Sylvie and Bruno

Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*** Possible spoilers ***

This is one of Lewis Carroll's lesser known works - so lesser known that I hadn't even known it existed until I stumbled upon it quite by accident. It isn't as much fun as the Alice novels so that's why it's probably been pushed aside.

There are two plot lines - one in the real world and one on fairy. Actually the one in the real world seems rather like fantasy as well but, although I don't know the history, I suspect that Carrol is satirizing certain aspects of political life. In any event it reminded me of the feel of the early Harry Potter books when, in the summer, he's living with his aunt and uncle. Those characters are drawn in a cartoon fashion as are the characters in the early part of Sylvie and Bruno. Still there is a clear demarcation between real and fantasy.

As the book progresses however, the line begins to blur. I think Carroll did that quite deliberately because he wanted the reader to get a sense of the period between sleeping and waking just before a dream has evaporated and reality set in. It was effective too because there were times when I was unsure just which world we were in. He may have been exploring a type of mental illness where normal items take on a form of mysticism that causes certain individuals to become unclear as to what is and is not real. Whatever the case I found it fascination.

As I said, this isn't as much fun as the Alice stories but it is quite interesting and worth reading.



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