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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland #1–2
Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Source of legend and lyric, reference and conjecture, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is for most children pure pleasure in prose. While adults try to decipher Lewis Carroll's putative use of complex mathematical codes in the text, or debate his alleged use of opium, young readers simply dive with Alice through the rabbit hole, pursuing "The dream-child moving through a land / Of wonders wild and new." There they encounter the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, the Mock Turtle, and the Mad Hatter, among a multitude of other characters--extinct, fantastical, and commonplace creatures. Alice journeys through this Wonderland, trying to fathom the meaning of her strange experiences. But they turn out to be "curiouser and curiouser," seemingly without moral or sense.
For more than 130 years, children have reveled in the delightfully non-moralistic, non-educational virtues of this classic. In fact, at every turn, Alice's new companions scoff at her traditional education. The Mock Turtle, for example, remarks that he took the "regular course" in school: Reeling, Writhing, and branches of Arithmetic-Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision. Carroll believed John Tenniel's illustrations were as important as his text. Naturally, Carroll's instincts were good; the masterful drawings are inextricably tied to the well-loved story. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter
Audio Cassette
First published December 27, 1871
About the author
Lewis Carroll
6,518 books8,655 followersThe Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer.
His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense.
Oxford scholar, Church of England Deacon, University Lecturer in Mathematics and Logic, academic author of learned theses, gifted pioneer of portrait photography, colourful writer of imaginative genius and yet a shy and pedantic man, Lewis Carroll stands pre-eminent in the pantheon of inventive literary geniuses.
He also has works published under his real name.
His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense.
Oxford scholar, Church of England Deacon, University Lecturer in Mathematics and Logic, academic author of learned theses, gifted pioneer of portrait photography, colourful writer of imaginative genius and yet a shy and pedantic man, Lewis Carroll stands pre-eminent in the pantheon of inventive literary geniuses.
He also has works published under his real name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 19,134 reviews
May 27, 2007
I think that the failure not only of Children's Literature as a whole, but of our very concept of children and the child's mind is that we think it a crime to challenge and confront that mind. Children are first protected from their culture--kept remote and safe--and then they are thrust incongruously into a world that they have been told is unsafe and unsavory; and we expected them not to blanch.
It has been my policy that the best literature for children is not a trifling thing, not a simplification of the adult or a sillier take on the world. Good Children's literature is some of the most difficult literature to write because one must challenge, engage, please, and awe a mind without resorting to archetypes or life experience.
Once a body grows old enough, we are all saddened by the thought of a breakup. We have a set of knowledge and memories. The pain returns to the surface. Children are not born with these understandings, so to make them understand pain, fear, and loss is no trivial thing. The education of children is the transformation of an erratic and hedonistic little beast into a creature with a rational method by which to judge the world.
A child must be taught not to fear monsters but to fear instead electrical outlets, pink slips, poor people, and lack of social acceptance. The former is frightening in and of itself, the latter for complex, internal reasons. I think the real reason that culture often fears sexuality and violence in children is because they are such natural urges. We fear to trigger them because we cannot control the little beasts. We cannot watch them every minute.
So, to write Children's Literature, an author must create something complex and challenging, something that the child can turn over in their mind without accidentally revealing some terrible aspect of the world that the child is not yet capable of dealing with. Carroll did this by basing his fantasies off of complex, impersonal structures: linguistics and mathematical theory. These things have all the ambiguity, uncertainty, and structure of the grown-up world without the messy, human parts.
This is also why the Alice stories fulfill another requirement I have for Children's Lit: that it be just as intriguing and rewarding for adults. There is no need to limit the depth in books for children, because each reader will come away with whatever they are capable of finding. Fill an attic with treasures and the child who enters it may find any number of things--put a single coin in a room and you ensure that the child will find it, but nothing more.
Of course, we must remember that nothing we can write will ever be more strange or disturbing to a child than the pure, unadulterated world that we will always have failed to prepare them for. However, perhaps we can fail a little less and give them Alice. Not all outlets are to be feared, despite what your parents taught you. In fact, some should be prodded with regularity, and if you dare, not a little joy.
It has been my policy that the best literature for children is not a trifling thing, not a simplification of the adult or a sillier take on the world. Good Children's literature is some of the most difficult literature to write because one must challenge, engage, please, and awe a mind without resorting to archetypes or life experience.
Once a body grows old enough, we are all saddened by the thought of a breakup. We have a set of knowledge and memories. The pain returns to the surface. Children are not born with these understandings, so to make them understand pain, fear, and loss is no trivial thing. The education of children is the transformation of an erratic and hedonistic little beast into a creature with a rational method by which to judge the world.
A child must be taught not to fear monsters but to fear instead electrical outlets, pink slips, poor people, and lack of social acceptance. The former is frightening in and of itself, the latter for complex, internal reasons. I think the real reason that culture often fears sexuality and violence in children is because they are such natural urges. We fear to trigger them because we cannot control the little beasts. We cannot watch them every minute.
So, to write Children's Literature, an author must create something complex and challenging, something that the child can turn over in their mind without accidentally revealing some terrible aspect of the world that the child is not yet capable of dealing with. Carroll did this by basing his fantasies off of complex, impersonal structures: linguistics and mathematical theory. These things have all the ambiguity, uncertainty, and structure of the grown-up world without the messy, human parts.
This is also why the Alice stories fulfill another requirement I have for Children's Lit: that it be just as intriguing and rewarding for adults. There is no need to limit the depth in books for children, because each reader will come away with whatever they are capable of finding. Fill an attic with treasures and the child who enters it may find any number of things--put a single coin in a room and you ensure that the child will find it, but nothing more.
Of course, we must remember that nothing we can write will ever be more strange or disturbing to a child than the pure, unadulterated world that we will always have failed to prepare them for. However, perhaps we can fail a little less and give them Alice. Not all outlets are to be feared, despite what your parents taught you. In fact, some should be prodded with regularity, and if you dare, not a little joy.
April 22, 2018
THIS BOOK IS MY DREAM.
It’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, plus Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, plus a ton of critical analysis and fun facts and biographical info and poetry and background and cultural and period information and bonus illustrations and basically all you need or could ever want to know, except if you’re me and your love for and curiosity about Alice and Lewis Carroll and Wonderland will never be satiated.
And also it’s about a square yard and the font is tiny and it weighs about 30 pounds and takes an eternity to read.
I loved this so much that it made my heart hurt to finish it. My version of paradise is probably something like this, where I’m alternating between reading the original text I love more than anything and eloquent, wise, humorous elaboration on things I had never known. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know.
I guess you could say I grew…curiouser and curiouser.
I love myself.
Anyway, my bookmark for this book was a folded-up sheet of lined paper on which I wrote down the titles and works of art and research queries I wanted to know more about as I read. I filled up both sides of that sheet.
Absolutely every aspect of this book is gorgeous and curated and fascinating. I don’t really know how to review this because it basically transcended reading for me.
It was just a perfect experience.
Bottom line: If you love Alice like I do, or really really like it, you need to read this book. It’s a gift. That’s all I can say.
It’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, plus Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, plus a ton of critical analysis and fun facts and biographical info and poetry and background and cultural and period information and bonus illustrations and basically all you need or could ever want to know, except if you’re me and your love for and curiosity about Alice and Lewis Carroll and Wonderland will never be satiated.
And also it’s about a square yard and the font is tiny and it weighs about 30 pounds and takes an eternity to read.
I loved this so much that it made my heart hurt to finish it. My version of paradise is probably something like this, where I’m alternating between reading the original text I love more than anything and eloquent, wise, humorous elaboration on things I had never known. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know.
I guess you could say I grew…curiouser and curiouser.
I love myself.
Anyway, my bookmark for this book was a folded-up sheet of lined paper on which I wrote down the titles and works of art and research queries I wanted to know more about as I read. I filled up both sides of that sheet.
Absolutely every aspect of this book is gorgeous and curated and fascinating. I don’t really know how to review this because it basically transcended reading for me.
It was just a perfect experience.
Bottom line: If you love Alice like I do, or really really like it, you need to read this book. It’s a gift. That’s all I can say.
March 21, 2018
Try to avoid hyperactive white rabbits
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland aka Alice in Wonderland
How did Caroll get his ideas?
Many questions arose both around Carroll´s alleged drug consumption and the mental state of the author and besides himself, nobody will ever know. But it has been used to argue for pro drug consumption by hippies, for damnation by all of their political and ideological opponents, and as part of
The myth of how authors find inspiration
The idea of how the mental state of a writer, or artist in general, influences her/his works is even more fascinating, because the line between sane imagination and creativity and madness or getting lost in a world one created her/himself is thin. Just genetic luck or pure coincidence may make the difference between a world-building, ingenious, and very successful author superstar and severe, lifelong mental illness. Being in the zone and flow state of positive creative overkill or of uncontrollable mindfucks one really isn´t into. Mental strength and self-discipline, to let the demons work for one instead of killing them, or a small pharmacological help may make the difference between world fame and mental asylum and completely blocking or losing the controllable and not harmful symptoms might destroy the ability to make such works, take away the needed basis of dreams, hallucinations, and loss of reality necessary to create unique works. A manifestation of how precious and fragile those human egos, fictional surrogates of what the brain wants, are.
One of the first comedic fantasy works with depth
At a time when there was close to no fantasy literature available, Carroll wrote a precursor of today's bizarro fiction/fantasy/ crossover/horror/comedic whatever genre, focussing on the hero´s journey of one main plot with the strangeness and surreality of the other characters and environment as main driving engines.
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
Don´t look behind the mirrors
Maybe a bit too strange
Because of the violence and weirdness, I wouldn´t consider it as a clean, normal read for all ages anymore, but closer to the elder kid section. A true classic, having a lasting impact on pop culture and many other works and tinkering with the ideas of reality, consciousness, the layers of dimensions that might lie beyond the known three, and the realm of interpretations, connotations, and innuendos.
More in it than in stereotypical standard classics
Because it is highly subjective, it is very difficult to draw the line between witty, hidden criticism and satire and simple plot devices with coincidental benefits, and just the author knows what the true intention was. But just that so many, big, clever, whatsoever generations of adults and parents are thinking about and puzzling around what hidden meanings might be behind that lovely story with beheadings, bipolar, schizophrenic, and generally prone to mental illness side characters, highly developed nanotech that let´s one grow and shrink and stuff, differentiates it from other classics.
The extra easter goodie for the adult readers
One of the rare examples where timeless, all-devouring questions have been compressed and distilled to an allegedly benign, nice, little tale for the kiddies, but the deeper the interested adult digs, the further she/he explores the Matrix-style abyssal depths of the hidden human thoughts, fears, and imaginations, the bigger the WTF factor becomes.
