Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Signet Classics)

Book Description

The Mad Hatter, the Ugly Duchess, the Mock Turtle, the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat-characters each more eccentric than the last, and that could only have come from Lewis Carroll, the master of sublime nonsense. In these two brilliant burlesques he created two of the most famous and fantastic novels of all time that not only stirred our imagination but revolutionized literature.

• Featuring the exquisite line drawings created for the original edition

Customer Reviews:

One of the best books ever.......2007-09-02

I am fonder of Through the Looking Glass than Alice in Wonderland, perhaps because of less exposure (e.g., Disney and other commercial venues). The drawings by Tenniel are brilliant and add the right flavor to the story. The book is well-written, surreal with bizarre, fascinating characters (whom a little girl has to figure out), unique situations, word play, puzzles and a mocking irreverent tone towards high society. Whenever as an adult I'd hit a snag and couldn't read, I would always pull out this one and it would put me back on track again. Another I will treasure for the memories of sharing it with my kid.

alice review.......2007-08-15

I thought it was funny and entertaining, but to be honest I was expecting something in the line of a masterpiece and I'm a little disappointed. The story is amazingly childish and crude and the worthwhile parts are very distinct and separate from the rest of the lackluster story. Still, the wordplay is ingenious and the book is an all around treat.

"If You Believe in Me, I'll Believe in You!".......2007-07-12

When Charles Ludwig Dodgson first began to tell the story of Alice's adventures underground to the three Liddell sisters, he had no idea whatsoever the impact that his work would one day have in the cultural history of humanity. Is there a person alive in Western civilization that *doesn't* know of Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat? I seriously doubt it. Writing under the pen name of Lewis Carroll, Dodgson's quirky fairytale soon became a publishing sensation in Victorian England, quite an unusual feat for a dour mathematician who had no interest whatsoever in boys, women or most other human beings, and instead lavishing his attention on little girls - particularly one Alice Liddell, to whom he presented the original manuscript to. The story of Lewis Carroll is just as fascinating as his fictional Alice, so I would suggest following up the "Alice" books with a good Carroll biography.

In a story that is so random (basically made up of one little girl wandering about in a dream) there is plenty of room for all sorts of crazy theories as to exactly what everything means. Does "Alice" have a deep subtext, filled with hidden meaning and messages? Is it Freudian? Elaborate satire? Does it reflect the deep internal frustrations, anxieties and wish-fulfillment of a slightly-disturbed mathematician obsessed with little girls? Or is it simply a series of weird and wonderful events dreamed up for the enjoyment of children? The fact that nobody is really sure *what* to make of this story is probably the reason why it's still published, read and discussed today.

The other reason is its historical value. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was the first book designed for children that was entirely void of any sort of moral, and instead written solely for pure entertainment purposes. Before "Alice", children were stuck with stories that preached goodliness and virtue, something that Carroll himself pokes fun at during the course of the story, when he refers to "several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had told them." His stories came like an unexpected breath of fresh air amongst Victorian society, and it was little wonder that adults as well as children helped to make "Alice" a bestseller during its day.

Another crucial feature to the tale is Alice herself, often considered the first realistic representation of a child in literature. She's curious, but sometimes a little shy. She's polite, but manners often give way to frustration and temper tantrums. She's intelligent, but not as intelligent as she would like to think she is (relying heavily on an education that often fails her). She often holds her own against the contradictory natures of the people she meets, but more often than not is baffled and belittled by them. She possesses some degree of common sense, but often does some remarkably stupid things. She's likeable, but she's also a bit of a show-off and a snob. In other words, she's the first (and perhaps the best) example of a three-dimensional child character in literature geared toward either children *or* adults.

