Thursday, March 14, 2013

Book Review: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

This classic children's story is the whimsical tale of Alice, who falls down a rabbit hole and has many odd and humorous adventures. Alice is a rather innocent and naive little girl, sometimes given to a little temper (who isn't?). She has now iconic dealings with the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and her roving pack of cards, and the White Rabbit who leads her into this strange dream world.

The story is a bit episodic but has such delightful word play strung throughout. Lots of puns and plays on words are in evidence and made me chuckle. I was caught short a few times as I read this on Kindle, since the text refers to the illustrations (e.g. when the gryphon appears, the text says, "IF you don't know what a Gryphon is, look at the picture") which were not available in the free ebook I downloaded. I do have a physical copy with illustrations by A. E. Jackson, though many different illustrated editions are available. Oddly, the physical copy doesn't have the text referring to its own picture of the gryphon.

The book is fairly short and a very quick read. I may pick up a better edition (like the one linked below, which includes all the subsequent Alice tales). It would be fun to reread. Also, as I am writing this (early March 2013), Heather at CraftLit has a recording with commentary of Alice in Wonderland (she does great commentary) on her premium podcast. Check it out! I've listened to the first two episodes and they are very well done. Also she has a video feed that shows a variety of the illustrations, which is excellent.

Sample Text--Best Advice Ever!
The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?"
"Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."

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