"Lewis Carroll's anarchic, disturbing and boisterously funny Alice stories, conjured up one afternoon to entertain a young girl, are a unique blend of wordplay, logic, parody, puzzles and riddles.
Their dream world's of nonsensical Wonderland and the back-to-front turned upside-down: a baby turns into a pig, time is abandoned at an unruly tea-party and a chaotic fame of chess makes a seven year old girl a Queen. But amongst the eccentric humour and witty conundrums, are poignant moments of nostalgia for a lost childhood." - Taken from the blurb.
The April book in the Reading Challenge, I was surprised to find this book quite dull. Despite lots of characters and things happening, there was not much going on. Perhaps it was because I knew the story, but I found the story a bit pointless. Still, it could see the original appeal of it. Everyone knows this story, but if you do not, here is a summary of both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice through the Looking Glass.
A young girl, of the age of 6 or 7, stumbles down a rabbit hole while chasing after said rabbit. But this is no ordinary rabbit hole; inside she encounters a long corridor with lots of doors and one tiny door leading to beautiful gardens, strange creatures that talk, Kings and Queens with terrible tempers and rules that are impossible to follow. Time has stopped causing a tea party to continue forever, a baby turns into a pig and a wise cat can disappear. Cake that makes you grow big and a drink that makes you small, Alice's journey into Wonderland turns her world upside down and shows her a different outlook on the 'real' world.
It could be said that there was no hidden message behind this story but I would like to discuss the possible implications of occasional happenings. Firstly, there is the constant changing in height. When Alice eats a cake she grows, when she drinks a particular liquid she shrinks - this is the same with the right side and left side of a mushroom. I think this might be a representation of puberty or even young kids not feeling like themselves in their own skin. This is supported by Alice's constant mention of not feeling like herself.
Another representation of childhood is when Alice visits the hall again with the small door. This could be about learning from mistakes and then finally becoming an adult - Alice makes the mistakes first by shrinking too small, forgetting the key on the table, then growing too big and almost drowning in a sea of her tears. She knows what to do the next time round which may imply that she is growing mentally, kinda how children learn from their mistakes and grow.
Lewis Carroll - whose real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson - was very close to the Liddell family, but had a strong - if somewhat inappropriate - relationship with one of their daughters, Alice, whom the title character was named after. I only say inappropriate as Carroll was known for the subjects in his photography and writing to be young girls between the ages of 10 and 15 in their underwear - or what looks like much less clothing for that century. Many scholars believe that he promised himself to wait for Alice to reach the appropriate age for marriage, only being prevented by a termination in connection with the family. However, take from this information what you will, there is no doubt that Alice's Adventure in Wonderland is a classic. Carroll's fascination/obsession with Alice is clearly what inspired him to write his well known book, so whether you think he was super creepy or simply admired Alice's innocence and envied her young perspective on life, that is up to you. All I'm saying is the Liddell family had ten children and he only wrote about one...so...
Anyway, I gave this book two stars, one for its fun plot. I mean yeah I did find it a bit dull, but I guess that's because I had such high standards having seen so many film adaptations of it. It was still enjoyable, nonetheless and clearly it has made an impact on the world for years. Another star for its comment on childhood. I liked how Alice didn't really learn much about how to behave around other people in the first story, but by Alice Through the Looking Glass she had learnt a lot more about Wonderland and understood that strange things happen all the time there. I just wanna know one thing...what's with all the drug references? The caterpillar smoking hooka, eating the mushrooms and things talking when they shouldn't could certainly be hallucinations. Or maybe I'm looking too into it; perhaps it could just be a comment on the child-mind and how imaginative they can be. Have you read it? Let me know what you think, and if you would like to read it:
★★☆☆☆
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