series begins before President Kennedy was assassinated and finishes with e-mails and the turn of the new millennium.

Ultimately, Nelson and Annabelle aren’t all that interesting. Neither are Janice, Ronnie, Pru, or the other ancillary characters. It ends with a sentimental whimper and reminds us what made Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom so addictive in the first place.

[Kent Winward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I completed all five of the Rabbit books, four of them this year. I'm busy so I'm going to cut and paste my review for all of them.

First, Rabbit dies way too young. It is hitting too close to home when characters are dying within my own age range.

Second, all five books need to be read. This is a masterful telling of a life by Updike. Rabbit's life is messy, beautiful, boring, ugly, unpredictable, and totally predictable. The life is real and universal.

We all have things we run from, but we can't run from life.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd like to give this whole series a solid 4.5. Maybe a 5, but I won't go that far since I faintly remember having some very mild quibbles. I'm sad to be done with the whole thing, but very satisfied with how it wound up. All along, Updike took what were, "on paper", unlovely and potentially unlovable characters and made them real and touching, changing them in subtle and realistic ways along the way.

Still, not recommended for people who like their protagonists more easily lovable or who don't enjoy delving into human dysfunction.