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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland #1-2)

Lewis Carroll,

Hugh Haughton (Introduction)

John Tenniel (Illustrator)

4.07 · Rating details · 434,758 ratings · 9,942 reviews

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design.

'I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole without the least idea what was to happen afterwards,' wrote Dodgson, ...more

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Hardcover, Clothbound, 357 pages

Published October 1st 2009 by Penguin Classics (first published 1871)

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May 27, 2007 J.G. Keely rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, reviewed, fantasy, uk-and-ireland

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 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. ...more

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Apr 22, 2018 emma rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, beautifully-written, historical, favorites-2018, couldn-t-wait-to-read, alice, i-love-these-characters, classics, owned, reviewed

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 ...more

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Feb 11, 2018 Henry Avila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 read 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 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 read 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 ... ...more

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Jun 25, 2014 Lisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-aloud-in-the-library, children, favorites, monster-mash-of-a-mess, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die

“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 “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." ...more

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Mar 21, 2018 Science (Fiction) Nerd Mario rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, classics

Many questions arose both around Carrolls alleged drug consumption and 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 opponents and as part of the myth how authors find inspirations.

The idea of how the mental state of a writer, or artist in general, influences her/his works is even more fascinating, because the thin line between sane imagination and creativity and Many questions arose both around Carroll´s alleged drug consumption and 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 opponents and as part of the myth how authors find inspirations.

The idea of how the mental state of a writer, or artist in general, influences her/his works is even more fascinating, because the thin line between sane imagination and creativity and madness or getting lost in a world one created her/himself is a thin and unclear one and 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. 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.

At a time when there was close to no fantasy literature available, Carroll wrote a precursor of today's bizarro fiction/fantasy/sci-fi/ crossover/horror/whatever genre that ought be novels, focussing on the hero´s journey of one main plot with the strangeness and surreality of the characters and environment as main driving engines.

I don´t know where Carroll took his ideas from and what inspired him to invent this tale, as other pioneers of Fantasy tended to use, steal and adapt old mythology, but much of the content is just so bizarre that it doesn´t correspond the typical standards of the innocent (except the violence, opportunism, sexism, racism, extremism and many other evil isms) old tales.

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 and the layers of dimensions that might lie beyond the known three and the realm of interpretations, connotations and innuendos.

Because it is highly subjective, it is very difficult to draw the line between witty, hidden critic and simple plot device 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 meaning 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, may be, differs it from other classics.

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.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... ...more

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Dec 10, 2017 Alejandro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fairy-tales, novel, magic, wonderland

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 “ ...more

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Apr 11, 2010 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, literature, 19th-century, 1001-book, classic, childrens-young-readers

868. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland #1-2), Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) is a novel by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Set some six months later than the earlier book, Alice again enters a fantastical world, this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. Through the Looking-Glass 868. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland #1-2), Lewis Carroll
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) is a novel by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Set some six months later than the earlier book, Alice again enters a fantastical world, this time by climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. Through the Looking-Glass includes such celebrated verses as "Jabberwocky" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter", and the episode involving Tweedledum and Tweedledee. The mirror which inspired Carroll remains displayed in Charlton Kings.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: ماه مارس سال 2001 میلادی
عنوان: آلیس آنسوی آینه؛ نویسنده: لوئیس کارول؛ مترجم: محمدتقی بهرامی حران؛ تهران، جامی، 1374؛ در 138 ص؛ شابک: 9786001760235؛ چاپ دوم 1389؛ موضوع: داستانهانی نوجوانان از نویسندگان انگلیسی - سده 19 م
عنوان: ماجراهای آلیس در سرزمین عجایب و سفر به درون آینه و آنچه آلیس آنجا یافت؛ نویسنده: لوئیس کارول؛ مترجم: جواد دانش آرا؛ تهران، فرهنگ نشر نو، 1395؛ در 462 ص؛ مصور؛ شابک: 9786008547044؛

آن‌ سوی آینه؛ ادامه‌ ای است بر کتاب «آلیس در سرزمین عجایب»، مرحله‌ ای که سرانجام آلیس که هویت خود را در سرزمین عجایب یافته، سعی در شکل‌ دادن آن و پیدا کردن جایگاهش در اجتماع دارد. «لوئیس کارول»، آن‌ سوی آینه را هفت سال پس از سرزمین عجایب، هنگامی که آلیس لیدل چهارده‌ ساله بود نوشت. در آنسوی آینه، آلیس با اختیار کامل قدم به «شهر آینه» می‌گذارد، تا بازهم با موجودات بیشتری آشنا شود، و تجربه بیندوزد. در این داستان، شهر آینه را قانونِ شطرنج اداره می‌کند، و آلیس که با ورود به این سرزمین، تنها یک مهره ی سرباز پیاده محسوب می‌شود، بر طبق قانون می‌تواند تا خانه ی هشتم پیش برود، و با رسیدن به آنجا، تا مقام مهره ی وزیر ارتقا پیدا کند. در بخش‌های نخستینِ داستان، وزیرِ مهره‌ های سرخ شطرنج، همچون یک معلم، راه پیروزی را برای آلیس شرح می‌دهد. ا. شربیانی ...more

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May 15, 2009 Bonnie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, reviewed-books, children-s-books, recommended

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.

