Want a NOOK? Explore Now
First published in 1865, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was an immediate success, as was its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass. Carroll’s sense of the absurd and his amazing gift for games of logic and language have secured for the Alice books an enduring spot in the hearts of both adults and children.
Alice begins her adventures when she follows the frantically delayed White Rabbit down a hole into the magical world of Wonderland, where she meets a variety of wonderful creatures, including Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Cheshire Cat, the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, the Mad Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts—who, with the help of her enchanted deck of playing cards, tricks Alice into playing a bizarre game of croquet. Alice continues her adventures in Through the Looking-Glass, which is loosely based on a game of chess and includes Carroll’s famous poem “Jabberwocky.”
Throughout her fantastic journeys, Alice retains her reason, humor, and sense of justice. She has become one of the great characters of imaginative literature, as immortal as Don Quixote, Huckleberry Finn, Captain Ahab, Sherlock Holmes, and Dorothy Gale of Kansas.
Tan Lin is a writer, artist, and critic. He is the author of two books of poetry, Lotion Bullwhip Giraffe and IDM.
As all Carroll admirers know, his book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865), became an immediate success and has since been translated into more than eighty languages. The equally popular sequel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, was published in 1872.
The Alice books are but one example of his wide ranging authorship. The Hunting of the Snark, a classic nonsense epic (1876) and Euclid and His Modern Rivals, a rare example of humorous work concerning mathematics, still entice and intrigue today's students. Sylvie and Bruno, published toward the end of his life contains startling ideas including an 1889 description of weightlessness.
The humor, sparkling wit and genius of this Victorian Englishman have lasted for more than a century. His books are among the most quoted works in the English language, and his influence (with that of his illustrator, Sir John Tenniel) can be seen everywhere, from the world of advertising to that of atomic physics.
Author biography courtesy of Penguin Group (USA).
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There pursue what lies beyond and down rabbit holes and on reverse sides of mirrors. But mainly their subject is what comes after, and in this sense the books are allegories about what a child can know and come to know. This quest, as in many great works of literature, unwinds against a larger backdrop: what can and what cannot be known at a particular historical moment, a moment that in Lewis Carroll's case preceded both Freud's speculations on the unconscious and Heisenberg's formulation of the uncertainty principle. Yet because the books were written by a teacher of mathematics who was also a reverend, they are also concerned with what can and cannot be taught to a child who has an infinite faith in the goodness and good sense of the world. But Alice's quest for knowledge, her desire to become something (a grown-up) she is not, is inverted. The books are not conventional quest romances in which Alice matures, overcomes obstacles, and eventually gains wisdom. For when Alice arrives in Wonderland, she is already the most reasonable creature there. She is wiser than any lesson books are able to teach her to be. More important, she is eminently more reasonable than her own feelings will allow her to express. What comes after for Alice? Near the end of Through the Looking Glass, the White Queen tells Alice, "Something's going to happen!"
Quests for mastery are continually frustrated in the Alice books. In comparison with the ever—sane Alice, it is the various Wonderland creatures who appear to be ridiculous, coiners of abstract word games. Yet Carroll also frustrates, with equal precision, Alice's more reasonable human desires. Why, after all, cannot Alice know why the Mad Hatter is mad? Or why will Alice never get to 20 in her multiplication tables? In Carroll, the logic of mathematical proofs runs counter to the logic of reasonable human desire—and neither logic is easily mastered. To his radical epistemological doubt, Carroll added a healthy dose of skepticism for the conventional children's story—a story that in his day came packaged with a moral aim and treated the child as an innocent or tabula rasa upon which the morals and knowledge of the adult could be tidily imprinted.