"Alice in Wonderland" begins with the infamous sight of a white rabbit with a waistcoat and pocket-watch muttering to himself: "I'm late! I'm late!" Abandoning her sister and the dull book that she's reading, Alice follows the rabbit down a rabbit hole and unexpectedly finds herself drifting deep down underground. What follows is a series of weird and wonderful meetings with the likes of the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, the Cheshire Cat and the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, as poor Alice - the only sane person in the madhouse - struggles to make herself heard against this twisted parody of the adult world.

Nearly every page contains a clever pun, nonsensical poem or mathematical puzzle, and there's plenty here to keep you fascinated, whether it be Alice's abrupt shrinking and growing (brought on by eating Wonderland food, and perhaps reflecting Carroll's desire to control the growth of his young protagonist), the beautiful garden that Alice cannot seem to reach (and when she does, she finds it not quite to her liking, perhaps suggesting a reverse-Eden, in which children desiring adulthood soon realize that it's not quite what they expected it to be) or Alice's internal crisis in which she debates whether the surreal circumstances she's found herself in have resulted in her loosing her own identity (I won't even try to open the jar on *that* one!) No wonder scholars can go mad trying to untangle this tale! Even the fact that the story succumbs to the ultimate cliché in fantasy-fiction, the ending that will reward you with an F if you use it in a creative-writing exercise at school (I am of course, referring to the fact that Alice wakes up at the conclusion of the story to find that it was just a dream), doesn't damage the power of Carroll's imaginative force.

"Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" is a little more structured in terms of its storyline, perhaps because Carroll was not simply making most of it up on the spot, as he had done with its predecessor. This time, when Alice falls asleep, she crawls through the mirror on the top of the mantelpiece and into the room on the other side. There she finds a land organized into the shape of a giant chessboard, in which Alice herself is a little pawn that must journey to the end of the board if she wishes to become a Queen. On the way she meets several chess pieces, including the Red and White Queen, and the White Knight (widely believed to represent Carroll himself), as well as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, a garden of living flowers, and the Lion and the Unicorn, the latter of whom famously tells Alice: "If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you." My favourite chapter would have to be the one that involves the ludicrously pompous Humpty Dumpty (who is really the one who coined the term "un-birthday", not the Mad Hatter and the March Hare as the Disney version would have you believe), though equally memorable is the intriguing episode when Alice happens upon the sleeping Red King, and is told that he's dreaming of her. Is Alice in the Red King's dream, or is the Red King in Alice's dream? What should happen if one of them should wake up before the other? It's a disturbing metaphysical conundrum, and hints at the depths with which a scholar (or deep-thinking child) could delve into these stories.

Of course, not every child will enjoy the "Alice" stories. What was once vividly imaginative and innovative for a stifled Victorian audience has long since become commonplace in children's fiction, and the randomness with which the adventures take place can often unsettle young listeners (as they certainly did me, as I always felt that Alice was caught inside a nightmare). However, others will delight in the madness that abounds throughout the story, and others still will learn to appreciate the work as they get older. There are hundreds of editions out there, most probably quite as good as the next, but I would encourage buyers to track down an edition with John Tenniel's famous illustrations - you simply cannot read the "Alice" books when they are not accompanied by Tenniel's portrayal of his demure little Alice, with her hooded eyes and large forehead. It would be like reading C. S. Lewis without Pauline Baynes, or Roald Dahl without Quentin Blake. Unthinkable!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Why Disney is Dead To Me.......2007-06-12

How is a raven like a writing desk? Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front. That is an example of the witty offbeat humor in "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland".

Alice is sitting bored when her attention is captured by a talking white rabbit. She follows it down a rabbit hole into a world full of strange creatures, curious happenings, and mysterious pastries. At first she marvels at all the oddities, but soon she wants to get home, only to discover that she doesn't know how.

By far my favorite parts of this book are when Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat. He is very witty, and adds something special to the story. Also his grin is phenomonal.

I think the theme of this book is really about using your imagination and letting your creative side get the best of you once in a while, not letting other things like television and the media do the imagining for you. That's also why the movie is totally hypocritical.

