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Lewis Carroll
- GenresBiographyNonfiction
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Michael Bakewell
72 books7 followersMichael Bakewell (7 June 1931 – 11 July 2023) was a British radio and television producer and radio playwright.
His work included adapting The Lord of the Rings (with Brian Sibley) into a 1981 radio series for the BBC and a series of 27 adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories broadcast between 1985 and 2007 by BBC Radio 4.
He was born in Birmingham, England. After graduating from Cambridge in 1954, he was recruited by the BBC's Third Programme. He became the first Head of Plays at the BBC in the 1960s.
His work included adapting The Lord of the Rings (with Brian Sibley) into a 1981 radio series for the BBC and a series of 27 adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories broadcast between 1985 and 2007 by BBC Radio 4.
He was born in Birmingham, England. After graduating from Cambridge in 1954, he was recruited by the BBC's Third Programme. He became the first Head of Plays at the BBC in the 1960s.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 21, 2011
I always find it hard to critique a biography, it's either well researched and documented or it's not. So that leaves one to look at the angle the writer uses to approach his subject and how he handles it, how successful the approach is and whether a biography is readable for a lay person, i.e. not so technical and dry that you get mystified and thirsty by just opening the book. I found Bakewell's biography of Lewis Carroll very readable and never so focused on discussions of the literary merits of Carroll's work that someone not versed in those theories wouldn't understand. Instead Bakewell focuses on how Charles Lutwidge Dodgson became Lewis Carroll. He sketches a dichotomy in Dodgson's character, on the one hand an eternal child, on the other a shrewd business man and a social activist. And he takes an unflinching look at Dodgson's dubious interest in little girls.
The book left me profoundly disturbed, or rather Dodgson did. I found some (if not most) of his interactions with the girls inappropriate, though I have to say that being a mum to a little girl didn't help Dodgson's case at all. If someone approached my daughter in that manner they'd be walloped into next week. So one can hardly say I'm an unbiased judge. Still, the way Dodgson ignored parents' rules regarding contact with their children, whether visiting the Liddell children despite Mrs Liddell forbidding it or the way he always tried to push parents to take his photography of their girls further towards nudity, was completely disturbing and, in my opinion, made Dodgson completely untrustworthy. However, I admired Bakewell's ability to discuss Carroll's little girl friends, without either excusing or condemning his behaviour. While I never got the impression that the author condoned Dodgson's behaviour, he never explicitly states that the behaviour is wrong. He manages to stay impartial or at least give an objective account of what he's found.
Setting Dodgson's proclivities aside, an aspect of his life I found fascinating was his career as an Oxford Fellow. The look at Victorian Oxford and its academic practices and society was captivating. Completely different from the contemporary university setting I'm used to, it made me wonder whether this manner of academia was typical of Oxbridge universities or whether universities in my native Netherlands were governed in a similar manner. What is definitely clear from Bakewell's work though, is how well-suited this environment was for a dreamer and eternal child like Dodgson. In a way, he never had to grow up as long as he remained at Christ Church. He had a fixed set of responsibilities and a lot of time to do as he pleased. The only hitch in Dodgson's perfect retreat, was the expectation that at some point, he would have to take Orders and be ordained as a priest in the Church of England. He never got farther than the rank of Deacon, both because he was afraid because of preaching because of his stammer and he didn't want to give up the sinful pleasures of a civilian life, such as going to the theatre. On top of that, he'd begun to have doubts about the strength of his faith. Bakewell manages to show us Dodgson's inner struggle on this subject and give us a window into his troubled conscience.
The book is an illuminating and interesting biography, which highlights more than just Carroll's predilection for little girls. Its look at Victorian academic life and the glimpses it provides of Victorian publishing are very interesting, but in the end Lewis Carroll: A Biography left me conflicted about its subject. And that might be Bakewell's biggest achievement with this book, providing such a balanced view that it's left up to the reader to make up her mind about Lewis Carroll. As an example of a well-written biography, this is a work that can take pride of place. For those of you interested in the creator of Alice in Wonderland, this book is a great starting point to discover who Lewis Carroll was.
