Simply, beautifully sad. The introduction (in my edition) by the author says it was never meant to be an allegory, but started as a story to tell his children in long car rides. While this sentiment is beautiful and adds to the character, I can’t believe that’s all it ended up being. Richard Adams had to know (to some extent) what he was really writing here. Power struggle, brutality, love, storytelling, and above all perseverance. I was just so blown away and just wanted to read it all day. I felt so many emotions and was fully captivated by the hardships these poor rabbits went through. The last page in particular was absolute perfection. The metaphor was so subtle and well done, I will definitely be revisiting this classic again 🥹