Go Ask Alice
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The title
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Brigid ✩
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Feb 13, 2008 01:47PM
What does the title of this book have to do with anything? Alice is just a person mentioned in one paragraph in the book--is that who the title is referring to?
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I haven't read this book for years and years, but I always thought Alice was Alice in Wonderland. Did anyone else think that?
ok-grace slick (jefferson airplane)
go ask alice
when she's ten feet tall
go ask alice
but she's just not there
i'm butchering the lyrics but...
I thought alice was the main character
what I definitely remember is the book is about drugs
and alice in wonderland in the song and the book was doing drugs
but the drugs took her out
just like they did the character in the book
i read this in 74 or 75 when everyone was dying, Janis, Jimi, Mama Cass and housewives were hooked on valium
it was an expose on what drugs were doing at a time when we were still half innocent
you can go ask alice-she'll tell you the hard truth
but as grace said-she's just not there
go ask alice
when she's ten feet tall
go ask alice
but she's just not there
i'm butchering the lyrics but...
I thought alice was the main character
what I definitely remember is the book is about drugs
and alice in wonderland in the song and the book was doing drugs
but the drugs took her out
just like they did the character in the book
i read this in 74 or 75 when everyone was dying, Janis, Jimi, Mama Cass and housewives were hooked on valium
it was an expose on what drugs were doing at a time when we were still half innocent
you can go ask alice-she'll tell you the hard truth
but as grace said-she's just not there
Yeah I agree with the above member, I think the title refers to the song, and the fact that she talks about feeling like she lives in a wonderful world with drugs and stuff.The girl's name is never mentioned but everyone calls her Alice so whatever.
i looked on one of the inside pages and it said it was from a poem or story or something. i dont remember. my friend has it right now. but i've always wondered what Alice had to do anything, becuase Alice was in like, one sentence.
I always thought it referred to the song as well. (I also read it in the late 70's) Really, it could refer to almost any incarnation of the Alice in Wonderland character. She has always represented drugs. Even Disney's version! There's a Tom Petty video with her, (she's a cake!!!!) definitely a drug reference.
Leslie wrote: "I haven't read this book for years and years, but I always thought Alice was Alice in Wonderland. Did anyone else think that?"Hey! You quite have a point there. Like when she uses drugs she sees things like that of Alice in Wonderland scene. Hehe. But I actually thought at first the name of the girl in the book was Alice
As another "child of the 70s," I'll also agree with the others. The title of the book refers to the Grace Slick/Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit," which uses the Alice in Wonderland Story as a metaphor for drug use. It is one of my all time favorite songs. Remember what the dormouse said
Feed your head
Feed your head
Alice isn't ever in the book.
I read this back in the early 70's. I think I still have my copy. I do agree the title is Slick's reference in "white rabbit'. It was definitely an interesting read and after all these years I still remember the book.
I really don't know why people are so bothered with the fact that the title doesn't have anything to do with the book. How many books, movies and songs have titles that sometimes don't have anything to do with the content? Quite a few. It's a good book. Why should the title matter so much? Lame
It seems likely that the title references White Rabbit- Jefferson Airplane were at the forefront of 1960s San Fransisco drug culture, which is a major feature of the book.
I too love that song! I think it was both Alice in Wonderland and White Rabbit. All about the hallucinations.
Victoria wrote: "It seems likely that the title references White Rabbit- Jefferson Airplane were at the forefront of 1960s San Fransisco drug culture, which is a major feature of the book."I agree. That song was about the book (loosely) and I always assumed the title referred to the song & book. It makes sense. Why else would it be called that?
i think that Alice was like she was on drugs and she felt so free and happy that she felt like Alice in Wonderland
I've only just started reading this, but I assumed it was sort of a warning, since the book is/was arguably a scare tactic. Something like this:"You want to know about drugs? Go ask Alice," one might say as they point to the journal of a girl whose life was ruined by drugs.