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Sep 25, 2007 Paul Bryant rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

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 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. ...more

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Feb 28, 2009 Heather rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-alouds, school-books-kid-books

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 ...more

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Dec 27, 2017 Duane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2017-book-challenge, 5-star-books, fantasy, english-calssics, childrens, rated-books

And causing unpleasant dreams for young children for over 150 years now.

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Jul 23, 2014 Joey Woolfardis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bairns, masculine, sterling, illustrated, 2015, bookshelf, own, champion, seen-t-film

“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 ...more

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May 18, 2018 JV (semi-hiatus) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kids-these-days, fantasy, 2018, classics

What a bunch of codswallop! Trying to find something rational in these bizarre characters and perplexing adventures will result in one's disappointment, and indeed, you will find none of it. For if you were to put logical reasoning into the picture, you'll need heaps of Ibuprofen to pacify that throbbing headache of yours, which I did on my first day of reading Alice's adventures. By the second day, I've decided to throw out the logical and embrace lunacy for Pete's sake. It was better and made ...more

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Sep 21, 2019 Tucker added it · review of another edition

Recommended to Tucker by: emma

Shelves: pretty-cover, finished-copies-physical, owned-physical, middle-grade, fantasy, illustrated

Many thanks to HarperDesign for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

the best part are all the interactive illustrations

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Jun 08, 2011 Jason Koivu rated it liked it · review of another edition

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 ...more

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Sep 01, 2009 Fabian rated it liked it · review of another edition

Randomness GALORE...! ...& yet, ISN'T THAT the reason the Disney tale is such a part of my early formative years?

Obviously, the Disney film is a combination of both books. As Alice wakes in the first book from her wacky adventures that all but defies psychoanalysis, her sister dreams about her sister dreaming. The second volume, as Alice is brought back to "waking life" from the Looking-glass House, she realizes that one of her feline pals has dreamt HER adventure. This last revelation, of ...more

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Jan 26, 2018 Jessaka rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: children-preteen

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 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. ...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Jan-Maat added it · review of another edition

Shelves: novel, 19th-century, british-isles, childrens-ya, humour, maths

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

Once upon a time I had a very handsome edition of this in two volumes in a red slipcase, I gave it away, I have vague memories of having had a very cheap paperback edition too but rereading I found an old copy of my mother's which comes with explanatory notes drawn from The Annotated Alice. These explanations are ...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Bradley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, ya, 2018-shelf, mindfuq, worldbuilding-sf

What kind of drug-addled haze was he on? I mean, sure, the author was a respected mathematician and all... OH, WAIT! Nevermind.

The only thing that I can't quite wrap my head around is the fact he focused mostly on geometry. And he didn't live during the times of quantum theory.

Of course, if he had been dealing with the quantum nightmare, Dodgson's Alice would read more like a cat that was both alive and dead at the same time rather than that grinning ghostly monstrosity. And mercury in hats ...more

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Feb 07, 2015 Toni rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: For the "Curiouser and curiouser"

Shelves: read-in-2015

“We're all mad here.”

In a journey through these two magical little stories, you will find:
a Charming World,
a Curious little girl,
whimsical characters
and a lot of
Nonsense.

description

And that's its appeal.

Story 1- Alice's Adventures In Wonderland : 5 Stars

In short: Alice falls through a rabbit hole and lands in Wonderland. Strange shit happens.

I was suprised at how much I adored this book. I just started reading it and I couldn't stop. Even though you could say I'm way too old for it, you are never ...more

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Oct 18, 2008 M. D. Hudson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

For decades I’d figured that since I can sing along to Jefferson Airplane’s song “White Rabbit” that I didn’t have to read the book. But I decided to do so and am glad I did, although I could not ever find where the dormouse said “Feed your head.” Mostly, the dormouse just slept. This book is really, really weird, even after 145 years, bowdlerization by Disney, appropriation by the hippies, and general over-familiarization. Good book, and it contains one of my favorite poems:

Twinkle, twinkle ...more

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Nov 14, 2015 ·Karen· added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, favourites

The IT Engineer's Lad

What is it inside this internet, I asked the young lad,
The computer expert replied,
Why Ma'am, it's web servers and routers,
And connections between computers,
That cannot ever be fried.

What lies on those servers then, I asked the young lad,
The boy gazing up now replied,
Oh Ma'am, blogs and e-mail, at night porn and streams,
Zombies and splatter and car chasing dreams,
What wonders out there can be spied?

