‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said,
‘To talk of many things:
Of shoes – and ships – and sealing-wax –
Of cabbages – and kings –
And why the sea is boiling hot –
And whether pigs have wings.’
Alice. The smiling Cheshire cat. The White Rabbit. The Queen of Hearts. The Jabberwocky. It seems like I grew up with these characters, and yet I had never sat down and read Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass in their entirety, as they were written by Lewis Carroll.
So, it was about time to remedy that.
There’s not really a need to review Alice in Wonderland. It’s the epitome of a classic novel and is already extremely well loved (and rightly so). But I did want to share a few thoughts and favorite passages.
Many authors cite Lewis Carroll as a source of inspiration, and there’s no question as to why. The imagination, wit, and adventure in his work is extraordinary. I love how completely quirky everything in Wonderland is. You can sort of feel your imagination growing as you read it. (As if you ate a little cake that said ‘eat me.’) Suddenly everything seems possible. That’s special.
I also want to note how much I adore the original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. They are perfect and fantastic, and I’m glad they’re still the standard illustrations for most editions. I do not take kindly to the illustrations being changed in children’s literature to keep them more “modern.” For example, the new illustrations in the Ramona books are generic and horrid. (Ramona looks like this. And sometimes like this. Not like that.)
My book club is reading both works for our March selection, and I’m hoping to have time to read the notes in my copy of The Annotated Alice before the discussion.
~
“Oh, it’s too bad!” she cried. “I never saw such a house for getting in the way! Never!”
“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
“The Knight looked surprised at the question. “What does it matter where my body happens to be?” he said. “My mind goes on working all the same. In fact, the more head-downwards I am, the more I keep inventing new things.”
Interesting review! I love the cover of the edition you have! It looks so rich! The book of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ I have also has the illustrations of Sir John Tenniel, but the edition you have has a wonderful cover – I will look for it in the bookstore :)
It was interesting to read your thoughts on how illustrations are changed to make a character look modern, and how sometimes this takes away the enjoyment of the book. Very true!
I liked the illustrations but unfortunately my copy is so old (1960-ish) that they aren’t very clear. I saw my friend’s newer edition and they were lovely.
I had the first Ramona book you link to.
Great post! I recently bought a copy and hope to get around to reading it before I see the movie, which I’m really looking forward to seeing.
It looks like you have a very nice edition.
I hope you enjoy it too! I really adored the movie – I want to see it again in 2D.
I collect Alice in wonderland editions and I still reread the books every year, they are just so perfect. I also adore the Tenniel illustrations, I could never picture the characters any other way :)
Neither could I, they are absolutely perfect the way they were originally drawn. :)
ah thank you for reminding me, i have the annotated alice and still haven’t read it completely, now would be a perfect time to take it out again!
by the way i read the mysterious benedict society last month and i loved it so much, i just fell in love with the characters! i’ll be getting the sequels as soon as i’ll order my next batch of books! ♥
I’m so glad you loved the Mysterious Benedict Society! :) The second two books are fantastic as well.