Inspiration unknown
I don´t know where Carroll took his ideas from and what inspired him to invent this tale, as for instance other pioneers of fantasy tended to use, steal, and adapt old mythology, but much of the content is just so bizarre that it can´t be compared with the typical standards of the innocent (except the violence, opportunism, sexism, racism, extremism, and many other evil isms) old tales.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland aka Alice in Wonderland
How did Caroll get his ideas?
Many questions arose both around Carroll´s alleged drug consumption and the mental state of the author and besides himself, nobody will ever know. But it has been used to argue for pro drug consumption by hippies, for damnation by all of their political and ideological opponents, and as part of
The myth of how authors find inspiration
The idea of how the mental state of a writer, or artist in general, influences her/his works is even more fascinating, because the line between sane imagination and creativity and madness or getting lost in a world one created her/himself is thin. Just genetic luck or pure coincidence may make the difference between a world-building, ingenious, and very successful author superstar and severe, lifelong mental illness. Being in the zone and flow state of positive creative overkill or of uncontrollable mindfucks one really isn´t into. Mental strength and self-discipline, to let the demons work for one instead of killing them, or a small pharmacological help may make the difference between world fame and mental asylum and completely blocking or losing the controllable and not harmful symptoms might destroy the ability to make such works, take away the needed basis of dreams, hallucinations, and loss of reality necessary to create unique works. A manifestation of how precious and fragile those human egos, fictional surrogates of what the brain wants, are.
One of the first comedic fantasy works with depth
At a time when there was close to no fantasy literature available, Carroll wrote a precursor of today's bizarro fiction/fantasy/ crossover/horror/comedic whatever genre, focussing on the hero´s journey of one main plot with the strangeness and surreality of the other characters and environment as main driving engines.
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There
Don´t look behind the mirrors
Maybe a bit too strange
Because of the violence and weirdness, I wouldn´t consider it as a clean, normal read for all ages anymore, but closer to the elder kid section. A true classic, having a lasting impact on pop culture and many other works and tinkering with the ideas of reality, consciousness, the layers of dimensions that might lie beyond the known three, and the realm of interpretations, connotations, and innuendos.
More in it than in stereotypical standard classics
Because it is highly subjective, it is very difficult to draw the line between witty, hidden criticism and satire and simple plot devices with coincidental benefits, and just the author knows what the true intention was. But just that so many, big, clever, whatsoever generations of adults and parents are thinking about and puzzling around what hidden meanings might be behind that lovely story with beheadings, bipolar, schizophrenic, and generally prone to mental illness side characters, highly developed nanotech that let´s one grow and shrink and stuff, differentiates it from other classics.
The extra easter goodie for the adult readers
One of the rare examples where timeless, all-devouring questions have been compressed and distilled to an allegedly benign, nice, little tale for the kiddies, but the deeper the interested adult digs, the further she/he explores the Matrix-style abyssal depths of the hidden human thoughts, fears, and imaginations, the bigger the WTF factor becomes.
Inspiration unknown
I don´t know where Carroll took his ideas from and what inspired him to invent this tale, as for instance other pioneers of fantasy tended to use, steal, and adapt old mythology, but much of the content is just so bizarre that it can´t be compared with the typical standards of the innocent (except the violence, opportunism, sexism, racism, extremism, and many other evil isms) old tales.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
January 23, 2023
If anyone ever tells you that you can’t write a book, keep in mind Lewis Carroll.
Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, is actually a pen name (As Lisa of Troy isn’t my real name, he already gets bonus points from me). His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Wikipedia describes him as “somewhat asymmetrical.” He walked rather stiffly and awkwardly, and he was deaf in one ear. He had a weak chest from a bout of whopping cough and a stammer.
And yet…..
He wrote Alice in Wonderland.
Everything was smooth sailing from there on out, right?
Of course, not!
In June 1865, the first two thousand copies of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland were printed. However, the illustrator, John Tenniel, was so dissatisfied with the printing of the pictures that Carroll decided that all 2,000 copies would be sold as wastepaper. Carroll wrote in his journal about how he probably would not even break even.
According to Wikipedia, there are only 22 known copies of the “wastepaper” version in existence, and they are incredibly valuable.
Here’s hoping that my mistakes will one day be worth millions!
What did I think of the story itself?
Dodgson made some huge gambles. For starters, he picked a female protagonist in the 1860’s. Alice is having adventures, not talking about boys or love. Thank you, Mr. Dodgson!
The author is also highly creative, inventing all different kinds of characters from the Cheshire Cat to the Queen of Hearts. Alice also drinks and eats to become smaller and larger. This was such a great concept to think about. Aren’t there instances where you feel like you have very little power, almost voiceless, and other instances where you feel like you can make a great big difference, where you are a key player?
“What is an unbirthday present?”
“A present given when it isn’t your birthday, of course.”
The opening to Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland is such an intriguing scene. Alice sees a rabbit dressed up, looking at his watch, and stating, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” For me, this is the perfect blend of reality and fantasy. I can imagine being in a park and seeing a rabbit hopping out from his or her hiding place. It isn’t too far of a stretch to imagine it also clothed and talking.
In Through the Looking-Glass, there is a poem within the book entitled, Jabberwocky, which I read back in nineth grade. Reading it again, it almost cries out to be read aloud. It is so much fun!
Also, traces of Through The Looking-Glass can be seen in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline which I loved.
However, this type of literary genre is not my favorite. Philip Pullman (my favorite author) says this of how to write, “think of some interesting events, put them in the right order to make clear the connections between them, and recount them as clearly as you can.” In this particular case, I didn’t see the connection between scenes. Alice seems to shift quickly between her interactions, and I don’t understand how this is one united story. Because the story is so disjointed, I didn’t feel like we were making any progress and didn’t feel the suspense rising.
The other question when you go into an alternate realm is “How are we going to get home?” The answer to that question in this book is entirely underwhelming.
Based on my research, it appears that there is some symbolism underneath the story, but I don’t fully understand what that is. Perhaps it is a function of not living in the Victorian era or understanding the politics and mores of Oxford.
Now if only I can think of a children’s story that will stand the test of time……if not, I guess at least I’m not asymmetrical.
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Insta My Bookstore at Pango
Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland, is actually a pen name (As Lisa of Troy isn’t my real name, he already gets bonus points from me). His real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Wikipedia describes him as “somewhat asymmetrical.” He walked rather stiffly and awkwardly, and he was deaf in one ear. He had a weak chest from a bout of whopping cough and a stammer.
And yet…..
He wrote Alice in Wonderland.
Everything was smooth sailing from there on out, right?
Of course, not!
In June 1865, the first two thousand copies of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland were printed. However, the illustrator, John Tenniel, was so dissatisfied with the printing of the pictures that Carroll decided that all 2,000 copies would be sold as wastepaper. Carroll wrote in his journal about how he probably would not even break even.
According to Wikipedia, there are only 22 known copies of the “wastepaper” version in existence, and they are incredibly valuable.
Here’s hoping that my mistakes will one day be worth millions!
What did I think of the story itself?
Dodgson made some huge gambles. For starters, he picked a female protagonist in the 1860’s. Alice is having adventures, not talking about boys or love. Thank you, Mr. Dodgson!
The author is also highly creative, inventing all different kinds of characters from the Cheshire Cat to the Queen of Hearts. Alice also drinks and eats to become smaller and larger. This was such a great concept to think about. Aren’t there instances where you feel like you have very little power, almost voiceless, and other instances where you feel like you can make a great big difference, where you are a key player?
“What is an unbirthday present?”
“A present given when it isn’t your birthday, of course.”
The opening to Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland is such an intriguing scene. Alice sees a rabbit dressed up, looking at his watch, and stating, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!” For me, this is the perfect blend of reality and fantasy. I can imagine being in a park and seeing a rabbit hopping out from his or her hiding place. It isn’t too far of a stretch to imagine it also clothed and talking.
In Through the Looking-Glass, there is a poem within the book entitled, Jabberwocky, which I read back in nineth grade. Reading it again, it almost cries out to be read aloud. It is so much fun!
Also, traces of Through The Looking-Glass can be seen in Neil Gaiman’s Coraline which I loved.
However, this type of literary genre is not my favorite. Philip Pullman (my favorite author) says this of how to write, “think of some interesting events, put them in the right order to make clear the connections between them, and recount them as clearly as you can.” In this particular case, I didn’t see the connection between scenes. Alice seems to shift quickly between her interactions, and I don’t understand how this is one united story. Because the story is so disjointed, I didn’t feel like we were making any progress and didn’t feel the suspense rising.
The other question when you go into an alternate realm is “How are we going to get home?” The answer to that question in this book is entirely underwhelming.
Based on my research, it appears that there is some symbolism underneath the story, but I don’t fully understand what that is. Perhaps it is a function of not living in the Victorian era or understanding the politics and mores of Oxford.
Now if only I can think of a children’s story that will stand the test of time……if not, I guess at least I’m not asymmetrical.
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Insta My Bookstore at Pango
January 11, 2021
Another reread for me, and what a pleasure it was to reconnect with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/ Through the Looking Glass. Many years since I read this but it still raises a smile!
February 11, 2018
Dreams , figments of the wondrous mind, what things can it create...A little girl named Alice, 7 with her big sister a few years older, sitting on the banks of the gentle river Thames, on a calm , warm sunny day, in 1862 how delightful , still she is bored watching her sibling reading a book, not paying any attention to her, with no pictures, imagine that... getting sleepy...Out of nowhere a nervous White Rabbit dashes by Alice, no big deal even though it has clothes on, not thinking it peculiar when the animal speaks, looking at a watch, and declares he will be late to an important party. Intrigued the child follows the rapid rabbit down a large hole, a long tunnel , soon finding a precipice, then falling and falling, the never ending drop continues as the frightened girl starts to believe, maybe, quite possible , arrive finally on the other side of the world, welcome Australia. Nevertheless landing safely in a pile of leaves, unhurt Alice in a strange hall sees a bottle that says drink me. She the brave girl does, being much too big, for this land, needing to get out, to the beautiful place outside that Alice views, through the door, too small for her and shrinks... this will not be the last time either, her size will vary in future adventures in this magical tale. Meeting a plethora of mad characters, as one of them matter of fact boasts we're all mad here. The Cheshire Cat with his always grinning smile as he fades away and reappears ...the Queen of Hearts the annoyed ruler frequently shouts and proclaims, "Off with their heads", and her curiouser and curiouser croquet match...with real animals for equipment, the Mad Hatter and his perpetual tea party with the March Hare who enjoys puzzling Alice. The mellow Caterpillar likes sitting on top of a mushroom smoking leisurely and showing scorn for the little girl's silly questions, the Mock Turtle who head looks like a cow and is sad, the ugly Duchess sneezing because her maid's over use of pepper, other weird souls in this enchanting book appear. If you are a type of person who relishes the road less traveled, this will be up your alley. A classic children's fable that will always be a favorite, having sold more than 100 million copies, and adults can be entrapped also, and benefit by the amusing satire of their foibles, which everyone has.That is being human ...