The book left me profoundly disturbed, or rather Dodgson did. I found some (if not most) of his interactions with the girls inappropriate, though I have to say that being a mum to a little girl didn't help Dodgson's case at all. If someone approached my daughter in that manner they'd be walloped into next week. So one can hardly say I'm an unbiased judge. Still, the way Dodgson ignored parents' rules regarding contact with their children, whether visiting the Liddell children despite Mrs Liddell forbidding it or the way he always tried to push parents to take his photography of their girls further towards nudity, was completely disturbing and, in my opinion, made Dodgson completely untrustworthy. However, I admired Bakewell's ability to discuss Carroll's little girl friends, without either excusing or condemning his behaviour. While I never got the impression that the author condoned Dodgson's behaviour, he never explicitly states that the behaviour is wrong. He manages to stay impartial or at least give an objective account of what he's found.
Setting Dodgson's proclivities aside, an aspect of his life I found fascinating was his career as an Oxford Fellow. The look at Victorian Oxford and its academic practices and society was captivating. Completely different from the contemporary university setting I'm used to, it made me wonder whether this manner of academia was typical of Oxbridge universities or whether universities in my native Netherlands were governed in a similar manner. What is definitely clear from Bakewell's work though, is how well-suited this environment was for a dreamer and eternal child like Dodgson. In a way, he never had to grow up as long as he remained at Christ Church. He had a fixed set of responsibilities and a lot of time to do as he pleased. The only hitch in Dodgson's perfect retreat, was the expectation that at some point, he would have to take Orders and be ordained as a priest in the Church of England. He never got farther than the rank of Deacon, both because he was afraid because of preaching because of his stammer and he didn't want to give up the sinful pleasures of a civilian life, such as going to the theatre. On top of that, he'd begun to have doubts about the strength of his faith. Bakewell manages to show us Dodgson's inner struggle on this subject and give us a window into his troubled conscience.
The book is an illuminating and interesting biography, which highlights more than just Carroll's predilection for little girls. Its look at Victorian academic life and the glimpses it provides of Victorian publishing are very interesting, but in the end Lewis Carroll: A Biography left me conflicted about its subject. And that might be Bakewell's biggest achievement with this book, providing such a balanced view that it's left up to the reader to make up her mind about Lewis Carroll. As an example of a well-written biography, this is a work that can take pride of place. For those of you interested in the creator of Alice in Wonderland, this book is a great starting point to discover who Lewis Carroll was.
May 7, 2016
Michael Bakewell's biography of Lewis Carroll, written 20 years ago, is a very detailed, comprehensive account of the life of the enigmatic and very complex man who was Charles Dodgson. In fact, for me it was sometimes too specific and pedantic. And why he uses Dodgson's pseudonym in the title is perplexing, as the biography captures Dodgson's entire life, even though, admittedly, Carroll was a significant part. It is a straightforward biography; facts are recounted chronologically and presented in a completely unbiased manner, with opposing views given where possible; there is not a great deal of personal analysis. With such a complicated man there was a lot to cover- his family life and relationships, his religious faith, his inventive genius in making up intriguing word games, his study of mathematics, his photography, his love of the theatre, his compulsive obsession with young girls (today this reads like pedophilia, but Bakewell properly perceives this from the Victoria perspective; the coverage of this aspect is fascinating) and his corresponding inability to form adult relationships with women. I especially enjoyed the part where he writes the two 'Alice' books and 'The Hunting of the Snark', whereas the parts concerning his books on logic and mathematics and the interminable interactions with the lives of his brothers, sisters and other relatives, bogged it down for me.
It's always fun to read what critics said at the time of the publication of his books. For example, on 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland': 'We fancy that any child might be more puzzled than enchanted by this stiff, over-wrought story. The illustrations are grim and uncouth'. Ha!
In the last chapter Bakewell notes how characters and phrases from the Alice books are still used in our everyday conversations making them two of the most quoted of books. You'll also read of what happened to the original Alice.
It's always fun to read what critics said at the time of the publication of his books. For example, on 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland': 'We fancy that any child might be more puzzled than enchanted by this stiff, over-wrought story. The illustrations are grim and uncouth'. Ha!
In the last chapter Bakewell notes how characters and phrases from the Alice books are still used in our everyday conversations making them two of the most quoted of books. You'll also read of what happened to the original Alice.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews