Rabbit heart (novel)

Hasenherz (English Rabbit, Run ) is a 1960 published novel by John Updike . It kicks off the five-part Rabbit series that centers around the life of Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom, a former high school basketball star. The other novels in the series are: Under the Astronaut Moon (published in 1971), Better Relationships (1981), Rabbit in Rest (1990) and Rabbit, a Return (2002).

The German translation by Maria Carlsson was first published by S. Fischer in 1962 . From 1976 the novel was published by Rowohlt .

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The novel deals with five months in the life of the 26-year-old former school basketball player Harry Angstrom, known as "Rabbit" (= rabbit heart). The main theme is his attempts to escape the limitations of his typical American average life. “Once you've been first in one thing, no matter what, you just can't get it done second.” Harry is looking for something that is “behind all of this” , “that is waiting for me to be discovered ” . The novel is the record of attempts to " break out of the modern no man's land, out of the trap ... from which there is no way out" .

Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom is at the beginning of the story a seller of technical kitchen utensils, especially a so-called silver peeler. He is married to Janice, who is seven months pregnant and a former saleswoman in the shop where he is currently employed. They have a two year old son named Nelson and they live in Mount Judge, a suburb of Brewer. Janice spends her life mostly more or less drunk in front of the TV in a trance state and lets the apartment deteriorate. Her favorite drink is Old Fashioneds .

Rabbit believes that his marriage was a mistake and that he lacks something crucial in his life. He used to be a famous basketball player in school and now finds middle-class family life unsatisfactory. One evening he spontaneously decides to flee and drive his car south to the Mexican coast. But after hours he lost himself hopelessly in the unknown street system and finally decided to return home. However, it does not end up with his family, but - in memory of earlier glamorous times - with his former basketball coach Marty Tothero.

That night Harry eats with Tothero and two young women, one of whom, Ruth Leonard, works as a prostitute at times. They both begin a two-month relationship and Harry moves into their small apartment. During this time his wife Janice moves back to live with her parents. The Episcopalian priest Jack Eccles befriends Harry, plays golf with him more often and makes a hopeless attempt to reunite him with his wife. Janice gives birth to a daughter one of the next nights. Meanwhile there was an argument between Harry and Ruth that evening. The occasion was Ronnie Harrison, a former teammate Harry, who also had a brief relationship with Ruth. Harry then forces Ruth to please him with a fellatio . He later learned of the birth of his child from Eccles. He leaves the disappointed Ruth and rushes to the hospital where his wife has given birth.

Janice gave birth to a girl who parents named Rebecca June. Rabbit returns to his wife with the baby and accepts employment with his father-in-law, who runs a used car dealership. One Sunday morning, contrary to his usual habit, he takes part in a service held by Eccles. Then he brings Eccles' wife Lucy home. He interprets her invitation to a cup of coffee as a sexual offer. When he refuses, she angrily slams the door in his face. Rabbit returns to his apartment and encourages Janice to have a whiskey and urge her to hang out with him regardless of her condition shortly after giving birth. When she refuses, Rabbit leaves her and tries to return to Ruth.

Janice suffers from the fact that Harry has left her again. She begins to drink decidedly too much whiskey. Her everyday life is increasingly slipping out of her hands. When her mother calls her and says she'll be with her in 20 minutes, she accidentally drowns her newborn daughter in the bathtub while trying to wash her again.

Rabbit returns to his wife and son in the hope that after this 'shared' tragedy, further coexistence is possible. His former trainer Tothero visits him after two strokes and tries to make him understand that what he is always looking for may not even exist. At the funeral of the dead baby, Rabbits internal and external conflicts culminate in a strange scene in which he suddenly declares publicly that it is not his fault that the child dies, but his wife. Then he fled the cemetery, followed by Eccles, who lost him.

Rabbit wanders aimlessly through the woods of his childhood and ends up with Ruth, who has become pregnant by him and wants to give birth to the child. She is ready to marry Rabbit if he divorces his wife. But Rabbit doesn't want that. He is completely in the dark about what and where he is going. His fate is uncertain. The only thing that pleases him is running away. This ends the first part of the Rabbit series.

Characters

• Harry Angstrom , called Rabbit, a 26 year old man. Married to Janice Angstrom. He was a high school basketball star and a seller of technical kitchen utensils early in the novel.
• Miriam Angstrom , called Mim, Rabbit's 19 year old sister.
• Mr. Angstrom , Rabbit's father.
• Mrs. Angstrom , Rabbit's mother.
• Janice Angstrom , Rabbit's wife.
• Nelson Angstrom , Harry's and Janice's 2 year old son.
• Rebecca June Angstrom , Harry and Janice's newborn daughter. Janice accidentally drowns her when she is drunk.
• Mr. Springer , Janice's father, used car dealer.
• Mrs. Springer , Janice's mother. She is especially critical of Harry after he leaves his wife.
• Jack Eccles , a young Episcopal priest. He's trying to fix Harry's marriage again.
• Lucy Eccles , Jack Eccles' wife. She complains about the lack of love in her marriage and blames her husband's job, which leaves him too little time for her.
• Ruth Leonard , Rabbit's lover. She is a prostitute and lives alone in a small apartment. She takes great care of her figure and lives with Harry for three months.
• Margaret Kosko , a friend of Ruth. Probably a prostitute too.
• Mrs. Smith , a widowed seventy-three-year-old woman whose garden is looked after by Rabbit while he is separated from his wife.
• Marty Tothero , Rabbit's former basketball coach. He was once very popular in Rabbit's high school days, but was fired due to a 'scandal'. He is constantly cheating on his wife, which doesn't stop him from giving Rabbit advice on a good marriage. After two strokes, he can no longer do his job.
• Ronnie Harrison , one of Rabbit's former teammates. He used to sleep with both Margaret Kosko and Ruth Leonard.

Basic constellation of the Rabbit series

The novel was continued by Updike several times, each about 10 years apart. 1971 appeared under the astronaut moon (English Rabbit Redux ; German translation by Kai Molvig 1973). 1981 appeared Better conditions (Engl. Rabbit Is Rich ; German translation of Barbara Henninges 1983) 1990 Rabbit at rest (. English Rabbit at Rest ; German translation by Maria Carlsson 1992) and 2002 finally Rabbit, a return (Engl. Rabbit Remembered , German translation by Maria Carlsson 2002). The plot of all five novels takes place in the fictional town of Brewer, which is modeled after the hometown of the author Reading in Pennsylvania and is 75 kilometers from Philadelphia .

literature

• Laurence W. Mazzeno: Becoming John Updike: critical reception, 1958-2010 . Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2013. ISBN 978-1-57113-511-7 .
• John Updike: Rabbit, Run , dt. Hasenherz , 1976. Rowohlt, Reinbek, 25th edition 2003, ISBN 3-499-15398-X .
• Stanley Trachtenberg: New essays on Rabbit, run . Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge 1993. ISBN 0-521-43337-1 .
• Kindler's Literature Lexicon on dtv in 25 volumes. Munich 1974, vol. 18, p. 7965.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eric Felten: How's Your Drink? Cocktails, Culture and the Art of Drinking Well. Surrey Books (Agate Imprint), Chicago 2007, ISBN 978-1-57284-089-8 , p. 69.