The whole point of the book is using your imagination, and the "Alice in Wonderland" movie did the opposite of that. Despite it being created by the godfather of the animated film industry (Disney) it really sucked. They took out too much of the story just to squeeze it into 1 and a half hours and a G-rating. "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" wasn't made for the big screen, considering its length and semi-annoying characters that if animated and given the life of Disney turn them into monsters that are enough to make even the most devout Catholic contemplate suicide. And the songs! Don't even get me started on those. Disney has to pump every movie it pushes out full of annoying constant 5-minute "songs" that give you ear worms for a month! They ruin everything they get their greasy little fingers on. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland used to be original and interesting and Disney went ahead, squeezed out all the creativity, shoved some songs into it, stamped their trademark on it, and shipped it out. They are sick, sick little people.

Most of this book is quite entertaining, though there are a few parts that just seem stuck in there and were quite dull. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is a very original and interesting story, and if you've never read the book, do so. It is entirely worth it. If you haven't seen the movie, stay far, far away. For those of you who have, good luck with the nightmares. And those monstrous ear worms.

-carli

my favorite movie and book.......2007-04-14

i am 11 and the 1951 animated disney classic ALICE IN WONDERLAND is my favorite movie and the same with the book.
the book is better than the movie because disney left out a lot of charecters when he made the movie(like the ugly duchess,the grython,MR.mouse and many more) that is why the book is just a little better. this book is full of colorful rich words that make you want to read more from both ALICE stories also it has very well balck and white drawings.

The Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass

Average customer rating:

Huh ?
Do not go to a foreign country with out a road map.
No need to "Go Ask Alice" when you have the Annotated one
Wonderful Gift
This book is necessary, in all senses of the word

The Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Lewis Carroll , and Martin Gardner
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

ASIN: 0517029626
Release Date: 1993-08-28

Customer Reviews:

Huh ?.......2007-02-27

This book reminds me of watching Henry Kissinger being interviewed by William F. Buckley, Jr. on FIRING LINE. Poor Henry spoke so deliberately and so s-l-o-w-l-y that I genuinely couldn't follow what he was saying. His cannonballs could barely make it out of the barrel of his cannon.

Up until reading this book I thought I would never again have to experience that excruciating pain. This volume is an excellent edition of esoterica and historical trivialties. Whatever "magic" one might hope to find in "Alice's ..." is almost immediately lost in trying to read the copious notes in the margins. (My bad?) I had hoped for something less pedantic and sterile. (My bad? ... doesn't some slang just make you wince?)

Anyway, be advised - if you're having trouble getting to sleep, this book is for you. (wink, wink)

Do not go to a foreign country with out a road map........2002-06-24

In this case the foreign country is in time and space. This book appears to be stand alone logic and fun on the surface. Some may even think it is a children's book. If so why all the courses and scholarly writings on the story?
Some things are self evident as being so short that you can touch your toes. Others may take some time as the reason hatters are mad is the process includes mercury. Still when was the last time you used a bathing machine? Knowing some of information can enhance the enjoyment of reading the story.
You get the original illustrations to boot. So when you are finished perusing this book it can be used as a coffee table conversation book.

No need to "Go Ask Alice" when you have the Annotated one.......2002-06-16

Perhaps no other set of works in literature benefits more from annotation than "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Class." Martin Gardner, the author of a regular monthly column on recreational mathematics for "Scientific American," provides expert commentary on all the jokes, games, puzzles, tricks, parodies, obscure references and other curiosities with which Lewis Carroll saturated his writing. That means that you will find out who was the original model for the Chesire Cat and how the "Jabberwocky" poem translates into French. Actually, the definitions of all of those strange words in "Jabberwocky" is quite a load off of my mind. Besides, this edition also contains the full text of each tale, together with all of the original Sir John Tenniel illustrations in their proper places. The annotation runs concurrently with the text and Gardner also provides an introduction that covers both the story of how the books came to be written and some of the most interesting analyses of Carroll's works, such as those always fun Freudian interpretations. The bottom line is that either one of these books gets 5 stars by itself, so when you put the two of them together and add all this annotation, there is nothing to complain about. This is the perfect book for re-reading these books; I would never send anybody here for their first exposure to Alice, but once they are hooked on Carroll's sublime nonsense this will open up a whole new dimension or two (or three) of his work for them.

