Paperback, 378 pages
English language
Published Nov. 3, 1998 by Penguin Books.
'Contrariwise ... if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
'I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole ... without the least idea what was to happen afterwards,' wrote Lewis Carroll, describing how Alice was conjured up one 'golden afternoon' in 1862 to entertain his child-friend Alice Liddell. His dream worlds of nonsensical Wonderland and the back-to-front Looking-Glass kingdom depict order turned upside-down: a baby turns into a pig, time is abandoned at a disordered tea-party and a chaotic game of chess makes a seven-year-old girl a Queen. But amongst the anarchic humour and sparkling word play, puzzles and riddles, are poignant moments of nostalgia for lost childhood. Original and experimental, the Alice books give readers a window on both child and adult worlds.
This is the most comprehensively annotated edition available …
'Contrariwise ... if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
'I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole ... without the least idea what was to happen afterwards,' wrote Lewis Carroll, describing how Alice was conjured up one 'golden afternoon' in 1862 to entertain his child-friend Alice Liddell. His dream worlds of nonsensical Wonderland and the back-to-front Looking-Glass kingdom depict order turned upside-down: a baby turns into a pig, time is abandoned at a disordered tea-party and a chaotic game of chess makes a seven-year-old girl a Queen. But amongst the anarchic humour and sparkling word play, puzzles and riddles, are poignant moments of nostalgia for lost childhood. Original and experimental, the Alice books give readers a window on both child and adult worlds.
This is the most comprehensively annotated edition available and includes the manuscript version of Alice's Adventures Under Ground and Carroll's 1887 essay '"Alice" on the Stage'. --back cover
It was fun and bizarre and I'm happy I read it.
It was fun and bizarre and I'm happy I read it.
I think I'd likely give it 3.5 stars if it hadn't been for the narrator. She did a wonderful job of bringing the story to life.
I was engaged throughout most of the book but there were some scenes that seemed to be a bit heavy on details that did nothing to enhance the story or move it forward. There were also plenty of parts where I had wished more time had been spent giving us some of the feelings of the characters - some very important things that were just glossed over and not really brought up again.
But I still enjoyed the overall package a lot so that's why I went with four stars instead of three and a half.
I think I'd likely give it 3.5 stars if it hadn't been for the narrator. She did a wonderful job of bringing the story to life.
I was engaged throughout most of the book but there were some scenes that seemed to be a bit heavy on details that did nothing to enhance the story or move it forward. There were also plenty of parts where I had wished more time had been spent giving us some of the feelings of the characters - some very important things that were just glossed over and not really brought up again.
But I still enjoyed the overall package a lot so that's why I went with four stars instead of three and a half.
I just read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to my four year old, and we both liked it. Soon we'll read Through the Looking Glass too.
I just read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to my four year old, and we both liked it. Soon we'll read Through the Looking Glass too.