June 25, 2014
“Once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people.”
If I ever had to choose to be another literary person than my beloved soulmate Don Quixote, it would have to be Alice in Wonderland. Why would I need to be another character than the one and only Don? Well, it is good to have a backup if you are asked to come to a masquerade as a favourite book character (a not completely unlikely risk and side effect of my profession), and you realise that your blonde hair and the emphasis on blue dresses in your wardrobe makes that a much more natural choice than the Medieval male dresscode of La Mancha.
On the other hand, Alice is a perfect complement to the Don in many ways. While he sets out to give the ordinary world some magic, she dives into Wonderland to make it sparkle with her common sense approach to madness. A perfect pair, those two characters.
In times like these, they are needed more than ever, to fight the windmills or Jabberwockys of modern craziness. As coffee is a means of survival to me, and I like the idea of drinking it out of a mug featuring an illustration of a famous tea party - as nonsensical as most, but more fun - I once went to London and bought myself a Mad Hatter mug, the handle nicely formed like one of those keys Alice had such trouble with. The quote on the back of the mug has helped me (along with the caffeine and a sense of humour as dark as my no-milk-and-no-sugar coffee) survive many a lesson with teenagers:
"If you knew Time as well as I do,’ said the Hatter, ‘you wouldn’t talk about wasting it."
I know for a fact that this book can be reread as many times as needed to figure out your own identity and level of madness, without any waste of time whatsoever:
“Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I'll come up; if not, I'll stay down here till I'm someone else.”
I can almost give the same promise that Milo got in The Phantom Tollbooth:
"RESULTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED, BUT IF NOT PERFECTLY SATISFIED, YOUR WASTED TIME WILL BE REFUNDED."
If I ever had to choose to be another literary person than my beloved soulmate Don Quixote, it would have to be Alice in Wonderland. Why would I need to be another character than the one and only Don? Well, it is good to have a backup if you are asked to come to a masquerade as a favourite book character (a not completely unlikely risk and side effect of my profession), and you realise that your blonde hair and the emphasis on blue dresses in your wardrobe makes that a much more natural choice than the Medieval male dresscode of La Mancha.
On the other hand, Alice is a perfect complement to the Don in many ways. While he sets out to give the ordinary world some magic, she dives into Wonderland to make it sparkle with her common sense approach to madness. A perfect pair, those two characters.
In times like these, they are needed more than ever, to fight the windmills or Jabberwockys of modern craziness. As coffee is a means of survival to me, and I like the idea of drinking it out of a mug featuring an illustration of a famous tea party - as nonsensical as most, but more fun - I once went to London and bought myself a Mad Hatter mug, the handle nicely formed like one of those keys Alice had such trouble with. The quote on the back of the mug has helped me (along with the caffeine and a sense of humour as dark as my no-milk-and-no-sugar coffee) survive many a lesson with teenagers:
"If you knew Time as well as I do,’ said the Hatter, ‘you wouldn’t talk about wasting it."
I know for a fact that this book can be reread as many times as needed to figure out your own identity and level of madness, without any waste of time whatsoever:
“Who am I then? Tell me that first, and then, if I like being that person, I'll come up; if not, I'll stay down here till I'm someone else.”
I can almost give the same promise that Milo got in The Phantom Tollbooth:
"RESULTS ARE NOT GUARANTEED, BUT IF NOT PERFECTLY SATISFIED, YOUR WASTED TIME WILL BE REFUNDED."
April 5, 2017
I don't get it.. I just don't get it.
I went into this story ready to fall in love! Ready to buy all of the merch upon finishing this story that's loved by so many but here I am, sulking. Disappointed. I guess this story just goes completely against my nature. There's no logical reason for anything that happens and that frustrated me beyond belief. Every conversation was so exhausting to read. I literally had to take ibuprofen every time I was finished reading for the night because my god, the headaches were no joke.
I'm very saddened that I won't be fangirling over this fandom.
Side note: Am I a terrible person to admit that Alice got on my nerves!? Arghhhhhhhhhh. AND EVERY CHARACTER WAS SO FLIPPIN' RUDE!!
I went into this story ready to fall in love! Ready to buy all of the merch upon finishing this story that's loved by so many but here I am, sulking. Disappointed. I guess this story just goes completely against my nature. There's no logical reason for anything that happens and that frustrated me beyond belief. Every conversation was so exhausting to read. I literally had to take ibuprofen every time I was finished reading for the night because my god, the headaches were no joke.
I'm very saddened that I won't be fangirling over this fandom.
Side note: Am I a terrible person to admit that Alice got on my nerves!? Arghhhhhhhhhh. AND EVERY CHARACTER WAS SO FLIPPIN' RUDE!!
May 23, 2024
── ᵎᵎ ✦ re-read ᯇ aug 24
3.5 ⭐️
idk why but i enjoyed the story much more the second time around!! it's such a goofy story, and alice is SO RELATABLE (and so ahead of her time) for most of the book,, the entire thing is a bit nonsencial but you just gotta go with it because it’s oddly entertaining 😫🤞
☆
── ᵎᵎ ✦ read ᯇ may 24
2.5 ⭐️
FINALLY GETTING BACK TO READING AFTER A HORRENDOUS 3 MONTHS OF EXAMS AND STRESS 🥹😭😭😭😭 starting with this book bc im currently watching a murder mystery show with this AIW concept so im reading for some background clues!!
this book was so confusing i was literally like 😧😐🤨😳🫢⁉️⁉️ THE ENTIRE TIME LMFAOOO
3.5 ⭐️
idk why but i enjoyed the story much more the second time around!! it's such a goofy story, and alice is SO RELATABLE (and so ahead of her time) for most of the book,, the entire thing is a bit nonsencial but you just gotta go with it because it’s oddly entertaining 😫🤞
𓏲 . ˙ ˖ 🃏🪄🫖 ꒱ “if i had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. and contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be.”
☆
── ᵎᵎ ✦ read ᯇ may 24
2.5 ⭐️
FINALLY GETTING BACK TO READING AFTER A HORRENDOUS 3 MONTHS OF EXAMS AND STRESS 🥹😭😭😭😭 starting with this book bc im currently watching a murder mystery show with this AIW concept so im reading for some background clues!!
this book was so confusing i was literally like 😧😐🤨😳🫢⁉️⁉️ THE ENTIRE TIME LMFAOOO
July 28, 2022
I'm pretty sure everyone knows what these books are about. Both Alice's stories are completely bonkers and very much loved. I've read them many, many times over the years, they are part of the reason I got hooked on reading as a child and remain among my favourites of all time. Disney took elements of both the stories to create the classic Alice In Wonderland film, which was originally released on this day in 1951.
Put on some Jefferson Airplane and read them if you haven't!
Put on some Jefferson Airplane and read them if you haven't!
March 1, 2009
This is a weird one. The more I read the more I'm okay with the weirdness. Does that say something about me? I thought at first I wouldn't read it to my kids because it's too strange, but I'm thinking now I might. They just might like it. We'll see how it ends. Am I lame that I've never read this before?
Okay, done with them both. Alice in Wonderland was okay. Still weird. Weird and I didn't understand it. Through the Looking Glass took weird to a whole new level. A bad level. The whole time I was reading it I was thinking, "Is Carroll on crack? This makes no sense." And then I thought maybe I needed to be on crack to understand it. I've had crazy dreams sort of like this, all disjointed and random and all, but that doesn't mean I want to read a book about psycho dreams. And what's up with shaking the poor kitten all the time?
I might read Wonderland to the kids. I won't read Through the Looking Glass.
And does anyone really know what this all means? Because if it's "just for fun", it wasn't.
Okay, done with them both. Alice in Wonderland was okay. Still weird. Weird and I didn't understand it. Through the Looking Glass took weird to a whole new level. A bad level. The whole time I was reading it I was thinking, "Is Carroll on crack? This makes no sense." And then I thought maybe I needed to be on crack to understand it. I've had crazy dreams sort of like this, all disjointed and random and all, but that doesn't mean I want to read a book about psycho dreams. And what's up with shaking the poor kitten all the time?
I might read Wonderland to the kids. I won't read Through the Looking Glass.
And does anyone really know what this all means? Because if it's "just for fun", it wasn't.
April 21, 2026
’Twas brillig and the slithy toves
Were doing what toves do
Whether gimbling or simply gyring
I really wish I knew
But I was fast asleep by then
(I reckon so were you)
Whatever time of night it was
I’d put the novel down
A smile was playing on my face
The upsidedownest frown
Illuminating everything
Right to the edge of town
Where unmilked cows with horns of gold
Outmooed their silly rhymes
And farmboys who had lost their tongues
Expressed themselves in mimes
And high above them church bells cracked
Their knuckles seven times
Me I was happy cuz I knew
I’d made a dear old friend
A fair three-headed holy lady
On whom I could depend
Like one depends on gravity
When faced with the world's end
Nun Sense was this person’s name
I sure was pleased t’ve met her
Indeed she was so generous
She gave me her last sweater
Said it was made of heaven-thread
To help me nonsense better
I’ve never met a nun I said
Not even in my dreams
And you're the nicest nun I've known
A saint draped in moonbeams!
She winked three times and disappeared
And here I am it seems
September 25, 2007
Then Alice saw a large wall in the middle distance. Someone was sitting on the top of it. When Alice had come within a few yards of it, she saw that the thing sitting on the wall had eyes and a nose and mouth and a large pile of golden hair; and when she had come very close, she saw clearly that it was TRUMPTY DUMPTY himself. "It must be him because that’s what is written on his baseball cap," she said to herself. He was already speaking to her.
“They said I wouldn’t build the wall and I built the wall. They were wrong because they weren’t right. Really really really great wall.”
“I’m sure it is,” said Alice. “What is it for?”
“Believe me, this is the greatest wall there ever was,”
“I’m sure it is,” said Alice, “but please, what is it for?”
