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Book Details:
Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
Author: Lewis Carroll
Published: 2010 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-4391-6947-6
Genre: Classic - English - Children's Fantasy
Pages: 315 pages
Rating: 4 of 5
Read In: 10 days

My Review:
Originally written off as unintelligent nonsense, Carroll's "Alice" books have entertained generations of adults and children alike. Starring the young Alice, created based on the young Alice Liddell, a child Carroll met at a picnic in July of 1862, where he began to tell the little girl a story of her following a white rabbit down his rabbit hole and onto this remarkable adventure that he writes down and eventually publishes in 1865, as the insistence of the girl's family. Marketed as a children's book when it was first written, Carroll was able to mock every aspect of Victorian English society in the seemingly innocent dream sequences of a seven-year old girl. Renowned for its eccentric and colorful cast of characters and nonsense conversations, researchers and literary experts are still discovering potential meanings in Carroll's works, revealing the author's true opinions of the social and political world he was born into.

In the novels, the White Rabbit is believed to represent a petty bureaucrat, constantly concerned with his own image and schedule, with little to no concern for the problems of others. The author also uses well-known nursery rhyme characters, Humpty Dumpty for example, to emphasize and tap into the familiar childhood fantasy of all readers familiar with this rhyme. Another character-type he utilizes in this humorous hodge-podge is the brave, noble knight archetype. Putting his own bias into the character, he made him slow, clumsy, and barely able to stay on his horse- a bit of a blow to the idea of the flawless White Knight come to save the day. Among these are the universally well-know Cheshire Cat, "Mad" Hatter, the March Hare, and the outspoken Dormouse.

All in all, it's quite easy to see how the "Alice" books have become classics- the uniqueness and child-like humor camouflaging adult undertones of political and social opinions and mockery would have made a much bigger impact in the late-1800s had readers at the time saw past the silliness and into the heart of the work. Presently, upon further researching and extensive searches for deeper meanings, we can now appreciate Carroll as a respectable writer instead of as the creator of sheer nonsense to entertain the fantasies of children. I gave it four out of five stars.

I'm thinking of putting classics on my reading list. What can I say? I have an appetite for the written word. This will be first of many classics I hope to read. Great review. I never knew how Carrol's work was received back then. Guess he has the last laugh now.

Read this as my first summer book for fun & I was surely a fan. Somewhat weird, and some things I didn't quite understand but an overall good
Classic!

Thank you for the review, I like the historical aspect and the time you took to bring those things to light, as the history and intended meaning of a work are sometimes just as intriguing as the work itself. There are a few typos in the review and you will probably need to be more careful of this as you work your way up, but that being said they do not detract from the review Well done.

This was one of the first books I read when I was a kid, as an adult I was very intrigued with the historical aspect of it and how it is so well known and used for so many subjects like psychology. I love that you mentioned the comparisons with bureaucracy.

I loved Alice's adventures in wonderland. It took complicated aspects of the real-world into child-like personifications of the situation. It also contained beautiful illustrations and a great writing style. This was one of the first books I read as a child too, and I wouldn't mind reading it again.

Really awesome to travel through the adventures in wonderland. It will make us to get deeper into the character, which incline the true potential of the author. This was a wonderful read and visual treat for children and adults too...

Charles Dodgeson (Lewis Carroll) was a mathematician. Alice in Wonderland was actually an exploration of absurdity in logic.

I'm a pretty math-y guy, and I read it recently. It's hilarious if you've studied mathematics.

I love this book dearly. It was written not as nonsense, but as a political story (The Lion and the Unicorn). I try not to read it as political because there is too much of that everywhere else to have to deal with it in a story as well. I think it may be a little hard and long for a child to read on their own, but I think it would make a great book for parents to cuddle up on the couch with their kids and read together. Especially since a child may not know what all the old English terms are.

Interesting point, aarchul2 - could you elaborate? My interpretation is the only serious one I've seen before, and to be honest, I don't really remember the lion and the unicorn.

I've been a long time fan of these books and recently re-read them. One of the advantages of reading a book again is all of the new things you think about or realize that you missed the first time around.

As non-sensical as these books are at first glance, I've found that they spark some interesting trains of thought and are darker than expected.

Absolutely love these books! I have always loved Walt Disney's movie adaption of the books from the time I was a small child. I was always very intrigued by it, and finally decided to actually pick up the books and give them a try! I'm so glad I did. The books are beautifully written and so much more than silly nonsense. I downloaded "Through the Looking-Glass" in my iBooks app and my family has an older edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but I had to get a newer copy of the books for myself. I don't think I could own too many copies of these books, to be honest!

I love this story. I prefer through the looking glass. I have pretty copies! I love a lot of different spin offs. The looking glass wars is one of my favorite spin offs .

Lewis Carroll is one of my favorite authors of all time. I purchased a collection of his work from Barns & Noble (the one for 7.89) and adored it. I'm in the midst of reading Sylvie and Bruno, which I might enjoy more than Alice's adventures. I've been looking for authors similar to Lewis Carroll for a while and the closest I've gotten is the Welcome to Nightvale novel, if anyone is interested.

I absolutely love the imagery in Carroll's novels. I just finished reading Alice in Wonderland to my newborn son. I will be starting Through the Looking Glass today or tomorrow. I remember even as a kid myself, I really enjoyed the general "nonsense" of it all. It is quite common for a novel to have talking animals but to have a talking rabbit who wears a waistcoat and looks at a pocket watch - and who lives in his own nicely furnished house - is not something that you read everyday. I remember when I read it I was so intrigued as to why a rabbit actually would have a house furnished as it was, and what he would do with it. Granted it probably helps that I was very close to Alice's assumed age when I first picked up the story. Looking back, as an adult, I no longer really wonder what the rabbit represents or what the actual purpose to the actual story is. I find myself instead looking at the imagery and questioning whether or not Alice is actually dreaming or not. It is such an enjoyable read, whether you are reading for debating purposes, or just for pure nostalgia. All I know is, I would love to be able to step in Alice's shoes and go on an adventure with her. What a ride it would be!