Rabbit gets his medicine

The sequel to Rabbit Run has Rabbit getting what he deserves. This time, his wife leaves him for a lover. The problem is that he doesn't care. Rabbit is so apathetic that, although everything bothers him, he does nothing about anything. This is a novel of what happens to a man who does nothing to control his surroundings. He makes a few decisions without any conviction and doesn't have the nerve to do what's right in any case. It wouldn't be so bad, but his son still lives with him at this time, so he is exposing a child to all kinds of horrible behavior.

Most of this novel made me disgusted with Rabbit. He does nothing to get his wife back, then he lets people come into his home and expose his son to all sorts of foulness. I pretty much hated every character in this book for their evilness or their weakness, but I still can't wait to read the next Rabbit novel. I still care about the characters, which is what Updike is great at. He makes us care for the most pitiful people. Rabbit Angstrom may be a weak individual, but we are able to relate to aspects of him and we want to see him improve his life.