The Constant Rabbit: A Novel
by Jasper Fforde
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used Very Good
- ISBN 10
- 0593296524
- ISBN 13
- 9780593296523
- Seller
-
Kutztown, Pennsylvania, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Viking, September 2020. Hardcover. Used Very Good. Light wear to cover, slightly bumped corners, pages clean and unmarked. There is a previous owner's name on the inside. We carry new and used books in our storefront. We want you to be satisfied with your purchase. Please contact us if you have questions regarding this item.
Reviews
On Aug 17 2020, a reader said:
The Constant Rabbit is a novel by Welsh author, Jasper Fforde. The 2020 United Kingdom that Fforde describes to the reader is very much an alternate one where, fifty-five years earlier, a Spontaneous Anthropomorphic Event transformed a selection of animals into human-sized, talking, walking, thinking creatures.
In the British Isles, the most numerous are now rabbits, who prove to be peaceable and hard-working. It takes a good deal of world-building to make a tale like this work, but anyone who has read his books knows that this is something at which Fforde is highly skilled.
Even though Peter Knox works at the Rabbit Compliance Taskforce detecting rabbits attempting identity fraud, he's not anti-rabbit like some of his colleagues, who are just a shade off hominid supremacists. But his favourable treatment of a doe rabbit borrower at the village library has been noted by the right-wing village elders. He recognises Constance Rabbit from their casual friendship at college decades-earlier, before rabbits were banned.
The ruling UK Anti-Rabbit Party is pressing for their "humane" solution, Rehoming the rabbits from their established colonies to a MegaWarren in Wales, and their campaign to subvert the Rabbit Underground sees a very reluctant Peter plucked from his office job into active Ops, tracking down a suspected rabbit operative. His last experience on Ops had ended very badly.
To unsettle him even further, the vacant house next door is suddenly occupied by Major Clifford and Mrs Constance Rabbit and their two children. While Peter tries to deal with his re-emerging attraction to his new neighbour, his scary boss wants him to infiltrate, suspecting connections to the Rabbit Underground, while the village council wants the rabbits out of Much Hemlock.
What follows for Peter is a wild ride that includes being challenged to a duel, a graffitied garage door, getting drunk on dandelion brandy, being charged with murder, physical mutilation, prison time, wearing a wire, and slicing a lot of cucumbers. Of prison, he says: "In a turnabout that no-one expected after the crash of 2008, the second-largest group in prison after rabbits was now sociopathic investment bankers, corrupt representatives of ratings companies and dodgy corporate accountants."
Readers from Goulburn NSW might be quite delighted to find that their Big Merino also exists in Fforde's world, if by a different origin. As always, Fforde manages to include a generous helping of over-the-top English-sounding place names, typically useless government departments with all their annoyingly abbreviated titles, plenty of poli-speak and silly character names.
Fforde gives the reader a heavily satirical social commentary that takes aim at propaganda, conspiracy theories, xenophobia, right-wing politics and detention centres, to name but a few. He even lets a character muse that satire might "provoke a few guffaws but only low to middling outrage – but is couped with more talk and no action. A sort of … empty cleverness." Smart and inventive, another thought-provoking and entertaining read.
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Firefly Bookstore LLC (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 424380
- Title
- The Constant Rabbit: A Novel
- Author
- Jasper Fforde
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used Very Good
- Quantity Available
- 1
- ISBN 10
- 0593296524
- ISBN 13
- 9780593296523
- Publisher
- Viking
- Date Published
- September 2020
- Pages
- 320
Terms of Sale
Firefly Bookstore LLC
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives mis-described or damaged.
About the Seller
Firefly Bookstore LLC
Biblio member since 2013
Kutztown, Pennsylvania
About Firefly Bookstore LLC
Located in downtown Kutztown, we are an independently-owned and operated New and Used bookstore. Started in 2012 by two book aficionados, Firefly Bookstore strives to provide the best in diverse products and customer services. In addition to books on almost any subject, Firefly carries a large range of products including cards, bookmarks, audio books, and family tree charts. We carry over 60,000 items in 3000 sq/ft of space.Additionally, we have a large tabletop game selection, including board games, dice and card games, and Role-Playing titles. We have a wide selection of puzzles from Pomegranate and others. We have in stock new, each year, a large collection of current year Calendars with 100s of titles and styles to choose from, always discounted.We buy and trade books and games whenever the store is open, and we are looking for material for every section. Store credit can be used on new and used material. We are interested in large purchases, such as collections and estate sales. We are particularly looking for gaming books, metaphysics, history, cooking, science, Pennsylvania history and children's books.For current news and announcements, find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/fireflybookstore.We carry new and used books in our storefront. We want you to be satisfied with your purchase. Please contact us if you have questions regarding this itemStore hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...