But the Alice in Wonderland (or the song about it) seems most probable now that I think about it.
ahaha i thought tat too but not like legit in a funni way she kept poping up in my head
i felt so sad after reading this book last year. I mean it told u anyone around you right now could be going though this. It just scares me
it says in the book its from a song.. look up the song it helps to understand the title.
u know i never thought about the title until now. I just used to think it meant that to go ask alice, maybe about wat drugs can do to u??? IDK But maybe it does refer to the song
it does. it says it in the book like in the back or somethin i dont remember where but it does somewhere bc when you listen to the song its kinda like alice in wonderland
i havent heard da song so i wouldnt know
Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "What does the title of this book have to do with anything? Alice is just a person mentioned in one paragraph in the book--is that who the title is referring to? "its refering to alice because it is her life so its saying go ask alice for this advicee
I really don't know. I never understood what the title had to do with anything.
Kayles wrote: "I really don't know why people are so bothered with the fact that the title doesn't have anything to do with the book. How many books, movies and songs have titles that sometimes don't have anythin..."People are just curious. What difference does it make to you if they are? Why does their curiousness make the question lame? They never argued it wasn't a good book.
It's referring to the Jefferson Airplane song "White Rabbit" that is talking about drugs. It relates very well to the time this diary comes from... as well as her experiences with drugs.
well anyways it was a good book and i think that's all that it matters. Doesn't it? I mean the author chooses the title of their book for a reason... so why should we bother figuring it out
Actually, the book came first. The song was based off the book. Grace (lead singer at the time of Jefferson Starship) read the book and they wrote the song. Alice was the protagonist in the book. The reference to 'Alice' was in deference to Lewis Carroll quotes that 'Alice in Wonderland' was based off one of his acid trips; and that the entire book was one great big acid trip.
Finally, someone who knows!
Lewis Carroll never took LSD, it wasn't around at the time. In fact the first acid tests were conducted on campuses and research labs during the late 50s. The public would not have access to it until around 1965. Alice In wonder Land was just a story he wrote for his granddaughter. Not drugs were involved in his story. There was only one mention of an Alice in "Go Ask Alice". We never learn the main characters name. Third White Rabbit 1967 came before the book which wasn't released until 1971. Grace Slick used the images from Lewis Carrol's story to try and recreate the experience of being on acid. Matt
Matthew wrote: "Lewis Carroll never took LSD, it wasn't around at the time. In fact the first acid tests were conducted on campuses and research labs during the late 50s. The public would not have access to it unt..."Nice and concise. Research is important. :)
And all of that information is good, except Lewis Carrol (AKA Charles Dodgson) never had children, therefore never had a granddaughter. The story Alice in Wonderland was a story he made up during a rowing trip with the 3 Liddell girls (which were family friends). One was named alice, who he put in the story. They liked it so much their parents begged him to write it down. As for the Book "Go Ask Alice", no one knows the exact reason why it was named what it was. Alice does have a distint connotation with drugs because of the late 60's and early 70's drug culture. I think that the title is simply referring to that idea that one can go ask someone else about drugs, and Alice happens to be the name most commonly associated with the drug culture.
Thanks for the info on Lewis Carroll.
One correction though, Alice was not really a widely used drug reference, Alice was really just a reference to White Rabbit and Alice In Wonderland. Outside of that there is no real connection to drugs and the name.
Her name could be alice or it could not be, you never know they just used that as the tile. They never said her name because it was someone's actual diary and they didnt want to give the name away so it could be her name or it could not.
Brigid *Flying Kick-a-pow!* wrote: "What does the title of this book have to do with anything? Alice is just a person mentioned in one paragraph in the book--is that who the title is referring to? "The Title "Go Ask Alice" isn't referring to the girl in the diary because she is anonymous, The name Alice is a symbol used from a song. 1967's ,Jefferson Airplane wrote a song called "White Rabbit" inspired by Alice In Wonderland that refers to drug use, the drug girl in the songs name is Alice. So the Title go ask Alice is referring to a song not the girl mentioned once. The Title is symbolism to go ask the drug girl which is what the book is doing, giving you an inside look at a drug user.
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