false 176972 17 <I>"What is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations!"</I><p> Readers who share Alice's taste in books will be more than satisfied with <I>The Annotated Alice</I>, a volume that includes not only pictures and conversations, but a thorough gloss on the text as well. There may be some, like G.K. Chesterton, who abhor the notion of putting Lewis Carroll's masterpiece under a microscope and analyzing it within an inch of its whimsical life. But as Martin Gardner points out in his introduction, so much of <I>Alice in Wonderland</I> and <I>Through the Looking Glass</I> is composed of private jokes and details of Victorian manners and mores that modern audiences are not likely to catch. Yes, <I>Alice</I> can be enjoyed on its own merits, but <I>The Annotated Alice</I> appeals to the nosy parker in all of us. Thus we learn, for example, that the source of the mouse's tale may have been Alfred Lord Tennyson who "once told Carroll that he had dreamed a lengthy poem about fairies, which began with very long lines, then the lines got shorter and shorter until the poem ended with fifty or sixty lines of two syllables each." And that, contrary to popular belief, the Mad Hatter character was <I>not</I> a parody of then Prime Minister Gladstone, but rather was based on an Oxford furniture dealer named Theophilus Carter. <p> Gardner's annotations run the gamut from the factual and historical to the speculative and are, in their own way, quite as fascinating as the text they refer to. Occasionally, he even comments on himself, as when he quotes a fellow annotator of <I>Alice</I>, James Kincaid: "The historical context does not call for a gloss but the passage provides an opportunity to point out the ambivalence that may attend the central figure and her desire to grow up." And then follows with a charming riposte: "I thank Mr. Kincaid for supporting my own rambling." There's a <I>lot</I> of information in the margins (indeed, the page is pretty evenly divided between Carroll's text and Gardner's), but the ramblings turn out to be well worth the time. So hand over your old copy of Lewis Carroll's classic to the kids--this <I>Alice in Wonderland</I> is intended entirely for adults. <I>--Alix Wilber</I> 1513237 1871 The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition total:1492|5:984|4:364|3:112|2:27|1:5| 1492 6771 2043 165 4 2 false false Mon Dec 03 14:03:04 -0800 2007 Mon Dec 03 14:03:04 -0800 2007 Full leisurely we glide;
For both our oars, with little skill,
By little arms are plied,
While little hands make vain pretence
Our wanders to guide.

Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour,
Beneath such dreamy weather,
To beg a tale ...more...]]> 3 2 false false Tue Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Fri Apr 06 15:31:42 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 06 17:37:16 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Jul 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 15:38:30 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 15:39:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sun Jan 13 18:59:51 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 13 19:33:16 -0800 2008
The annotations are very i...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Sep 27 19:36:07 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 19:45:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Jul 11 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 18:43:48 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 19:10:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1985 Sat Aug 25 07:02:56 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 25 07:05:23 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Thu Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 1960 Tue Sep 25 13:29:39 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 25 13:29:39 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Sep 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 21:12:17 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 25 20:56:35 -0700 2009 Synopsis: The Annotated Alice consists of the books Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, both by Lewis Carroll. The full text of each book is included (as well as parts that were taken out) and there are annotative notes through the text of each chapter.

Alice in Wonderland:...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Nov 26 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Sep 16 09:54:31 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 26 11:06:22 -0800 2008 Plot Summary: The book starts with Alice sitting on the riverbank with her older sister, suffering from boredom, when a rabbit runs past her, muttering “I’m late, I’m late!”. When Alice sees that the rabbit has a pocket watch, she decides that the rabbit looks like an interesting alternative...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 28 16:12:38 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 17:03:02 -0700 2008 Wed May 28 16:12:38 -0700 2008
The “Definitive Edition” of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland-Through-the-Looking-Glass is a brilliant gem and a needed companion for any library, *especially*for those who enjoy a mixture of nonsense,logic, wordplay and fantasy. This has been my third trip to Wonderland and I must ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Aug 31 05:13:49 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 31 05:23:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon May 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 08 16:35:42 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 16 21:04:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Mon Aug 13 14:05:54 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 13 14:18:09 -0700 2007
I am forgoing notes on this book, because the major...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Mar 03 09:14:38 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 09:04:06 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 09:14:38 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jun 11 16:32:59 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 16:34:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 25 20:02:53 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 20:09:14 -0800 2009 Just as I owe half of my creativity to one woman (Ivy), I'll always owe the other half to this written work.
To discovering layers upon layers of wit, sarcasm, disappointment, commentary, growth, darkness within the...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jul 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 14:43:11 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 03:15:31 -0700 2009 I truly enjoyed the choice of artwork throughout the book, and most of the annotation. A few times the annotations were overly long and sounded mo...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Sep 13 11:46:40 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 11:48:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1985 Mon Jun 04 06:33:25 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 04 06:41:48 -0700 2007 One thing: I heartedly recommend that any interested new-comer to Carroll's work reads 'Looking-Glass' first. It's a vastly superior ...more...]]>