Lewis Carroll

Anne Coulter Martens

In 1862 Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a shy Oxford mathematician with a stammer, created a story about a little girl tumbling down a rabbit hole. Thus began the immortal adventures of Alice, perhaps the most popular heroine in English literature. Countless scholars have tried to define the charm of the Alice books--with those wonderfully eccentric characters the Queen of Hearts, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Cheshire Cat, Mock Turtle, the Mad Hatter et al.--by proclaiming that they really comprise a satire on language, a political allegory, a parody of Victorian children's literature, even a reflection of contemporary ecclesiastical history. Perhaps, as Dodgson might have said, Alice is no more than a dream, a fairy tale about a trials and tribulations of growing up--or down, or all tumed round--as seen through the expert eyes of a child. From the Paperback edition.

Alice in Wonderland

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?' So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her. There was nothing so VERY remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so VERY much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, 'Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!' (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually TOOK A WATCH OUT OF ITS WAISTCOAT-POCKET, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat-pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge. In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again. The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well. Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves; here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled 'ORANGE MARMALADE', but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Luca Stromann

"I ca'n't help it," said Alice very meekly: "Im growing."

"You've no right to grow here," said the Dormouse.

"Don't talk nonsense", said Alice more boldly: "you know you're growing too."

"Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace," said the Dormouse: "not in that ridiculous fashion." And he got up very sulkily and crossed over to the other side of the court.

"And how many hours a day did you do lessons?" said Alice, in a hurry to change the subject.

"Ten hours the first day," said the Mock Turtle: nine the next, and so on.

"That's the reason they're called lessons," the Gryphon remarked: "because they lessen from day to day."

The executioner’s argument was, that you couldn’t cut off a head unless there was a body to cut it off from: that he had never had to do such a thing before, and he wasn't going to begin at his time of life.

The Kings argument was that anything that had a head could be beheaded, and that you weren't to talk nonsense. 

The Queen's argument was that, if something wasn't done about it in less than no time, she’d have everybody executed, all round.

So she went off in search of her hedgehog.

The hedgehog was engaged in a fight with another hedgehog, which seemed to Alice an excellent opportunity for croqueting one of them with the other: the only difficulty was, that her Flamingo was gone across to the other side of the garden, where Alice could see it trying in a helpless sort of way flying into a tree.

"Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin," thought Alice: "but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life!"

"Found it," the Mouse replied rather crossly: "of course you know what it means."

"I know what it means well enough, when I find a thing," said the Duck: "it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the archbishop find?"

Natalia Melike

'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'

'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat. 

'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.

'Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: 'we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.' 

jana 

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

Isabelle Beaudoin 

If you don't know where you're going, any road can take you there

Trinity F.P.

dreamlike & surrealist, but maybe that’s because I was half asleep listening to most of this (not because I was bored, I was just tired)

Murphy Scott

Camilla

Donald J. Gray

New to the Second Edition is "The Wasp in a Wig," a recently discovered episode Carroll deleted from Through the Looking-Glass, but which fits into the story in interesting ways. Each text is accompanied by ample explanatory notes. "Backgrounds" reprints new selections from recent biographies of Carroll and from recent editions of his diaries and letters. Our understanding of and appreciation for Carroll's life and literature are deepened by new contributions from Anne Clark, Tony Beale, E. M. Rowell, and, most revealingly, Carroll himself. "Criticism" retains seven seminal critiques from the First Edition while adding four important recent essays by Nina Auerbach, Roger Henkle, Robert Polhemus, and Donald Rackin. A revised and updated Selected Bibliography is also included.

Bria

I’ve always been obsessed with Alice in Wonderland. I’ve watched every single movie portrayal even the horror movies, a genre that I haaate, but I never read the books. I enjoyed this just as much as the movies (except the horror ones) and I’m so glad I finally got around to it. The only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the last book. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two.

Scarlett Johansson

Fun story to listen to while doing chores.

blue

Alices Adventures in Wonderland                            Collins Classics

anna

I really enjoyed reading this for the first time. It's been so good and fun to read.

Tobias V. Langhoff

Although "it was actually a dream" is a fine trope to use in children's books, I felt like reading this book actually was like a dream. And not in the good, dreamy way of imagination, but in the way that most dreams don't seem to make a lot of sense when you wake up. There really is no narrative thread in dreams, plotlines are dropped or introduced willy-nilly, they're absurd, and there's rarely any narrative closure. That's what the story of this book was like, too; it just felt like Alice was dreaming the whole time. I like a good book or movie that feels like a fever dream, like Pynchon or Lynch, but this one had none of that urgent fever dream surrealism (although I guess that wouldn't fit well in a children's book anyway).

But it was well written, especially the puns and wordplay! I really enjoyed those. It was interesting to see how much creative license Disney employed (had to employ?) in their movie version. The Mad Hatter is a completely different character here, and we don't really see him much.

milly

had it’s cute moments but not enough to keep me entertained

Jaden Nelson

Fun little story that I enjoyed listening to. First of all, the speaker of the audio book was great and enthusiastic, which just added to the wonderful and whimsical and magical imagery. Nice to listen to.

