"Alice in Wonderland and Other Stories" Book Review

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Other Stories by Lewis Carroll

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Everything that Lewis Carroll ever published in book form appears in this volume. In addition, at least ten of the shorter pieces have never appeared in print except in their original editions. Included are: "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" "Through the Looking-Glass" "Sylvie and Bruno" "Sylvie and Bruno Concluded" "The Hunting of the Snark" & all of the poetry, essays, phantasmagoria along with a substantial collection of the miscellaneous writings.

"'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Other Stories' is part of Barnes & Noble's series of quality leatherbound volumes. Each title in the series presents a classic work in an attractively designed edition bound in genuine bonded leather, with beautiful illustrations and breathtaking endpapers. These books make elegant additions to any home library."

It's a strange thing, these stories. "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" are the more popular of Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson's, better known as Lewis Carroll, writings.

They're definitely written for children but I do not think children of this day and age would enjoy it as much. There's a lot of mention of poetry and song and verse that only a child from 18th century England would get. But it's very fun either way. Probably best to read the stories to the children and act it out. It's meant to be fun, not as a commentary or anything.

A lot of people don't understand this author's work and I think it can be best explained like this: say you're with a group of children and you've asked them to help you come up with a story. Just a silly story where anything can happen. So you come up with a character to follow which the children name. And then you come with a place where he or she can be going and they want the character to ride a tyrannosaurus rex into a river of melted chocolate and then the t-rex becomes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because she's hungry. And then she becomes the Queen of Ice Cream and Marshmallow Land! That's kind of what's going on with these stories. They're utter nonsense and fun and it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that Mr. Dodgson wrote Alice word for word on a boring afternoon with the help of some children he knew.

The "Sylvie and Bruno" stories are a bit like the "Alice" stories, but the main difference is the narrator. I think he's either dying really slowly (he mentions he has a heart problem at the beginning of the story) or he has narcolepsy. Because he is constantly going to fairyland with Sylvie and Bruno or he's in the present with his mopey doctor friend who can't get the girl of his dreams. It's hard to follow at first but now it's just sort of weird. But I still found those stories interesting for all of their oddities.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get myself to read anymore. It just became too much. Maybe I will finish it another day.

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