“The people, there were people, who said the wall would never be built, they were not smart people, as you see, the wall is right here, it is extremely extremely here, believe me.”
“Yes, I do see that it is, but please,” said Alice, getting rather impatient, “what is it for?”
“Those people, there were so many many of them, they said the wall was never ever ever going to be built, that’s what they said, you can check that, it’s there in the record. They were really really not smart those people. Everyone here can see that this is a great great day. That is what people are telling me. ”
“But –" started Alice.
“We are making Wonderland great again. Really really great. Dozens, hundreds of people, have said that there would be no wall. No wall at all. They said it would never never never happen. You can’t find those people any more because they are on the other side of the wall. Oh yes, there is another side of the wall. Really really other side. Can you hear them?”
Trumpty put his hand to his ear, exaggeratedly listening. Alice listened hard too for a moment but could not hear a sound, except for Trumpty talking continually. She had by now given up trying to ask Trumpty Dumpty anything at all. It was as if he did not know what a conversation was.
“It’s going to be amazing, really amazing. You will see Wonderland great again. So great.”
*
Sorry about that..... I really just wanted to flag up that this Definitive 150th Anniversary edition by Martin Gardner is exquisite and replaces all previous editions. So if you have a birthday coming up, you could ask for this! And if you get it you'll have a smile that will take a really really great long time to fade away. Believe me.
“They said I wouldn’t build the wall and I built the wall. They were wrong because they weren’t right. Really really really great wall.”
“I’m sure it is,” said Alice. “What is it for?”
“Believe me, this is the greatest wall there ever was,”
“I’m sure it is,” said Alice, “but please, what is it for?”
“The people, there were people, who said the wall would never be built, they were not smart people, as you see, the wall is right here, it is extremely extremely here, believe me.”
“Yes, I do see that it is, but please,” said Alice, getting rather impatient, “what is it for?”
“Those people, there were so many many of them, they said the wall was never ever ever going to be built, that’s what they said, you can check that, it’s there in the record. They were really really not smart those people. Everyone here can see that this is a great great day. That is what people are telling me. ”
“But –" started Alice.
“We are making Wonderland great again. Really really great. Dozens, hundreds of people, have said that there would be no wall. No wall at all. They said it would never never never happen. You can’t find those people any more because they are on the other side of the wall. Oh yes, there is another side of the wall. Really really other side. Can you hear them?”
Trumpty put his hand to his ear, exaggeratedly listening. Alice listened hard too for a moment but could not hear a sound, except for Trumpty talking continually. She had by now given up trying to ask Trumpty Dumpty anything at all. It was as if he did not know what a conversation was.
“It’s going to be amazing, really amazing. You will see Wonderland great again. So great.”
*
Sorry about that..... I really just wanted to flag up that this Definitive 150th Anniversary edition by Martin Gardner is exquisite and replaces all previous editions. So if you have a birthday coming up, you could ask for this! And if you get it you'll have a smile that will take a really really great long time to fade away. Believe me.
December 10, 2017
Curiouser and curiouser edition!
This is the annotated edition, collecting both novels in the Alice book series: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice found There”.
WE’RE ALL MAD HERE
Begin at the beginning…
This was technically a re-reading since I’ve already read both novels previously, the key difference here was that this is an “annotated” edition, which includes a comprehensive section, at the end of each chapter, with tons of notes revealing “behind-the-scenes” detailing moments in the life of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll), the “real” meaning of scenes, the “real” inspirations for several of the characters in both novels, historic meaning (in the Victorian England) of casual expressions that got outdated nowadays, studies in the metrics of the poems included in the novels, etc…
I don’t think…
Then you shouldn’t talk…
It was a curiouser and curiouser reading experience since this was my first “annotated edition” of any book, and I believe that if you want to engage into this sort of books, it’s advisable having read the regular version of the novel first, since reading all those annotations after each chapter, it’s a kinda of “braking” effect, since depending the chapter, you’ll invest almost the same time reading the explanations than the chapter itself, so you lose a great deal of the rhythm of your reading, therefore, if you haven’t read the story before, you may not enjoying as much as it was supposed to be.
It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.
Of course, almost all the information was made by scholars in the Lewis Carroll’s works, doing assumptions and best guesses, since the author was already gone when this annotated edition began to be conceived. Therefore, it’s a priceless access to get a better understanding of the novels at the era when they were published, BUT…
…sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
…you can’t fully take without a doubt the exposed explanations, since you can’t ask the author anymore to validate if their interpretations are truly accurate. So, as many things in life, it’s up to you if you wish to believe them.
I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.
And as those scholars mentioned at some momento of the annotations, that sometimes we are so obssessed to find a secret meaning behind any single quote, any single character, any single scene, etc… and while it’s evident that some quotes, characters and scenes have indeed a double significance, some of them are merely things needed to keep flowing the narrative, as simply as that, without any conspiration or secret plot,…
I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours.
…so don’t get too deep into the annotations section and simply enjoy this wonderfully mad tale about a little girl who fell down into a rabbit’s hole and she kept finding curiouser and curiouser things, even through the looking-glass.
…and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
This is the annotated edition, collecting both novels in the Alice book series: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice found There”.
WE’RE ALL MAD HERE
Begin at the beginning…
This was technically a re-reading since I’ve already read both novels previously, the key difference here was that this is an “annotated” edition, which includes a comprehensive section, at the end of each chapter, with tons of notes revealing “behind-the-scenes” detailing moments in the life of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll), the “real” meaning of scenes, the “real” inspirations for several of the characters in both novels, historic meaning (in the Victorian England) of casual expressions that got outdated nowadays, studies in the metrics of the poems included in the novels, etc…
I don’t think…
Then you shouldn’t talk…
It was a curiouser and curiouser reading experience since this was my first “annotated edition” of any book, and I believe that if you want to engage into this sort of books, it’s advisable having read the regular version of the novel first, since reading all those annotations after each chapter, it’s a kinda of “braking” effect, since depending the chapter, you’ll invest almost the same time reading the explanations than the chapter itself, so you lose a great deal of the rhythm of your reading, therefore, if you haven’t read the story before, you may not enjoying as much as it was supposed to be.
It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.
Of course, almost all the information was made by scholars in the Lewis Carroll’s works, doing assumptions and best guesses, since the author was already gone when this annotated edition began to be conceived. Therefore, it’s a priceless access to get a better understanding of the novels at the era when they were published, BUT…
…sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
…you can’t fully take without a doubt the exposed explanations, since you can’t ask the author anymore to validate if their interpretations are truly accurate. So, as many things in life, it’s up to you if you wish to believe them.
I can’t go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.
And as those scholars mentioned at some momento of the annotations, that sometimes we are so obssessed to find a secret meaning behind any single quote, any single character, any single scene, etc… and while it’s evident that some quotes, characters and scenes have indeed a double significance, some of them are merely things needed to keep flowing the narrative, as simply as that, without any conspiration or secret plot,…
I’m not strange, weird, off, nor crazy, my reality is just different from yours.
…so don’t get too deep into the annotations section and simply enjoy this wonderfully mad tale about a little girl who fell down into a rabbit’s hole and she kept finding curiouser and curiouser things, even through the looking-glass.
…and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
January 2, 2023
3 stars
If you’ve been following me on Goodreads, you know I have a tradition of reading a classic novel at the beginning of every new year. I always want to read more classics, and never do, so this is one of the few ways I can read more. I adore the Disney movie Alice in Wonderland, and have owned the book for years, but never read it.
Well… this book really was like reading a fever dream. Not much of it really made sense to me and everything changed so fluidly, as if you were in a dream. It’s easy to get sucked into the story and Carroll does have a very inventive mind. But I think this is one of those books where the legacy it created is better than the original (please don’t shoot me anyone). I love the pictures included and will always be a fan of Alice in Wonderland, but not sure I will read anything else by Lewis Caroll.
If you’ve been following me on Goodreads, you know I have a tradition of reading a classic novel at the beginning of every new year. I always want to read more classics, and never do, so this is one of the few ways I can read more. I adore the Disney movie Alice in Wonderland, and have owned the book for years, but never read it.
Well… this book really was like reading a fever dream. Not much of it really made sense to me and everything changed so fluidly, as if you were in a dream. It’s easy to get sucked into the story and Carroll does have a very inventive mind. But I think this is one of those books where the legacy it created is better than the original (please don’t shoot me anyone). I love the pictures included and will always be a fan of Alice in Wonderland, but not sure I will read anything else by Lewis Caroll.
February 28, 2021
My husband put it perfectly when he called this "David Lynch for kids." 🤣 I talked about my first time reading this book in a Booktube video!
May 15, 2009
Read both as a child, and again as an adult. Loved and appreciated it then; love and appreciate it now.
A book everyone should read at least once, and one that I hope children are still reading today.
A book everyone should read at least once, and one that I hope children are still reading today.
January 29, 2022
4.5 ⭐
”What dreadful nonsense we are talking!” -
Alice concludes amidst a typically bizarre and directionless conversation with the Red and White Queens.
Wrong again, Alice! “Really you are very dull!” For it is, in actual fact the most wonderful kind of nonsense; that unpredictable, dream-like absurdity that one only finds in exceptional works of surrealist fiction.
It seems both ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (1865) and ‘Through the Looking Glass’ (1871), along with the life of Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) himself, have been turned inside-out in a manic search for a definitive hidden meaning, allegorical or otherwise, to neatly attach to the two works. The author's close association with George MacDonald (a prolific author of allegorical fiction), Carroll being a satirist himself and the fact that, you know, Alice does indulge in some questionably-sourced, mind-altering consumables and converse with a blue hookah-smoking Caterpillar who persuades her to eat magic(al) mushroom causing further hallucinations, all lead me to believe that the abundance of analysis is likely justified.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ began, however, as a children’s story written for Carroll’s eight-year-old acquaintance and photography subject, Alice Pleasance Liddell. Carroll was well known for telling stories to the children in his parish and it becomes clear as early as the first book, but particularly in ‘Through the Looking Glass’ that he truly lamented the inevitability of growing up and losing one’s innocence and imagination. In keeping with the irrational depth of analysis performed on this work, does Alice not cry so much, as she grows (up), that she nearly drowns in her own tears? In a way, these works are Carroll’s prosaic ode to the pure, unadulterated imagination of children.