Is your work very unbearable, I asked the young lad,
Most times, Ma'am, it is, ...more

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Sep 14, 2013 Kimberley doruyter rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

one of my all time favorite books, so the re-read was a pleasure as always.
but this barnes and noble edit made it even better with the beautiful colour pics and the book looks really pretty on my shelf.

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Aug 05, 2018 Shirley Revill rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, pure-nostalgia, children, kids, fantasy

One of my favourite books and still loved by my Grandchildren today. Pure nostalgia.

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Jan 10, 2018 Lou rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, fiction, fantasy, reading-challenge-2018

One of my favourite books from my childhood and I still adore it now, fantastic!

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Sep 09, 2018 Trish rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

We're all a little mad here.

This is one of THE children's classics that almost everyone on this planet knows or has at least heard of. There are numerous adaptations for the screen (small and large) but, as usual, the book is best.

The story is that of young Alice, following White Rabbit into a rabbit hole and thus landing in Wonderland. There, she encounters the Caterpillar, Cheshire Cat, the Red Queen, Mad Hatter and a host of other characters - all full of silliness - before returning to her ...more

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Jun 09, 2008 Cecily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gormenghast-peake, childrens, humour, dystopian, classics

Tenniel is usually held up as the perfect illustrator for Alice, but, fond as I am of his drawings, I do love these rather quirkier Peake illustrations.

Some day I'll have to get around to reviewing the actual words. ;)

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Jan 22, 2015 Karlyflower *The Vampire Ninja, Luminescent Monster & Wendigo Nerd Goddess of Canada (according to The Hulk)* rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gilmore-girls-said-so, classy-to-the-core, child-at-heart, a-to-z-challenge

C, is for Carroll.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

4 Stars

Alice thought she had never seen such a curious croquet ground in her life: it was all ridges and furrows; the croquet balls were live hedgehogs, and the mallets live flamingoes, and the soldiers had to double themselves up and stand on their hands and feet to make the arches.

I have been in love with this bizzare seemingly drug-fuelled story for a very long time, and yet – somehow – had never read it...

Error corrected!

I think everyone ...more

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Jan 29, 2018 Levi Walls rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018-reading-list

This book will make you dumb.......
'cause it will leave you speechless (Do you SEE what i did there? Or are you blind too?)
I absolutely hated it
It was amazing!
No one should ever read this book
Go out and read it right away
I say
Callooh!! Callay!!
Yes, read this curiouser thing today!

On a side note, I have literally been loudly proclaiming Callooh!! Callay!! in my head all day long.
Reading this book, it all seems to be nonsense, although there are underlying themes, but I have never had such fun ...more

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Nov 04, 2019 Amber J rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-reading-challenge

“I could tell you my adventures—beginning from this morning,” said Alice a little timidly; “but it’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.

This is the two part series in one book. First Alice

This is the two part series in one book. First Alice follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole where all sorts of strange things happen that she once would have thought impossible. Then in Through the Looking-Glass she goes through the looking-glass to a backwards world where everything is backwards.

So I decided to read this book because I highly enjoy the retellings that I have read based on this story and the only reference I had was the cartoon that I watched in my childhood. And I have to say, even though it is obvious that the cartoon was inspired from this book, it is still far from this book. The first one, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, wasn't bad. Everything was strange and crazy but it moved from one scene to the next smoothly enough that I could keep up with it. The second one, Through the Looking-Glass, was so hard to keep up. The scenes changed on a dime and there seemed to be literally no sense or rules to this world other than it was backward. In both books there was really no plot, nothing that Alice was striving toward, just going from place to place and that was it. I think for a young child this book would have been better cause of so many changes it keeps a young ones attention. But this book just wasn't really for me at all.

How I choose my rating:
1* Did not finish, or hated it but forced myself to finish.
2** Didn't really like it. Didn't hate it but not sure why I finished it other then for some closure.
3*** I liked it. I had some issues with it, but as a whole it was good. I probably won't reread again ever, but there is a chance I might finish the series. (If part of one) But if not it's not a huge loss.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this again, and I will finish the series. (If part of one) I would recommend to those I know hold interest in this books content.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will definitely be rereading this and probably more than once. I will finish the series and reread it multiple times. (If part of one) I will recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!!

...more

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topics	posts	views	last activity
The Readers Revie...: Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass - Reading Schedule	7	40	Jun 11, 2019 06:06AM
Goodreads Librari...: Please correct page count for ISBN 978-0-393-24543-1	3	17	May 05, 2019 11:01AM
Goodreads Librari...: Missing edition of Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There	3	14	Jan 18, 2019 05:42AM
Pick Me a Book Po...: Episode 10	1	4	Sep 07, 2018 07:18PM

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About Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll

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The 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.

...more