The Constant Rabbit: The Sunday Times bestseller

Jasper Fforde’s latest novel, which is a satire, although good is not great and does have a few problems. Here then we are plunged into a world that is very much like ours except for one element, in 1965 there was a mysterious event which led to some animals becoming very much anthropomorphic, and of these the rabbits have become an underdog. What is known as the Spontaneous Anthropormorphizing Event has obviously led to certain changes in the country.This is obviously looking at the rise of racism in this country and elsewhere, along with other hate crimes, Brexit, and those who help to bring them about, mainly due to laziness and indifference. Here then we have animals born in this country, and indeed with parentage going back for in some cases many centuries being persecuted due to being different in some ways. Our narrator is Peter Knox who is spineless and works for one of the newer government agencies to deal with rabbits. He is actually quite good at coming up with excuses for doing the job that he does, but of course there is indifference involved and as with so many people, a complete failure to take responsibility for their actions.As a rabbit family move into his village so there is moral outrage and so on, and for Peter, he finds that he knows the lady of the family, Constance, as they were at one time both at university. As we see the differences between the different species, which include more than just rabbits, so we can have a laugh at the fox Mr Ffoxe, who is orange and has little paws, and there are other such funny moments throughout this book, but as a whole it does start to become a bit wishy-washy, and at times does try to take in more issues than can be covered between the covers of this, simply because it is not long enough.It is never really explained here how or why the event happened, and is represented as some sort of learning process from God or Gaia, which by the end of this one asks does it make any difference? No explanation is given either to the fact that although the guinea pigs who also transformed were criminals, why the weasels and foxes are accepted for instance. This does not take just a pop at the Right, but also the Left, who are just as bad, and we have conspiracy theories and such things as forced veganism being discussed.A rather large problem here is actually religion, as we see the Church of England having to decide its position on the new animals amongst us , which can be seen as church politics and such like, but then the rabbit’s type of religion is respected more in this book, which is really a form of Buddhism. The thing I really liked about this though is the very true problem that we are facing these days. What can be a very important news story that can have serious repercussions is often ignored as people are too interested in social media, showbiz gossip, and the next episode of their favourite TV programme. Along with this indifference we also have those who seem to be offended by anything and display so called righteous indignation when in fact they are only getting involved through their need to be shown as doing something.

I have long been an admirer of Jasper Fforde's writing and have read every book he has had published. Elements of this latest offering are arguably some of the finest work he has ever produced. In spite of that, I have stopped short of giving this a full 5-star rating, because I felt it laboured a little in the early chapters and took time to really get into its stride. Seasoned readers of J.Ff. would not be put off by this and would have confidence that persistence would bring its rewards, but those less familiar may well be tempted to give up prematurely, which would be a pity.Fforde's satirical wit is once again evident throughout, but compared with his previous work, there is generally a different - perhaps more muted - tone to it. At times, even though the wit is there, it is darker and more sombre in its nature than has previously been the case. As you would expect from Jasper Fforde, there are plenty of clever literary and socio-political references throughout the narrative. The setting for the story is, once again, an alternative United Kingdom and, not for the first time in Fforde's world, we are introduced to anthropomorphised characters as key protagonists. Comparisons with Orwell's "Animal Farm", as another allegorical satire, will be both understandable and probably unavoidable. Where Orwell made the Russian Revolution of 1917 and subsequent Stalinist rule the subject of his satire, Fforde has focussed his attention primarily on xenophobia and racism. The apartheid system in South Africa and the policies of Nazi Germany are evident, but there are also clear parallels to more modern political developments such as Trump's "Mexican Wall" and the UK's divisive Brexit process. While these aspects may be the main focus of Fforde's satirical scrutiny, there are also well observed jibes at other elements of human society and attitudes along the way:'"Humans have a very clear idea about how to behave, and on many occasions actually do. But it's sometimes disheartening that correct action is drowned out by endless chitter-chatter, designed not to find a way forward but to justify petty jealousies and illogically held prejudices."'Even satire itself is placed under the microscope: '" Or maybe it's just satire for comedy's sake and nothing else ... or even more useless, satire that provokes a few guffaws but only low to middling outrage - but is coupled with more talk and no action. A sort of ... empty cleverness."' With this, alongside references to pretentious alternative spellings of surnames, Fforde adds some amusing touches of self-deprecation along the way.Ultimately, this is a very enjoyable and astutely written book. If you have not read anything by Jasper Fforde before, I am not sure that I would recommend this as the best book to start with though. Admirers of Fforde's previous work will rate this one highly too, but perhaps in a slightly different way to his previous publications. Yes, there is the usual intelligent wit, but here we also find greater poignancy and satirical writing that is more pointed and damning than you would normally associate with the author. Will it have the effect of dramatically changing the world as a result? Probably not, but:'"Perhaps that's what satire does - not change things wholesale but nudge the collective consciousness in a direction that favours justice and equality."'

I really enjoyed this book. It was very entertaining.