Still She Haunts Me
by Katie Roiphe
published
October 4th 2001
by Headline Review
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binding
Hardcover, 224 pages
isbn
0747265577
(isbn13: 9780747265573)
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 99)
Read in June, 2008
This book reminded me very much of Christopher Bram's FATHER OF FRANKENSTEIN (which was adapted into the film GODS AND MONSTERS with Ian McKellan and Brendan Fraser). Both books revolve around "real" people and "real" events that cannot be fully known or explained. Why did James Whale, director of Frankenstein, end up dead in his LA pool? Why did Alice Liddell's family end their friendship with Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll)? Fiction fills in those historical gaps. Roiphe's ...more
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Read in January, 2003
recommended to Elizabeth by:
picked it up at random!recommends it for: anyone wanting a good dark, emotional read.
the title describes this book well.....this book haunts me.
this is a telling of Lewis Carroll, née Charles Dogdgson, & his
relationship with the real Alice that we all know & love from her venture through Wonderland. at first innocent by all outward appearances, Carroll's obsession deepens & nearly destroys him.
the characters are so well written in this book, that upon my first reading (i read my favorites many times over) i felt Alice's confusion & her mother's rage &...more
this is a telling of Lewis Carroll, née Charles Dogdgson, & his
relationship with the real Alice that we all know & love from her venture through Wonderland. at first innocent by all outward appearances, Carroll's obsession deepens & nearly destroys him.
the characters are so well written in this book, that upon my first reading (i read my favorites many times over) i felt Alice's confusion & her mother's rage &...more
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like a dreamworld fantasy that dared to intermingle with reality and fiction, i found this book to be transporting and all-the-while, calmly escalating to an eerie tone which climaxed in a very british sort of ending.
interesting use of multiple narrators. while of course the focus and undertone was on the behind-the-scenesness of a well-known story, i still enjoyed very much the detailed fetishization of photographic equipment and technique.
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like a dreamworld fantasy that dared to intermingle with reality and fiction, i found this book to be transporting and all-the-while, calmly escalating to an eerie tone which climaxed in a very british sort of ending.
interesting use of multiple narrators. while of course the focus and undertone was on the behind-the-scenesness of a well-known story, i still enjoyed very much the detailed fetishization of photographic equipment and technique.
---
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Read in January, 2003
After reading this I felt compelled to find out as much as I could about Charles Dodgson and Alice Liddell, and I particularly felt the need to SEE Dodgson's photographs of Alice to better understand what all the controversy was about. There is A LOT to be read in those pictures. Alice In Wonderland will never quite seem the same again....
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Keep in mind this novel is a work of fiction and while it may contain some fact, it is fiction that ties it together in the marvelous way that will make the reader wonder; is this what really happened?
Read for yourself and become enchanted or haunted by the words so marvelously displayed.
Really worth the read.
Read for yourself and become enchanted or haunted by the words so marvelously displayed.
Really worth the read.
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Read in September, 2006
A very sweet but heart-breaking retelling of the relationship between Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll (Dodgson). The author has done great research, piecing all the bits together to let us have a glimpse of the mind of an extremely talented writer. I am proud to have this book on my shelf.
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Although Roiphe's book is "based on" facts from the life of Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), I consider this "fiction" since there is much speculation and extrapolation by the author.
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Dodgson is one of those literary figures that remain a bit of curiosity/mystery for me. (Henry James too.) A few years ago I went to an exhibit of his photographs at the International Museum of Photography.
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Read in September, 2008
Found the book difficult to put down. The anticipation of what you think you know is going to happen keeps your heart racing. And yet, when you least expect, there it is. Very tastefully written.
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recommends it for:
open-minded romantics
Profoundly touching, achingly beautiful and ethereally bittersweet as a dream. Accordingly, the true impact of the book can only be felt once - but this is enough.
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The poignant, somewhat disturbing truth behind Alice in Wonderland
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Read in January, 2005
The FACTS are this: Lewis Carroll befriended a young girl, Alice Liddell, and she became the inspiration for "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass." And when she turned eleven her family sent him a letter, telling him they didn't want him to see her any more. Any pages from that time that might have explained what happened were ripped out of his diary.
Those are the facts. Katie Roiphe took those facts and other little tidbits from Alice and Lewis' lives, an...more
Those are the facts. Katie Roiphe took those facts and other little tidbits from Alice and Lewis' lives, an...more
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Read in October, 2008
recommends it for:
people who enjoy victoriana
Interesting exercise involving getting into the head of Lewis Carroll without really getting into his head at all.
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