Wonderful Gift.......2000-11-02

I was given this as a birthday gift as a child, and find it is one of the few gifts I can remember receiving. And probably the only one I still use, nearly 30 years later. If you enjoy Alice, you will love to know more of the background, and inside jokes that you will no doubt miss without this book.

This book is necessary, in all senses of the word.......2000-04-12

Victorian-era readers of Lewis Carroll's delightful fantasies knew the poetry and song and public figures referred to; we moderns need to have the jokes explained to us, and Martin Gardner does a masterful job of it. We're fortunately past the more bizarre Freudian and Marxist interpretations of Alice that Gardner takes to task in his preface, but Gardner's annotations survive, as they should. The White Knight's encounter with Alice is heartbreaking when you know the background information, the lyric the White Knight's doggerel alludes to. By all means, give this to children at risk of being pithed by exposure to a certain indigo reptile; as children, they'll appreciate the story, and as they mature, they'll appreciate the commentary, and you'll have saved a budding intellect.

Average customer rating:

The Queen of Hearts family name is Kim
Excellent analysis of North Korea
Yet another alcoholic despot
Authors not up to the task
A Hermit Kingdom

North Korea through the Looking Glass
Kong Dan Oh
Manufacturer: Brookings Institution Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0815764359

Book Description

"Oh and Hassig give their readers genuine insight into one of the most bizarre and mysterious societies on earth, at the precise moment when the North Korean tragicomedy appears to be moving toward a denouement. The value and timing of this book could not be greater." - Francis Fukuyama, Hirst Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University

"No one can presume to predict the near term future of North Korea-implosion, explosion, gradual assimilation into the Asian community of nations, peaceful reunification with the South, or continuing down the current path of a hermit nation-isolated and struggling to survive. We can predict with certainty that insights into what drives this nation of 23 million people, a focus of U.S. defense planning for 50 years, will continue to be important to U.S. national interests for years to come. Kongdan (Katy) Oh and Ralph Hassig have made a rich contribution to meeting the need for these insights with a view through the looking glass into the mystery that is North Korea. This is an important book, readable and profound. It is worthy of the careful study and attention of those who want to better understand the global environment that shapes and permeates our own future." - General Larry D. Welch, President, Institute for Defense Analyses

"Neither with rancor nor sentimentality Oh and Hassig unpeel the layers of misinformation, vilification, and speculation about North Korea to provide a textured view of this enigmatic Northeast Asian State. This fine book outlines the seemingly impenetrable logic of the North Korean ideology of Juche showing how it dominates state economic and foreign policy. It is also one of the best analyses of the leadership cults of the late Kim Il Sung and the current leader Kim Jong Il. The analysis presented here is not idle punditry; it is based on painstaking research, thorough familiarity with Korean language sources, and extensive interviews of a multinational group of policymakers familiar with North Korea, as well as defectors. This book will become a standard read for those interested in why North Korea has survived the fall of the global socialist system to continue to confound the stability and evolution of Northeast Asia's economic and diplomatic relations. It will also be required reading for American strategic planners who have isolated North Korea as a major security threat to the U.S. Oh and Hassig capture the unique dynamics behind the survival and continuance of this unique system whose future resides at the very heart of the Northeast Asian state system and its future." - Michael E. Robinson, Indiana University

Customer Reviews:

The Queen of Hearts family name is Kim.......2006-06-02

An informative, well written sojourn into one of the most bizarre lands on the planet. The only place where the book tends to bog down is when it makes a game try at explaining Juche, the governing philosophy of North Korea, a mystifying blend of doublethink, the divine right of kings, divinely inspired governmental infallibility and socialism (sort of). The rest of the book provides a fascinating glimpse into a culture that is so foreign to western minds that explaining it as an import from another planet almost sounds reasonable. The reader may find it troubling after finishing the book to reflect on the fact that North Korea is such a sealed culture that what the book presents is most likely just ripples on the surface of a very deep cenoté.