”It brings a tear
Into my eyes
When I begin
To realize
I've cried so much
Since you've been gone
I guess I'll drown in my own tears”
- Ray Charles
It’s not just pure imagination though; Carroll attempts, with resounding success, to imitate a dream-like state which is of course not exclusive to children but to all of us; the one time our sub-conscious is permitted to run amuck, on night release from the prison that is the rational mind! The disorientation that Alice experiences with her surroundings, the morphing environments, shapeshifting characters, the non-linear timeline, the universal state of free-association; these are all characteristics of the unfettered dreaming mind.
”[Alice’s sister] pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.”
I think it’s an absolutely charming tale for adults and children alike, particularly those with a fondness for surrealist humour. The copy I read was the 2019 Harper Design edition with illustrations by the MinaLima graphic design studio. The illustrations are great but I read this on Kindle and have since seen images of the physical Hardcover which is obviously much more vibrant not being black and white, as well as having interactive elements, so if you do read this edition, go for the physical copy if possible! I’ll probably get a copy myself; with so much to love about the story, not least of all the quirky cast of characters, this one lends itself almost too perfectly to a daddy-daughter read!
Hasta la proxima chamos!
And, though the shadow of a sigh
May tremble through the story,
For “happy summer days” gone by,
And vanish’d summer glory--
It shall not touch with breath of bale,
The pleasance of our fairy-tale.
”What dreadful nonsense we are talking!” -
Alice concludes amidst a typically bizarre and directionless conversation with the Red and White Queens.
Wrong again, Alice! “Really you are very dull!” For it is, in actual fact the most wonderful kind of nonsense; that unpredictable, dream-like absurdity that one only finds in exceptional works of surrealist fiction.
It seems both ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (1865) and ‘Through the Looking Glass’ (1871), along with the life of Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) himself, have been turned inside-out in a manic search for a definitive hidden meaning, allegorical or otherwise, to neatly attach to the two works. The author's close association with George MacDonald (a prolific author of allegorical fiction), Carroll being a satirist himself and the fact that, you know, Alice does indulge in some questionably-sourced, mind-altering consumables and converse with a blue hookah-smoking Caterpillar who persuades her to eat magic(al) mushroom causing further hallucinations, all lead me to believe that the abundance of analysis is likely justified.
‘Alice in Wonderland’ began, however, as a children’s story written for Carroll’s eight-year-old acquaintance and photography subject, Alice Pleasance Liddell. Carroll was well known for telling stories to the children in his parish and it becomes clear as early as the first book, but particularly in ‘Through the Looking Glass’ that he truly lamented the inevitability of growing up and losing one’s innocence and imagination. In keeping with the irrational depth of analysis performed on this work, does Alice not cry so much, as she grows (up), that she nearly drowns in her own tears? In a way, these works are Carroll’s prosaic ode to the pure, unadulterated imagination of children.
”It brings a tear
Into my eyes
When I begin
To realize
I've cried so much
Since you've been gone
I guess I'll drown in my own tears”
- Ray Charles
It’s not just pure imagination though; Carroll attempts, with resounding success, to imitate a dream-like state which is of course not exclusive to children but to all of us; the one time our sub-conscious is permitted to run amuck, on night release from the prison that is the rational mind! The disorientation that Alice experiences with her surroundings, the morphing environments, shapeshifting characters, the non-linear timeline, the universal state of free-association; these are all characteristics of the unfettered dreaming mind.
”[Alice’s sister] pictured to herself how this same little sister of hers would, in the after-time, be herself a grown woman; and how she would keep, through all her riper years, the simple and loving heart of her childhood: and how she would gather about her other little children, and make their eyes bright and eager with many a strange tale, perhaps even with the dream of Wonderland of long ago: and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days.”
I think it’s an absolutely charming tale for adults and children alike, particularly those with a fondness for surrealist humour. The copy I read was the 2019 Harper Design edition with illustrations by the MinaLima graphic design studio. The illustrations are great but I read this on Kindle and have since seen images of the physical Hardcover which is obviously much more vibrant not being black and white, as well as having interactive elements, so if you do read this edition, go for the physical copy if possible! I’ll probably get a copy myself; with so much to love about the story, not least of all the quirky cast of characters, this one lends itself almost too perfectly to a daddy-daughter read!
Hasta la proxima chamos!
And, though the shadow of a sigh
May tremble through the story,
For “happy summer days” gone by,
And vanish’d summer glory--
It shall not touch with breath of bale,
The pleasance of our fairy-tale.
March 3, 2013
Even 30 years after my first reading of this book (when I actually read it aloud to my children), I continue to wonder why this book still is so popular. Perhaps I lack the youthful innocence to appreciate Lewis Carroll’s accumulation of absurdities; my bad, of course. But I couldn’t resist: I picked up the book again, but this time in the “Definitive Annotated Edition”, hoping to get some more insight.
Unfortunately, that offered no solace: the notes add little and mainly show how excessively far some go in their interpretation of certain very small details. Fortunately, a few typically Victorian expressions, now fallen into disuse, were explained.
From the introduction, I did learn for the first time about Lewis Carroll’s passion for little girls. This was quite a shock. The text explicitly states that it was “sexually innocent,” but still, it gave me a bad feeling.
During my second reading, I naturally paid closer attention to clues of a “deeper layer.” And perhaps it is a bit of a stretch, but I think I have found a few things nonetheless.
In the first place, the absurdist, nonsensical character of this ‘fairy tale’ (strictly speaking, this is the wrong term, I know): Carroll subtly exposes how wrong we are to make such a striking distinction between normal and abnormal in our view of the world around us. The essence of his story (and of storytelling in general) is the puncturing of normality, and that is a pedagogical achievement in itself.
But there seems to me to be a second, much more evident underlying layer, and that has to do with growing up. Certainly in the beginning, Alice wonders not only where she has ended up, but above all who she actually is. She undergoes strange changes (becomes smaller and larger, and then smaller again, and so on), and at a certain point she even explicitly asks the question of who she really is. These are typical questions for the young adolescent searching for their identity. It might seem strange to put those words in the mouth of a 7-year-old, because you expect these kinds of questions mainly during puberty. On the other hand, I know from my own experience (with my own children) that those questions can arise much earlier.
And if you then look at the end of the book (the first part “Alice in Wonderland”), Alice suddenly wakes up—not coincidentally at the moment when – in anger - she calls the King and Queen of Wonderland merely a deck of cards. That naming is typical of us adults, our tendency to label things according to the normal/abnormal criterion; in other words: just as Alice starts to go along with the “adult game,” and thus loses a piece of her childlike innocence, she awakens. If that isn't a clear message from Carroll, then I don't know what is.
Perhaps I’m wrong, and we should just take this strange tale at face-value. In the meantime, I wonder what my grandchildren would think about it. As the eldest nears 5, I still have a couple of years in limbo.
Unfortunately, that offered no solace: the notes add little and mainly show how excessively far some go in their interpretation of certain very small details. Fortunately, a few typically Victorian expressions, now fallen into disuse, were explained.
From the introduction, I did learn for the first time about Lewis Carroll’s passion for little girls. This was quite a shock. The text explicitly states that it was “sexually innocent,” but still, it gave me a bad feeling.
During my second reading, I naturally paid closer attention to clues of a “deeper layer.” And perhaps it is a bit of a stretch, but I think I have found a few things nonetheless.
In the first place, the absurdist, nonsensical character of this ‘fairy tale’ (strictly speaking, this is the wrong term, I know): Carroll subtly exposes how wrong we are to make such a striking distinction between normal and abnormal in our view of the world around us. The essence of his story (and of storytelling in general) is the puncturing of normality, and that is a pedagogical achievement in itself.
But there seems to me to be a second, much more evident underlying layer, and that has to do with growing up. Certainly in the beginning, Alice wonders not only where she has ended up, but above all who she actually is. She undergoes strange changes (becomes smaller and larger, and then smaller again, and so on), and at a certain point she even explicitly asks the question of who she really is. These are typical questions for the young adolescent searching for their identity. It might seem strange to put those words in the mouth of a 7-year-old, because you expect these kinds of questions mainly during puberty. On the other hand, I know from my own experience (with my own children) that those questions can arise much earlier.
And if you then look at the end of the book (the first part “Alice in Wonderland”), Alice suddenly wakes up—not coincidentally at the moment when – in anger - she calls the King and Queen of Wonderland merely a deck of cards. That naming is typical of us adults, our tendency to label things according to the normal/abnormal criterion; in other words: just as Alice starts to go along with the “adult game,” and thus loses a piece of her childlike innocence, she awakens. If that isn't a clear message from Carroll, then I don't know what is.
Perhaps I’m wrong, and we should just take this strange tale at face-value. In the meantime, I wonder what my grandchildren would think about it. As the eldest nears 5, I still have a couple of years in limbo.
April 2, 2024
❝ so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately that alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible. ❞
₊˚❀.ೃ࿔*:･
this is a very strange and whimsical collection of a little girl’s almost disjointed interactions with a bunch of mentally ill people and creatures. There’s a certain charm in the weird dialogue and scenery that any author would fail miserably at trying to imitate today. I had a wonderful time reading it, and I’ll always love wonderland and the magic it holds and nostalgia it brings me!
₊˚❀.ೃ࿔*:･
this is a very strange and whimsical collection of a little girl’s almost disjointed interactions with a bunch of mentally ill people and creatures. There’s a certain charm in the weird dialogue and scenery that any author would fail miserably at trying to imitate today. I had a wonderful time reading it, and I’ll always love wonderland and the magic it holds and nostalgia it brings me!
August 17, 2020
I really did make several attempts at reading these stories, but unfortunately couldn't get past the dialogue of Alice. I understand that this was the intention, and I'm sure most would disagree with me, but it was very 'rapid-fire,' scattered and downright anxiety-producing at times. I never thought I could have that experience while reading, prior to this experience. While the book was intriguing, I just couldn't stick with it, which was a shame, as I really wanted to finish the story.
January 15, 2026
Wonder is the first emotion. Wonder at the world. We wonder at the faces around us. We wonder at the sounds they make.
As we grow, we wonder at our increasing size. We wonder the next day when we are made to feel small.
Tears make us wonder. How many more will come? Will they ever stop? Will I go down with them and not come up?
Words are a wonder, wonderful as bees. When they sting we are hurt. When they give honey we call it love.
Wonder is everywhere that there is life. The message of this book is simple. Look up.
As we grow, we wonder at our increasing size. We wonder the next day when we are made to feel small.
Tears make us wonder. How many more will come? Will they ever stop? Will I go down with them and not come up?
Words are a wonder, wonderful as bees. When they sting we are hurt. When they give honey we call it love.
Wonder is everywhere that there is life. The message of this book is simple. Look up.