On an ordinary summer's afternoon, Alice tumbles down a hole and an extraordinary adventure begins. In a strange world with even stranger characters, she meets a rabbit with a pocket watch, joins a Mad Hatter's Tea Party, and plays croquet with the Queen! Lost in this fantasy land, Alice finds herself growing more and more curious by the minute.

Alice's adventures in wonderland

Amena Elkayal

More like 2,5 / 5...
I don't know why, but it's kinda overrated. I think i'm the only one who never read Alice's adventures in wonderland or watched the movie when i was a kid. It wasn't that bad to be honest, it isn't just as good as i expected it to be.

Sir John Tenniel

Elliot

Briar's Reviews

Alice in Wonderland was a good read, but not something that kept me hooked on.

For a novel created way back when by Lewis Carroll, I find it to be a wonderful read. The book has good themes that I liked picking out here and there. The novel wasn't action packed, but it is a child's novel and an older novel at that.

I did enjoy the book, but it isn't something I would read over and over for the sake of enjoyment. I enjoyed it though!

I read this book because I have seen many television and movie adaptions of this book and I wanted to read the material all of it was based on.

Very good but not my style, personally.
Two out of five stars.

One snowy winters afternoon, Alice climbs through the mirror above her drawing-room fireplace, into a back- to-front, topsy-turvy world where flowers talk, chess pieces walk and the faster you run, the more you end up in the same place. As she wanders through this strange, astonishing land, Alice encounters a host Of favourite childhood characters, each clamouring to be rediscovered and given new life by award-winning illustrator Helen Oxenhury. Wonder at Tweedledum and liveedledee, laugh at the Walrus and the Carpenter, cower from the Lion and the Unicorn, ponder the Jabberwock, and beware the proud Humpty Dumpty and snappish Red Queen.

Marvellous story or meaningful text, Alice Through the Looking-Glass has long captivated readers of all ages, Satirical, witty and irreverent, it pokes fun at authority and mocks traditional education in a way that appeals to children 01 any era.
--front flap

Through the Looking-Glass and What She Found There

Alice

Marcelo Ricarte Gomes

Dessa vez achei o Através do Espelho mil vezes melhor e mais gostoso de ler.
Mas o amor e a nostalgia pela obra como um todo continuam os mesmos.

Alice falls down a rabbit hole and discovers a world of nonsensical and amusing characters.

Wynter

"Well, then, ' the Cat went on, 'you see, a dog growls when it's angry, and wags its tail when it's pleased. Now I growl when I'm pleased, and wag my tail when I'm angry. Therefore I'm mad."

Ha, I never thought about it that way! Alice in Wonderland is a classic for a reason: it perfectly captures the inquiring and imaginative nature of childhood. The quirkiness and madness of Wonderland is simply a child trying to make sense of her world, and it's positively a lovely thing to witness.

Amanda Faith

how can a novel so absurd make the most sense out of everything ive ever read?

When Alice tumbles down a rabbit hole one hot summer's afternoon in pursuit of a White Rabbit she finds herself in Wonderland. Wonderland is no ordinary place and the characters that populate it are quite unlike anybody young Alice has ever met. "Through the Looking-Glass" continues her bizarre adventures, and she meets more outlandish creations including the Red and the White Queens, Humpty Dumpty and the White Knight.

and, Through the looking-glass and what Alice found there

Alice's adventures in Wonderland

Jerilynn Hallett 

Only read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, not the second book.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre.

100 Years Edition

Beatriz Aguiar

the ending was really great actually... though it was too fast paced and crazy for my taste. what a wild ride

victoria

it was lame! i hate to say it but the movies are better! its not as magical when reading

Halle Moir

Ilse

On my tour of classics I really wanted to read the source material that inspired all the Alice in Wonderland movies. Unfortunately though, I found the story disjointed and confusing, and I just didn’t like any of the characters. It felt a little like a creative writing project in which the author wrote various little snippets of stories and just mashed it together under the guise of: adventures in a strange magical wonderland. It’s a pity, as I really wanted to like it, but alas

tina

So plotwise, this book didn't blow me away. It was both whimsical and nonsensical but the story alone just didn't charm me. This is just a 2/5 stars for me.
I am going to dive deeper into the story and discover the hidden meanings. I might change my rating then. 

FULL REVIEW TO COME.

Izza

Siya S

This book is so random and I'm glad I chose t to listen to an audiobook version because otherwise, I wouldn't be able to finish it. The language was a bit tedious, and there's not much of a plot, just Alice randomly stumbled upon one weird random shit over another. For some reason, I really liked the Mock Turtle, and the Mad Hatter. 

Overall, it's like tripping on LSD, because (IIRC) this book is what it's all about.

Daria Bramnik

At first I liked this book because my parents read it to me a lot when I was a little girl, it was innocent for me, and the reason I read it again is the complete opposite.
The history of Alice and the writer involved me in the book tightly, I began researching about Alice and in a fast pace it turned to be a huge research about the illnesses of the characters in the book. This book is so fascinating and different. It makes me ask questions and actually sit and think for hours to no end, this is mad! The queen, the mad hater they are just characters! But they hold so much more. A history, a psychological sickness history. Why does Alice fantasizes about such weird and unbelievable things. Why is she changing sizes? Why, why, why.

Alice in Wonderland

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