Alice embodies an idea Freud would later develop at length: What Alice the child already knows, the adult has yet to learn. Or to be more precise, what Alice has not yet forgotten, the adult has yet to remember as something that is by nature unforgettable. In other words, in Alice childhood fantasy meets the reality of adulthood, which to the child looks as unreal and unreasonable as a Cheshire Cat's grin or a Queen who yells "Off with her head!" But even as she calls adult reality unreal, Alice, as the most reasonable creature in her unreasonable dreams, doesn't quite yet realize that the adult's sense of reality has already taken up residence in her. The principal dream of most children—the dream within the dream, as it were—is the dream of not dreaming any longer, the dream of growing up. For the adult, the outlook is reversed. The adult's quest is an inverted one: to find those desires again, in more reasonable forms—and this involves forgetting the original childhood desires (to become an adult) in order to remember them as an adult. The psychoanalyst Adam Phillips notes: "Freud is not really saying that we are really children, but that the sensual intensities of childhood cannot be abolished, that our ideals are transformed versions of childhood pleasures. Looking forward . . . is a paradoxical form of looking back. The future is where one retrieves the pleasures, the bodily pleasures of the past."1 The Alice books manage to show both these quests—that of the child to look forward, and of the adult to look back—simultaneously, as mirror logics of each other.
Like both Freud and the surrealists, Carroll implicitly understood that a child's emotions and desires appear omnipotent and boundless to the child—and thus make the adult's forgetting of them difficult if not illogical. Growing up poses psychological and logical absurdities. The quandary of a logically grounded knowledge constituted out of an illogical universe pervades both books. The questions that Alice asks are not answered by the animals in Wonderland nor by anyone after she wakens. It is likely that her questions don't have answers or that there are no right questions to ask. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass remain the most prophetic of the nineteenth century's anti-narratives, inverted quest romances, circular mathematical treatises on the illogical logic of forgetting one's desires. They display a logic that the child must master in order to grow up. As the White Queen remarks of the Red Queen: "She's in that state of mind . . . that she wants to deny something—only she doesn't know what to deny!"
I've never read the book before last week and must say that disney must have had something against Lewis Carroll because they butchered this amazing book by making that cartoon. This book has an amazing amount of detail that will keep you imagining about each chapter for hours. I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and a wild imagination. Instant Classic on my shelf
17 out of 19 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.India16
Posted Tue Apr 14 00:00:00 EDT 2009
I really enjoyed this book. It was very strange, but it kept me interested. My favorite character throughout this whole book was the Caterpillar. I liked how even after changing into a beautiful butterfly, he still remains the same snarky personality. I also enjoyed the descriptive language, and the real-ness that the author brought to Alice.
12 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.TulaneGirl
Posted Sun Jun 21 00:00:00 EDT 2009
So many times during my day to day life, I find occasions to quote this fabulous book. It's philosophical nonsense seems to make very much sense in my life. Many times I find myself thinking like Alice and giving myself very good advice, such as, "if you drink much from a bottle marked 'poison,' it is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later."
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is a book I can see reading to my children someday (that is, if I ever have any). I'm 19 and I never knew that "Alice in Wonderland" was a book before it was a Disney "Classic". My sister and I were wondering around Barnes and Noble and she stumbled onto this book. She purchased it and attempted to read it but she's only 12 and therefor couldn't really understand some of the wordings (It's written in an old style). I was bored one rainy day and picked it up. I couldn't put it down until I'd finished the whole thing. It's a lovely book and it really does remind me of being a child. I giggled a lot throughout. Overall, good read.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2010
I decided to read this book after seeing the Tim Burton movie. It had been years since I had seen the Disney cartoon Alice and Wonderland and I remember seeing a Disney version of Alice Through the Looking Glass. In order to remind myself of what I hd seen I decided to read the book and get the original story since I never read it before. I was not overly impressed by the story but enthralled with the imagination and creativity of the world that Alice "falls" into. However I now have more respect for the classic and I definitely think it is something everyone should have in their library as a reminder of what real creativity and imagination was like without being gruesome and gory.