December 1, 2022
Alice suddenly falls into a hole and sees an empty corridor, where she is, she does not know. Often she does not know if she is herself or maybe someone else? In her dreams, Alice encounters many strange kings and queens, talking animals, a hatter, playing cards, a chessboard and many other strange creatures. It is a fable wrapped in a fairy tale. The book includes many beautiful drawings and makes the story more vivid. It is quite confusing at times, but that is what makes the story this adventure.
March 4, 2019
إذا كنت قد شاهدت الفيلم الأجنبي سواء الجزء الأول أو الثاني، فأنصحك أن تنساااااه تماما
تقريبا تلاث أرباعه لا علاقة له بالرواية الأصلية إطلاقا
!!
فأليس فتاة صغيرة في السابعة من عمرها تقريبا .. وليست آنسة جميلة علي وشك الزواج
ولا تعمل كقبطان بحري .. ولا علاقة لها إطلاقا بشركة الملاحة التجارية، ولا نعرف شيئا عن والدها ووالدتها .. واختها آنسة صغيرة
الملكة البيضاء ليست جميلة أو رقيقة إطلاقا .. بل علي العكس تماما .. والملكة الحمراء لا تقطع رأس أحد .. رغم أنها تقول هذا كثيرا، والملكة البيضاء رأسها كبيرة ايضا
صانع القبعات دوره محدود جدا في الرواية، لا يتجاوز فكرة الحديث عن الزمن في بضع سطور جميلة، ولا يفقد عائلته، ولا يرقص الرقصة الغريبة
أليس لن تقتل التنين، لأن أصلا لا يوجد تنين ! ولا كلب عملاق سيجرح يدها
ولن تسافر بالزمن إطلاقا، ولا توجد نبوءة معينة تتعلق بها
والدودة الحكيمة ليس لها اسم محدد، ولن ترافقها في رحلاتها، ولن تدعوها لأن تعبر عبر المرآة، والملكة الحمراء ليست شريرة إلي هذه الدرجة، ولها زوج طيب، وليس حارس شرير
!!
حين بدأت قراءة هذه الرواية، كنت أبحث عن قراءة هادئة، بسيطة، فلسفية ، بعيدا عن العصف الذهني الشديد، ولكني لم أتوقع إطلاقا أن أجد هذا الكم الجميل من الأفكار الفلسفية العميقة
هذه الرواية ليست للأطفال .. ليست للتسلية ، بل للتفكير العميق، والاستدلال علي كثير كثير من الأفكار الفلسفية التي تصلح لكثير من الموضوعات
يا طفلة كل شيء فيه حكمة خاصة به فقط عليك ان تجديها"
- الدوقة
يمكنني أن أخبرك بمغامراتي… بدءا من هذا الصباح، لأنه لا فائدة من العودة للأمس، لأنني كنت وقتها شخصا آخر
إذا ربح الجميع، من سيمنح الجوائز ؟؟
إذا كنت لا تهتمين إلي أين تذهبين، فكل الطرق سيان
تساءلت كثيرا بيني وبين نفسي، لماذا لم اقرأها من قبل ؟ لماذا اعتقدت أنها رواية بسيطة، لن تأخذ وقتا طويلا في القراءة أو التفكير؟ ربما لأنني رأيت فيلم الكرتون من قبل، ولكني حقا لم أنتبه لما فيه من عبارات فلسفية كثيرة
والأمر لا يتعلق فقط بالعبارات الفلسفية، بل الرمزية العالية في الرواية، التي تجعل لكل حيوان، او نبات، أو إنسان معنيً خاصا، سرياليا، ربما يأتي في ذهنك بصورة معينة، ويأتي بصورة آخري تماما في ذهن غيرك
كل شئ يحتمل التأويل .. كل صورة .. كل عبارة .. خاصة الحديث عن الزمن .. وفكرة أن العالم كله عبارة عن لوحة شطرنج عملاقة
هل تتخيل هذا ؟؟
أجمل مافي الرواية، إنك مندهش مثل أليس تماما، تتعجب مثلها من كثرة الحوار والجدال وتقلب الأحداث فجأة، فما تتعجب هي منه، تتعجب منه أنت ايضا، وما يبدو صعب الفهم عليها، يحيرك أنت أيضا، وما تحاول هي أن تفهمه، تحاول أن تدركه أنت أيضا .. هي صغيرة، وأنت صراحة لست كبيرا في بلاد العجائب
!!
لويس كارول
أنت أسطورة حقا
.....
آآاه تذكرت شيئا الآن أحببت أن أضيفه، في الجزء الأول من الفيلم الأجنبي، هناك مشهد لصانع القبعات وهو يتذكر أليس وهي صغيرة، حين جاءت لبلاد العجائب لأول مرة وهي في سن سبع سنوات، ثم حدثت اجزاء الفيلم في الجزء الاول، وكأنها تكمل مغامرتها في بلاد العجائب وهي في سن كبيرة
ولكن هذا لا يمنع ان الجزء الثاني من الفيلم ، آليس عبر المرآة، لا علاقة له بالجزء الثاني من الرواية إطلاقا
!!
تقريبا تلاث أرباعه لا علاقة له بالرواية الأصلية إطلاقا
!!
فأليس فتاة صغيرة في السابعة من عمرها تقريبا .. وليست آنسة جميلة علي وشك الزواج
ولا تعمل كقبطان بحري .. ولا علاقة لها إطلاقا بشركة الملاحة التجارية، ولا نعرف شيئا عن والدها ووالدتها .. واختها آنسة صغيرة
الملكة البيضاء ليست جميلة أو رقيقة إطلاقا .. بل علي العكس تماما .. والملكة الحمراء لا تقطع رأس أحد .. رغم أنها تقول هذا كثيرا، والملكة البيضاء رأسها كبيرة ايضا
صانع القبعات دوره محدود جدا في الرواية، لا يتجاوز فكرة الحديث عن الزمن في بضع سطور جميلة، ولا يفقد عائلته، ولا يرقص الرقصة الغريبة
أليس لن تقتل التنين، لأن أصلا لا يوجد تنين ! ولا كلب عملاق سيجرح يدها
ولن تسافر بالزمن إطلاقا، ولا توجد نبوءة معينة تتعلق بها
والدودة الحكيمة ليس لها اسم محدد، ولن ترافقها في رحلاتها، ولن تدعوها لأن تعبر عبر المرآة، والملكة الحمراء ليست شريرة إلي هذه الدرجة، ولها زوج طيب، وليس حارس شرير
!!
حين بدأت قراءة هذه الرواية، كنت أبحث عن قراءة هادئة، بسيطة، فلسفية ، بعيدا عن العصف الذهني الشديد، ولكني لم أتوقع إطلاقا أن أجد هذا الكم الجميل من الأفكار الفلسفية العميقة
هذه الرواية ليست للأطفال .. ليست للتسلية ، بل للتفكير العميق، والاستدلال علي كثير كثير من الأفكار الفلسفية التي تصلح لكثير من الموضوعات
يا طفلة كل شيء فيه حكمة خاصة به فقط عليك ان تجديها"
- الدوقة
يمكنني أن أخبرك بمغامراتي… بدءا من هذا الصباح، لأنه لا فائدة من العودة للأمس، لأنني كنت وقتها شخصا آخر
إذا ربح الجميع، من سيمنح الجوائز ؟؟
إذا كنت لا تهتمين إلي أين تذهبين، فكل الطرق سيان
تساءلت كثيرا بيني وبين نفسي، لماذا لم اقرأها من قبل ؟ لماذا اعتقدت أنها رواية بسيطة، لن تأخذ وقتا طويلا في القراءة أو التفكير؟ ربما لأنني رأيت فيلم الكرتون من قبل، ولكني حقا لم أنتبه لما فيه من عبارات فلسفية كثيرة
والأمر لا يتعلق فقط بالعبارات الفلسفية، بل الرمزية العالية في الرواية، التي تجعل لكل حيوان، او نبات، أو إنسان معنيً خاصا، سرياليا، ربما يأتي في ذهنك بصورة معينة، ويأتي بصورة آخري تماما في ذهن غيرك
كل شئ يحتمل التأويل .. كل صورة .. كل عبارة .. خاصة الحديث عن الزمن .. وفكرة أن العالم كله عبارة عن لوحة شطرنج عملاقة
هل تتخيل هذا ؟؟
أجمل مافي الرواية، إنك مندهش مثل أليس تماما، تتعجب مثلها من كثرة الحوار والجدال وتقلب الأحداث فجأة، فما تتعجب هي منه، تتعجب منه أنت ايضا، وما يبدو صعب الفهم عليها، يحيرك أنت أيضا، وما تحاول هي أن تفهمه، تحاول أن تدركه أنت أيضا .. هي صغيرة، وأنت صراحة لست كبيرا في بلاد العجائب
!!
لويس كارول
أنت أسطورة حقا
.....
آآاه تذكرت شيئا الآن أحببت أن أضيفه، في الجزء الأول من الفيلم الأجنبي، هناك مشهد لصانع القبعات وهو يتذكر أليس وهي صغيرة، حين جاءت لبلاد العجائب لأول مرة وهي في سن سبع سنوات، ثم حدثت اجزاء الفيلم في الجزء الاول، وكأنها تكمل مغامرتها في بلاد العجائب وهي في سن كبيرة
ولكن هذا لا يمنع ان الجزء الثاني من الفيلم ، آليس عبر المرآة، لا علاقة له بالجزء الثاني من الرواية إطلاقا
!!
December 27, 2017
And causing unpleasant dreams for young children for over 150 years now.
![Profile Image for [ J o ].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1673171874i/4639825._UY200_CR4,0,200,200_.jpg)
July 23, 2014
“But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here.”
150 years ago, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson welcomed a new Dean to Christ Church College, Oxford, along with his family, including the three daughters, Lorina, Edith and Alice. Charles had been writing prose and poetry since a very young age, but it was young Alice Liddell who encouraged him to write down the stories he had made up for her and her sisters, thus Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published and has since been a stalwart in children's reading treasuries.
Charles, or more famously known by his alias Lewis Carroll, was an extraordinary man, graduating from Oxford with a first in Mathematics and going on to study and teach at Oxford, where he remained until his death in 1898. Not only did he write, but he was an early pioneer of photography and also painted. He predominantly wrote short stories and poems, but Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a longer version of his unique writing style, and was published in 1865 to great acclaim. He became famous almost over night and wrote the sequel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, though this particular story seemed much darker than the much-loved Wonderland, most probably caused by the depression he felt after the death of his father in 1871. Sylvie and Bruno, a tale of fairy siblings is a lesser known story from Carroll in 1895 and did not fair as well as Alice ever did though it remains in print as a testimony to the wonderful writer Lewis Carroll was.
