Reviews

What an absolutely fun, crazy, whirlwind of an adventure!

My impression of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass has always been one of creepy strangeness, in large part due to the somewhat haunting images of the White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar and the Queen of Hearts that were impressed upon me by the media. Reading the book changed my impression completely. Perhaps it is the presence of Alice. The Wonderland and Looking-Glass worlds, with their nonsensical, quirky, imaginative characters and happenings go beyond the realm of fantasticalness, but Alice is the pillar of sensibility who holds the book together. While the characters are absurd and absurdly rude to her, she always tries her best to be sensible and polite, and her thoughts and actions keep the reader very much in reality.

There is so much about this book that is delightful. I love the imagination and the wild adventures. I love the nonsense poetry, and especially Jabberwocky, which makes sense even in its nonsense, and, as Alice says, "Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas—only I don't exactly know what they are". I love the cleverness of the chess game in the Looking-Glass. I love the illustrations by Tenniel that convey so much, adding to the story told by the text.

Lewis Carroll was a mathematician who initially wrote this story for Alice Liddell, the middle of three daughters of his dean, after he took them sailing on a boat and they begged him for a story. References to Alice and to the other girls are scattered throughout the book, and as I read it, I felt Carroll's kindness and love towards the child Alice. I can only imagine how delighted she must have been to read the story and see hidden messages for her, never imagining that people of all ages in all countries would one day be entertained as well.

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5.0

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Jim Dale, and I absolutely LOVED it. This book is so much fun! Lewis Carroll was such a creative author, and the story felt both whimsical and realistic somehow. This is the kind of story I would revisit again and again. 5/5 would recommend to anyone!