5 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sat May 05 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I own the physical copy of this book and I have to say it was wonderful. The book was a little fast for me; I found it hard to follow at some points. One second Alice was talking to the hookah-smoking caterpillar, the next she's God only knows where. At times, I found myself hating Alice for her foolishness. I mean, seriously, who follows a rabbit down a rabbit hole? The plot over all was all right, it's the significant detailc the story's told in that makes this story a literary classic.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Mon Apr 19 00:00:00 EDT 2010
I was very happy with this book. As a child through adulthood, I had heard and seen the "Alice in Wonderland" story numerous times. However, reading this book gave me a different perspective on Alice's story. I had always thought Alice in Wonderland was one story that told of Alice's adventures in Wonderland. After reading this book, I learned that wasn't true. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was written years before Through the Looking-Glass and they are actually 2 separate stories. I thoroughly enjoyed traveling with Alice through her Adventures and I also learned quite about a Lewis Carroll in the introduction of this book. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass is a must-have for a classic readers library.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Fri May 28 00:00:00 EDT 2010
I apologize in advance, to anyone who may be offended by my thoughts. I've tried a total of 5 times in the last 8 years to finish or appreciate this book. I just can't for some reason. I recently tried again; for the sake of bettering myself, reading any type of genre I can, and exploring classic literature. I moved down my list of "the must reads" and then came back to my old nemesis "Alice in Wonderland"; I took a deep breath and went in with an open mind. I've read hundreds of reviews for this story mostly all on glowing terms and love for this book. There must be something I'm missing, because it just doesn't pull me in. It's so odd, I love fantasy and fairy tales but Lewis Carroll's world just doesn't make me want to follow the white rabbit. I really don't understand, maybe I'm trying too hard. I guess I'll try again next year.
2 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Wed May 05 00:00:00 EDT 2010
I loved the cover of this book, the old fashioned style. It stood out over all the other copies of Alice in Wonderland. And of course it is a great classic story. I am very happy with my purchase. This book is a keeper.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.OctoberHoliday
Posted Wed Mar 24 00:00:00 EDT 2010
I Also Recommend:
Don't get me wrong, this is actually one of my favorite stories. Thing is, there isn't much of an actual story, is there. It's a book about a girl who falls asleep and dreams she's fallen down a rabbit hole and into a strange world where she meets a bunch and AMAZINGLY created characters and gets into a couple sticky situations. That's all really, it's a fun, colorful story without a point.
Because of the lack of plot, it's a very difficult story to form any emotional connection to. Lewis Carroll had an amazing mind, and Wonderland is a beautiful adventure through his world, but making Alice have next to no character growth forces us to remain at arms length from the magical world he created, almost denying us passage in. Alice hardly changes from when she falls asleep to when she wakes up. There is not really a disernable climax, and while she does find herself in plenty of peril, there has to be an effort made in order to see any danger she is in.
The reason I do love this story, and the main reason I think it's worth reading, is because of the incredible range of characters. They're all so well-known and interesting. I love to read all of my favorite characters, especially the Hatter and the Cheshire-Cat. They all have such insane personalities, a sense of glorious freedom and fun, but coated with an obvious danger, and that makes them all the more appealing. Quite honestly, I'd switch places with Alice, just to play croquet with the Queen or converse with the Caterpillar, or dance with the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon. I could easily spend years sitting with the Dormouse, the March Hare, and the Hatter, sipping tea and just giggling. Really, I think Wonderland is the place for me.
Besides the fun characters and interesting situations, there isn't much to the story. It has a lack-luster plot and only the tiniest of messages that comes in near the end. It also teaches us quite an important lesson, but that one may be a little obvious. Deserving of the classic status, definitely, and one of my favorites, but not the best.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This is one of the deepest works of literature I have ever perused. Deep, taking the meaning here of perplexing and complicated, yet thoroughly enthralling. Both works take on the same general shape (fantastical worlds of surrealism) but with completely unconnected plots. However, this point lacks relevance--as does most of the plot line (if one can find it.) What relevance and meaning there is to be found comes from what one decides to glean from it.
The conclusion I arrived at was this enigma of a tale is worth a read, if for no other reason than to challenge one's own thought processes and interpretative capacities. Put simply, Alice/Looking Glass is an infinite enigma of pure imagination.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sat Jul 19 00:00:00 EDT 2008
Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland was, to me, immensely tedious, as well as pointless. The main character, Alice, was an imbecile, and seemed quite self- centred. She had a one- track mind and continually made the same idiotic mistakes. None of the characters particularly grew on me, and they all seemed to have one side to them, as they were undeveloped. Overall, the characters, as well as the dull story line, make this book one that I wish I had never picked up.