Lewis Carroll's writing is often described as surreal and nonsensical, a lot of his words are made up, but are used in today's language-think specifically of the poem Jabberwocky-and he has had almost as much impact on the way we use language as Shakespeare ever did. The word 'chortle' is used today as commonly as if it truly were a real word for laughing:
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
[...]
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.
In my most recent re-read of Alice, I decided I would read aloud the poetry within the book. There is a lot more poetry in it than I originally remembered, all of which is told to Alice by the various characters she meets. The made-up Carrollian words sound both strange and familiar on the tongue and one can find a genuine lilting rhythm to the entire book when experienced out loud with sound.
Beneath the surface, the story can be seen as quite dark, particularly the latter story Through the Looking-Glass. Whilst both retain the whimsical, surreal nature of another world, Looking-Glass has more of a sinister overtone, with more things going wrong for Alice and many more characters being unkind to one another. It also showed another side to Alice herself, as she had grown out of the rabbit hole and crying her way out of situations and instead wished more than anything to be a Queen. Her previous adventure with the Queen must have sparked this desire, though Alice had shown nothing but disdain for the Queen of Wonderland who wanted to chop everyone's head off at any given moment.
I found myself enjoying the latter book to the former: I cannot place my finger on the reason why, however. If nothing else, it is probably the more grown-up version of Alice I prefer, though in reality she is still just a child. Her experiences in her first Wonderland adventure seemed to have impacted her fervently, as she navigated the Looking-Glass Wonderland exceedingly well, often outsmarting those who were native to it.
The two books-often just collated in to one large one known as Alice in Wonderland-are actually all I've ever read of Lewis Carroll's works, though I am intrigued by his other works, particularly his poetry. The surreal, nonsense nature of the poetry in Alice is unique to Carroll and I'd be curious to see if it carries over in to his other works. Have you ever read his other works?
There is some controversy surrounded Lewis Carroll, mostly brought up in biographies of him, particularly regarding his friendliness with young girls such as the Liddell children, but I shan't be commenting on that here. Instead we shall concentrate on the great piece of literature he left behind, which he wrote whilst he was both disappointed and unhappy with his job of teaching at Oxford (despite remaining there until his death) and saddened by the loss of his mother early on in his life and by his father after Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published. It is too much to wonder whether the reputation of such an absorbing, wonderful book would be tarnished if his biographers ever learnt the exact truth of his nature and the absurdities of accusations are most likely driven by the era they find themselves in.
There are many events taking place in 2015 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of this wonderful, wondrous, wandering book all over the globe. Royal Mail are producing celebratory collection stamps in honour of the landmark and who can forget the wonderful (if rather libertarian) Disney film? The best thing you can do is to read and re-read this book an enjoy it for what it is: a beautifully written, surreal and nonsense book that has captivated the imaginations of children and adults alike.
[On the night I re-read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the moon decided to show me his best Cheshire Cat smile in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the book.]
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"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here.”
150 years ago, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson welcomed a new Dean to Christ Church College, Oxford, along with his family, including the three daughters, Lorina, Edith and Alice. Charles had been writing prose and poetry since a very young age, but it was young Alice Liddell who encouraged him to write down the stories he had made up for her and her sisters, thus Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published and has since been a stalwart in children's reading treasuries.
Charles, or more famously known by his alias Lewis Carroll, was an extraordinary man, graduating from Oxford with a first in Mathematics and going on to study and teach at Oxford, where he remained until his death in 1898. Not only did he write, but he was an early pioneer of photography and also painted. He predominantly wrote short stories and poems, but Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a longer version of his unique writing style, and was published in 1865 to great acclaim. He became famous almost over night and wrote the sequel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, though this particular story seemed much darker than the much-loved Wonderland, most probably caused by the depression he felt after the death of his father in 1871. Sylvie and Bruno, a tale of fairy siblings is a lesser known story from Carroll in 1895 and did not fair as well as Alice ever did though it remains in print as a testimony to the wonderful writer Lewis Carroll was.
Lewis Carroll's writing is often described as surreal and nonsensical, a lot of his words are made up, but are used in today's language-think specifically of the poem Jabberwocky-and he has had almost as much impact on the way we use language as Shakespeare ever did. The word 'chortle' is used today as commonly as if it truly were a real word for laughing:
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
[...]
"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.
In my most recent re-read of Alice, I decided I would read aloud the poetry within the book. There is a lot more poetry in it than I originally remembered, all of which is told to Alice by the various characters she meets. The made-up Carrollian words sound both strange and familiar on the tongue and one can find a genuine lilting rhythm to the entire book when experienced out loud with sound.
Beneath the surface, the story can be seen as quite dark, particularly the latter story Through the Looking-Glass. Whilst both retain the whimsical, surreal nature of another world, Looking-Glass has more of a sinister overtone, with more things going wrong for Alice and many more characters being unkind to one another. It also showed another side to Alice herself, as she had grown out of the rabbit hole and crying her way out of situations and instead wished more than anything to be a Queen. Her previous adventure with the Queen must have sparked this desire, though Alice had shown nothing but disdain for the Queen of Wonderland who wanted to chop everyone's head off at any given moment.
I found myself enjoying the latter book to the former: I cannot place my finger on the reason why, however. If nothing else, it is probably the more grown-up version of Alice I prefer, though in reality she is still just a child. Her experiences in her first Wonderland adventure seemed to have impacted her fervently, as she navigated the Looking-Glass Wonderland exceedingly well, often outsmarting those who were native to it.
The two books-often just collated in to one large one known as Alice in Wonderland-are actually all I've ever read of Lewis Carroll's works, though I am intrigued by his other works, particularly his poetry. The surreal, nonsense nature of the poetry in Alice is unique to Carroll and I'd be curious to see if it carries over in to his other works. Have you ever read his other works?
There is some controversy surrounded Lewis Carroll, mostly brought up in biographies of him, particularly regarding his friendliness with young girls such as the Liddell children, but I shan't be commenting on that here. Instead we shall concentrate on the great piece of literature he left behind, which he wrote whilst he was both disappointed and unhappy with his job of teaching at Oxford (despite remaining there until his death) and saddened by the loss of his mother early on in his life and by his father after Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was published. It is too much to wonder whether the reputation of such an absorbing, wonderful book would be tarnished if his biographers ever learnt the exact truth of his nature and the absurdities of accusations are most likely driven by the era they find themselves in.
There are many events taking place in 2015 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of this wonderful, wondrous, wandering book all over the globe. Royal Mail are producing celebratory collection stamps in honour of the landmark and who can forget the wonderful (if rather libertarian) Disney film? The best thing you can do is to read and re-read this book an enjoy it for what it is: a beautifully written, surreal and nonsense book that has captivated the imaginations of children and adults alike.
[On the night I re-read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the moon decided to show me his best Cheshire Cat smile in celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the book.]
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January 26, 2018
I was noticing a new friend’s book shelf and how he likes children’s books just as I do. He had read Alice in Wonderland. I had read it as a child. I ask myself: Did I really like that book back then? Was it just given to me and that was all I had to read? Did my mother pick my books? And why were they always a certain kind of book, like Cinderella and The Wizard of Oz? Why were they not Robinson and Crusoe and Treasure Island?
I can’t imagine liking these books now. I don’t like fantasy except say for Tolkien, but that may be unfair since I have not really tried any outside of Mockingjay, which I hated, but I read it because I was in a book group, not that I read everything they threw at me, which means I hated most.
As to Alice, who cares about a girl who takes pills, and how one pill made her larger and one pill made her small? The song was good, White Rabbit. Love Minus Zero was a far better song. Maybe this book would have been better if written by a hippie.
Speaking of which, I was never in to taking drugs in the 60s or 70s. So. as for Alice in Wonderland, I never wanted to read it again or even analyze it to even know why the hippies loved the book, or even if they did. Still, I liked the hippies, those back to the landers, that is, those who didn't sit around stoned all day.
And back to my youth: I read everything. I read labels, cereal boxes, bill boards, and I loved those Burma Shave signs along the highways, where one sign said: Shave the modern way, and one sign said: No brush. The next sign said, No lather / No rub-in / Big tube 35 cents - Drug stores / Burma-Shave. I say, Who can beat that?
When I grew older I always tried to see what a stranger was reading, the book in their hands. Sometimes I would ask. When I was in college I began collecting children’s books because I hadn’t read them as a child. Wind in the Willow was one I bought, but I never read it. I wondered why my mother didn’t take me to the library earlier in my life and stock me up on children’s books. I grew up with deprivation of environment, I thought. Maybe it was because she had just gone through a divorce when I was 8 years old and had to work, get her life back together. I only remember that as a teenager, we went together to the library sometmes. We read Bridey Murphy and Lost Books of the Bible and wondered if reincarnation was real, and why wasn’t Jesus’ childhood in the Bible and where did Cain get his wife.
And then in my early teens, I found the section of books about mountain people. I have no idea what attracted me to this genre. I do know that there was a wonderful librarian, a woman, who, when I came up to the desk and asked for more books on the mountain people would lead me to them. And now I know, a lightbulb just went off in my head. It was her that introduced me to my first book about mountain people. It was The Shepherd of the Hills, and then she took me to The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, or it was the other way around. Then came Gene Stratton-Porter, and next it was the Bald Knobbers, and all by myself I found Tobacco Road, which my mother took away, telling me that it was a dirty book. Next, I was reading one about the area where I lived, The Salinas: Upside Down River, and years later a friend gave it to me without realizing that I had read it. I got into the Nancy Drew and the Dana Sisters next, liking the latter series better. I loved westerns and read most on their shelves. I read about the outlaws and how Jesse James came to Paso Robles where I lived. I read one that I could never find again: The main character was a sheriff or a marshal, and his name was Jack Slader. I still wish that I could find it. Next, I was into the non-fiction books, veterinarian medicine, how to increase your memory and who knows what all. I wanted to know everything. I just didn't want to know about Alice or Cinderella or even Peter Pan anymore.
This reminds me of a older man who used to come into the library who talked with me. It probably wasn’t often, but I knew him just because he was around. He told me that he wanted to learn every word in the dictionary and then go on The Millionaire and get rich. I thought how good it would be to increase my own vocabulary, but it was always so boring, so I never got past Aardvark and used to call my brother one. If only the other words were just as interesting.
