Richard Adams is an English writer. The author was glorified by the fairy tale novel "Inhabitants of the Hills". The writer wrote the books "Shardik", "Maya", "Plague Dogs". Full-length cartoons have been filmed based on The Inhabitants of the Hills and The Plague Dogs.
The heroes of the books by Richard George Adams were not animals, but people. Everything in his life was right, from a serene childhood and a rich youth, to a happy family, what he loves and success, the opportunity to share the accumulated experience in his declining years. All books tell about how to gain and not lose your Home.
The path to destination
The biography of the future writer began in 1920. The child was born in the suburb of Newbury Wash Common on May 9 in the family of a doctor. Evelyn Adams raised three children. Richard was the youngest. The boy was distinguished by isolation and modesty. He preferred to spend his time alone.
At the age of six, the kid learned to read. He loved Lofting's Doctor Dolittle and loved Alan Milne's Winnie the Pooh. However, the boy's favorite hero was the character of Beatrice Potter, Peter Rabbit.
If Richard did not need to study or read, he willingly traveled through the surrounding hills. Sometimes the son was accompanied by his father, an amateur naturalist. He told the child about all the animals and birds they met.
As a child, Adams never dreamed of a career as a writer. He decided to get his education at Oxford Worcester College. In 1938, the young man chose his specialty in modern history. However, with the outbreak of World War II, Richard joined the army. For six years he served in the Airborne Forces and took part in military operations.
Home Adams returned in 1946. He completed his studies, received a bachelor's degree, and a master's degree. The graduate chose the career of a civil servant. He started working in the Department of Environmental Protection. Richard's attitude to nature required action. The young man read a lot, he gave preference to European classics, in particular English, he knew many poems by heart. At the same time, he never dreamed of giving up the role of a reader and making his contribution to the development of the literature of his native country.
Family and literature
Adams settled his personal life in 1949. With his wife Elizabeth, he settled in Oxford. The family had two children, daughters Rosamund and Juliet. Thanks to the children, their father's writing career began. Every day, Richard accompanied his daughters to school and home. On the way, he told the girls stories he had invented. Since the beloved hero did not change over time, Adams also told tales about rabbits.
All stories were based on scientific facts, because Richard has always remained a keen naturalist. He based his conclusions on the work of the zoologist Locksley "The Private Life of a Rabbit." All the heroes of his stories lived in the Wash-Common and its environs familiar to Adams from an early age.
The girls liked the stories so much that they begged their parent to write them down. The perseverance of the little ones was amazing. In the end, Richard sat down at his desk. Since he did not plan to leave the service, he had to work in the evenings. The creation of the work took a year and a half. It turned out that the letter is absolutely not what the writer dreamed of. He was glad that he had managed to finish what he had begun.
In 1968, the story of the rabbits was completed, taking on its final form. Adams was considering publishing the piece. He sent the manuscript to various publishers. Refusals came from everywhere. There was always one reason given: non-format. None of the agents could understand to whom the book was addressed. It seemed too realistic if it was intended for children, filled with gross details, and adults could not be attracted by the story of talking rabbits.
In response, Adams was perplexed, saying that anyone who wants to read his essay is free. It does not depend at all on his age.
Confession
The first to see the potential of the work was Rex Collins. His small publishing house specialized in books about animals. He instantly realized that he had a real treasure in his hands. He accepted the novel into work, informing the deputy that he doubted his decision, but is sure that he found a strikingly original thing.
The author was glad that the book was finally published, and Rex took care of unobtrusive advertising for a small first print run. Some of the books were sent to the most influential critics, colleagues in the publishing business. The book was named after the hill where the action "Watership Down" takes place. The author himself entitled the work by the names of the main characters "Nut and Pyatik".
Later, among the titles of the novel, there were variants of "The Great Journey of the Rabbits", "The Amazing Adventures of Rabbits" and "Ship Hill". The most successful title was "Inhabitants of the Hills".
The circulation was sold out instantly. The rights to the new edition were bought by one of the largest agencies. The book entered the New York Times bestseller list. Over a few years, over a million copies have been sold. The first edition books have become a bibliographic rarity. Adams received two prestigious awards. For a work for children and youth, he was awarded the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian newspaper prize.
After the success of the composition, Adams left the civil service. He decided to continue the work of the writer. However, he immediately warned the readers that he did not intend to present them with more stories about rabbits. His new work was the work "Shardik".
Major works
The epic fantasy novel appeared in 1974. It tells the story of a man who meets an unusual bear. The hunter Kelderic decided he was seeing the great god Shardik. The author respects the beliefs of people. The uneasy relationship between man and beast after a meeting becomes an incentive to transform from a timid simpleton into a courageous and mature person.
"Shardik" Adams called his main work. The world he had created for the novel he re-introduced in his 1984 book Maya. The human characters have supplanted the animals in this prequel. However, their view of the world through their eyes still reappeared in the 1977 novel The Plague Dogs.
The work about the adventures of two dogs who escaped from the laboratory, where experiments were carried out on them, became resonant. For the first time, the question of animal experiments was raised.
In 1978, based on the fairy tale "Inhabitants of the Hills", Martin Rosen shot a cartoon. He also became the director of the tape based on "Plague Dogs". In the essay "Girl on a Swing" in 1980, Adams acted as a master of thriller intrigue. In the 1988 novel Traveler, the storyteller is the horse of General Lee, a hero of the American Civil War.
The writer returned to the rabbit town in the book "Tales of Watership Hill" in 1996. The collection presents witty stories from "rabbit folklore". The writer passed away in 2016, on December 24.