2 out of 14 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Tue Mar 13 00:00:00 EST 2001
I have a copy of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass which was given to me on my seventh birthday. I found it fascinating. My grandmother gave me a copy along with a harmonica. The harmonica was lost long ago, the book remains and has always had a place in my heart. I was too young to read the entire book, so my father started reading this book to me. Perhaps still having this book has given me a connection to the past. I laugh when I reminisce about my father (who is now 70) singing ¿Beautiful Soup,¿ most beautifully I must add. He also recited ¿Jabberwocky¿ and I can still hear his voice as he read the tale of the Walrus: ¿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.¿ The Mad Tea Party is also very memorable. There is all kinds of nonsense talk children will love to try to figure out, and as adults still might be trying to figure out! They will love the riddles and beautiful illustrations. The mouse, the chess pieces and the Cheshire cat talk most intelligently about various concerns in Wonderland. Just as everything in a child¿s world is sometimes alive to them, so Alice¿s world is filled with things that are alive and most interesting to children. Alice never seems to run out of adventures. The Looking Glass House is amusing to me as it has a cute black kitten who is quite mischievous. I quote: ¿Oh, you wicked, wicked little thing!¿ cried Alice catching up the kitten and giving it a little kiss to make it understand that it was in disgrace. ¿Really, Dinah ought to have taught you better manners! ¿¿. Kitty sat very demurely on her knee, pretending to watch the progress of the winding, and now and then putting out one paw and gently touching the ball, as if it would be glad to help if it might. John Tenniel¿s illustrations make the book and together he and Lewis Carroll created a magical world for children to explore. I hope you will read this book to your children, read them many books about many things. They will always thank you for it. Thank you Dad, I love you! You have given me so many things, and I thank you for my love of reading. I dedicate this review to my dad who will always live eternally with me as long as I have this book tucked safely away.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Mar 04 00:00:00 EST 2012
1 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Mon Sep 12 00:00:00 EDT 2011
Wn nfdjduwkwjffbR
1 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Kylia
Posted Mon Apr 19 00:00:00 EDT 2010
I enjoyed reading the story of Alice in wonderland. It is of course a classic. Well, it really just wasn't my kind of book. It's not like most books that I read, I'm more into horror novels but I think it was descent. It's probably one of the most imaginative books I've ever read. Louis Carol was a very imaginative person and for that I really do like this book. I think that everyone should at least skim through this book. It's just one of those books that you've should read with in their life time, like I said it is a classic and it's very imaginative and even though It's not general the type of book I would read I enjoyed it.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.crawlDR
Posted Sat Apr 17 00:00:00 EDT 2010
After seeing the images in the recent 3D movie, I wanted to read this book, again. The forward and appendix provided explanation of Lewis Carroll's life which helped me understand the context of the book better and clarified some of the recent controversy about his relationships with children. Additionally, there was a translation of Jabborwocky which was great.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.A little research told me that this story was made up during a 5 mile row boat trip, told to three girls, one of them named Alice. I thought this was pretty interesting. Alice in wonderland is great, very creative, and very imaginative. Alice falls into a world that is much like a dream, and it flows well from one incident to the next. Through the looking glass was harder to follow because it jumped into each event. Our dreams tend to put us from one place to the next with no journey. It is patterned like she's walking through a giant chess board. However, I do like that everything Alice does is backwards. Contrariwise to the mirror she walked through. Very creative. I would definitely share this book with a child. It may be confusing at times, but it is fun.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I am a 10 year old homeschooler and I absolutely loved this book!! I could not put it down!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Lewis Carroll has given us an extremely witty and creative tale that is completely delightful. On the surface this may appear to be a children's book, but it is not. It is too sophisticated for young children and the humor would simply be "over their heads." The characters behave exactly as you would expect--unreasonable and illogical--once you finally understand their setting (learned at the end of the story, and I won't spoil it for you here). This is a wonderful book deserving multiple reads. I hated the introduction by Tan Lin, and wish it had been written by someone else.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Overview