Then I met the man who cleaned up the park where the library was located. He showed me the pond with the mosquito fish that was hidden in the trees and gave me some for my aquarium. He showed me pine nuts and said that they were good to eat. He even showed me how I could find them in pine cones, that is, if the squirrels hadn’t gathered them first. And last of all he showed me how all the trees in the park had name tags in English and in Latin.
So, yes, my mother had to work to support us kids, and I heard a lot of “Go out and play,” by my older sister who quit high school to take care of us, and that I did. That part was wonderful because I could go anywhere in town, to the library, down to the river with my dog or into the hills where I would sometimes come home with poison oak. I remember how I explored every shop in town, every corner, every street, even the alleys where people had wonderful gardens. One day my friend Mary and I went into the Mercantile to try on men’s hats. We told the clerk that we wanted to buy our dads a hat, and the clerk didn’t even care, although we knew that he didn’t believe us. Exploring was fun.
But as for this book, I would never think to read it again even though I have long missed watching Disney World on our TV on Sundays nights. What do I watch instead, The Walking Dead. My how times have changed.
I can’t imagine liking these books now. I don’t like fantasy except say for Tolkien, but that may be unfair since I have not really tried any outside of Mockingjay, which I hated, but I read it because I was in a book group, not that I read everything they threw at me, which means I hated most.
As to Alice, who cares about a girl who takes pills, and how one pill made her larger and one pill made her small? The song was good, White Rabbit. Love Minus Zero was a far better song. Maybe this book would have been better if written by a hippie.
Speaking of which, I was never in to taking drugs in the 60s or 70s. So. as for Alice in Wonderland, I never wanted to read it again or even analyze it to even know why the hippies loved the book, or even if they did. Still, I liked the hippies, those back to the landers, that is, those who didn't sit around stoned all day.
And back to my youth: I read everything. I read labels, cereal boxes, bill boards, and I loved those Burma Shave signs along the highways, where one sign said: Shave the modern way, and one sign said: No brush. The next sign said, No lather / No rub-in / Big tube 35 cents - Drug stores / Burma-Shave. I say, Who can beat that?
When I grew older I always tried to see what a stranger was reading, the book in their hands. Sometimes I would ask. When I was in college I began collecting children’s books because I hadn’t read them as a child. Wind in the Willow was one I bought, but I never read it. I wondered why my mother didn’t take me to the library earlier in my life and stock me up on children’s books. I grew up with deprivation of environment, I thought. Maybe it was because she had just gone through a divorce when I was 8 years old and had to work, get her life back together. I only remember that as a teenager, we went together to the library sometmes. We read Bridey Murphy and Lost Books of the Bible and wondered if reincarnation was real, and why wasn’t Jesus’ childhood in the Bible and where did Cain get his wife.
And then in my early teens, I found the section of books about mountain people. I have no idea what attracted me to this genre. I do know that there was a wonderful librarian, a woman, who, when I came up to the desk and asked for more books on the mountain people would lead me to them. And now I know, a lightbulb just went off in my head. It was her that introduced me to my first book about mountain people. It was The Shepherd of the Hills, and then she took me to The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, or it was the other way around. Then came Gene Stratton-Porter, and next it was the Bald Knobbers, and all by myself I found Tobacco Road, which my mother took away, telling me that it was a dirty book. Next, I was reading one about the area where I lived, The Salinas: Upside Down River, and years later a friend gave it to me without realizing that I had read it. I got into the Nancy Drew and the Dana Sisters next, liking the latter series better. I loved westerns and read most on their shelves. I read about the outlaws and how Jesse James came to Paso Robles where I lived. I read one that I could never find again: The main character was a sheriff or a marshal, and his name was Jack Slader. I still wish that I could find it. Next, I was into the non-fiction books, veterinarian medicine, how to increase your memory and who knows what all. I wanted to know everything. I just didn't want to know about Alice or Cinderella or even Peter Pan anymore.
This reminds me of a older man who used to come into the library who talked with me. It probably wasn’t often, but I knew him just because he was around. He told me that he wanted to learn every word in the dictionary and then go on The Millionaire and get rich. I thought how good it would be to increase my own vocabulary, but it was always so boring, so I never got past Aardvark and used to call my brother one. If only the other words were just as interesting.
Then I met the man who cleaned up the park where the library was located. He showed me the pond with the mosquito fish that was hidden in the trees and gave me some for my aquarium. He showed me pine nuts and said that they were good to eat. He even showed me how I could find them in pine cones, that is, if the squirrels hadn’t gathered them first. And last of all he showed me how all the trees in the park had name tags in English and in Latin.
So, yes, my mother had to work to support us kids, and I heard a lot of “Go out and play,” by my older sister who quit high school to take care of us, and that I did. That part was wonderful because I could go anywhere in town, to the library, down to the river with my dog or into the hills where I would sometimes come home with poison oak. I remember how I explored every shop in town, every corner, every street, even the alleys where people had wonderful gardens. One day my friend Mary and I went into the Mercantile to try on men’s hats. We told the clerk that we wanted to buy our dads a hat, and the clerk didn’t even care, although we knew that he didn’t believe us. Exploring was fun.
But as for this book, I would never think to read it again even though I have long missed watching Disney World on our TV on Sundays nights. What do I watch instead, The Walking Dead. My how times have changed.
June 8, 2011
People love this. Not me. Does that mean I'm not people?
Usually I like scatterbrained, nonsensical stuff and that's probably my problem: I don't get the references. At least some of the wild and crazy antics seem to happen to prove a point about the ridiculousness of some or other quirky British convention. So maybe all the wacky shit that goes down in Alice in Wonderland has a deeply satirical basis? I must give Carroll his due, the satire that I did get I enjoyed. However, for me much of this fell flat and even occasionally annoyed me. Just the same, I will take this issue upon myself and promise to eradicate my lack of knowledge in the realm of archaic 19th century British mannerisms. Haha! Like hell I will!
Still and all, three stars is not hating a book and I don't hate Alice in Wonderland. There are many delightful characters and scenes. I'm glad I finally read it and am now able to separate the original from Disney's bastardized version.
Usually I like scatterbrained, nonsensical stuff and that's probably my problem: I don't get the references. At least some of the wild and crazy antics seem to happen to prove a point about the ridiculousness of some or other quirky British convention. So maybe all the wacky shit that goes down in Alice in Wonderland has a deeply satirical basis? I must give Carroll his due, the satire that I did get I enjoyed. However, for me much of this fell flat and even occasionally annoyed me. Just the same, I will take this issue upon myself and promise to eradicate my lack of knowledge in the realm of archaic 19th century British mannerisms. Haha! Like hell I will!
Still and all, three stars is not hating a book and I don't hate Alice in Wonderland. There are many delightful characters and scenes. I'm glad I finally read it and am now able to separate the original from Disney's bastardized version.
May 18, 2022
Between its many animated and live action movie adaptations over the years, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland turned into this weird psychedelic drug-induced hallucination, rather than the original irony-filled charming children's story in my mind.
So it was high-time for a reread.
I wouldn't call myself a particularly perceptive person, having focused more on the many absurd adventures rather than the irony, as a child. So the constant barrage of "a-HA" moments that I now found myself experiencing, came as very welcome surprise. I love a book that ages well, especially when it reads like a completely different story at varying times in life.
The contrast between Alice's educated demeanor, and its (lack of) use in real life situation was fun to follow. Alice's fumbling attempts at making use of the French lessons, while unintentionally insulting the mouse, hit quite close to home.
Nevertheless, I have mixed feelings about the protagonist's curiosity/bravery, which would often come across as rather thoughtless and/or selfish. Take for instance that Mad Hatter's tea party, which she joins uninvited, only to then feel offended by the participants' (lack of) manners and amenities.
Alice's Adventures Through The Looking Glass features a much more intriguing premise, but is also much more boring to get through. Admittedly, I know precisely nothing about chess, so the many clever game references would've gone right over my head without the footnotes. The overall effect seemed much closer to an ambitious endeavour, than a story with a natural flow.
If the prequel gave us a story featuring several comedic episodes, this one seemed a series of funny banters, that so happened to have a story linking them together. It was still good, but the overall narration didn't flow quite as naturally as before.
Score: 3.5/5 stars
4 rounded-up stars for nostalgia and writing style
I would advise skipping the footnotes; while the poem references were useful, the emphasis put on the inspiration behind one or more of the events got tiring after a while. Like in the episode from Alice's Adventures Through The Looking Glass where Alice forgets her name, and only remembers it's something with "L". The footnotes insist this is a reference to "Liddel", while I found it more likely to be a pun on how "Al" from "Alice" has the same pronunciation as the letter "L".
... plus the creepy revelation, that Charles Dodgson used to intentionally "cultivate friendships" with young girls, rather put me off any subsequent rereads. I probably shouldn't have googled documentaries on the subject.
So it was high-time for a reread.
I wouldn't call myself a particularly perceptive person, having focused more on the many absurd adventures rather than the irony, as a child. So the constant barrage of "a-HA" moments that I now found myself experiencing, came as very welcome surprise. I love a book that ages well, especially when it reads like a completely different story at varying times in life.
The contrast between Alice's educated demeanor, and its (lack of) use in real life situation was fun to follow. Alice's fumbling attempts at making use of the French lessons, while unintentionally insulting the mouse, hit quite close to home.
Nevertheless, I have mixed feelings about the protagonist's curiosity/bravery, which would often come across as rather thoughtless and/or selfish. Take for instance that Mad Hatter's tea party, which she joins uninvited, only to then feel offended by the participants' (lack of) manners and amenities.
Alice's Adventures Through The Looking Glass features a much more intriguing premise, but is also much more boring to get through. Admittedly, I know precisely nothing about chess, so the many clever game references would've gone right over my head without the footnotes. The overall effect seemed much closer to an ambitious endeavour, than a story with a natural flow.
If the prequel gave us a story featuring several comedic episodes, this one seemed a series of funny banters, that so happened to have a story linking them together. It was still good, but the overall narration didn't flow quite as naturally as before.
Score: 3.5/5 stars
4 rounded-up stars for nostalgia and writing style
I would advise skipping the footnotes; while the poem references were useful, the emphasis put on the inspiration behind one or more of the events got tiring after a while. Like in the episode from Alice's Adventures Through The Looking Glass where Alice forgets her name, and only remembers it's something with "L". The footnotes insist this is a reference to "Liddel", while I found it more likely to be a pun on how "Al" from "Alice" has the same pronunciation as the letter "L".
... plus the creepy revelation, that Charles Dodgson used to intentionally "cultivate friendships" with young girls, rather put me off any subsequent rereads. I probably shouldn't have googled documentaries on the subject.
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