Excellent analysis of North Korea.......2005-06-09

This book contains very solid analysis of North Korea's society and political structure. However, I believe that if the authors had relaxed their anti-North Korea stance a touch the book may have helped me understand North Korea a bit more. I wouldn't recommend this to be the first book you read about North Korea - it's a bit too dense and analytical for that. But it's a great resource for further study.

Yet another alcoholic despot.......2004-12-11

The title suggests an "Alice in Wonderland" fantasyland, but a huge dose of Edgar Allen Poe must be added to the cauldron to get a feel for the horrors of this most bizarre of lands.

This terrific book explains that the combination of Confucian kingdom and totalitarian socialist state allows the rulers of North Korea, Kim Il Sung from its founding at the end of WW2 to his death in 1994 and his successor-son, Kim Jong Il, to wield inconceivable power not only over peoples' actions, but also over their minds. North Koreans almost uniformly believe their rulers are the equivalent of Gods. According to the authors, in the Korean tradition of Confucianism, North Koreans willingly subject themselves to a strict hierarchical social order and absolute loyalty to and respect for the Kims, which is returned with feigned benevolence.

While the history and troubles of North Korea make interesting reading, the most fascinating aspect for students of addiction (which provides an oft-overlooked explanation for bad behaviors) revolve around the observable (sometimes, subtle) clues to early-stage alcoholism in the current "central brain," Kim Jong Il. Needless to say, the clues are few, since little escapes the "hermit kingdom." We learn that the person who is, perhaps, the highest-ranking defector ever, former North Korean party secretary Hwang Jang Yop, reported that an understanding of Kim's personal life is irrelevant to comprehending his political behavior. This is simply untrue, especially if there is alcoholism, although I don't expect (or suspect that) the authors would understand this.

Kim displays numerous behavioral indications of alcoholism, which the book goes into in great detail (and which I describe in my books as evidence of addiction). As I note elsewhere and in the calculations embedded in my on-line Substance Addiction Recognition Indicator, barring actual evidence of addictive use we're limited to ascribing an 80% likelihood of alcoholism. As I've also noted elsewhere, a diagnosis of alcoholism is essential if we are to understand the motivations of the subject under scrutiny, if there really is early-stage alcoholism.

While such evidence is scarce, it is not non-existent. According to the authors, the late-night parties of his younger days are said to be legendary. Japanese women invited to attend one of Kim's intimate parties, apparently after he became the supreme leader, report that he drank heavily and scattered hundred dollar bills (a rather ironic use of U.S. money). And, the authors say, "Kim Jong Il relies on a kitchen cabinet composed of a small group of friends and family members of approximately his own age, especially trusting a few close relatives and drinking buddies." As discussed in my book "Drunks, Drugs & Debits," merely having drinking buddies, especially when well past age 30, is a classic sign of alcoholism.

The truly frightening aspect to this surreal mess is that not only is the head of state a likely alcoholic (and, therefore, capable of anything), but also that the vast majority of the North Korean people appear to be as indoctrinated as were the citizens of George Orwell's imaginary Oceania.

"Through the Looking Glass" details the amazing propaganda used by Kim, his military amateurism, social controls and "thought" control over the North Korean people. The book is a fascinating read. For those who grasp the idea of alcoholism, it offers a unique insight as to why Kim Jong Il, possibly the only alcoholic despot other than Stalin to have access to nuclear weapons (who had them for only a short time before he died), may be the most dangerous man ever.

Authors not up to the task.......2002-11-18

Interest in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has increased since President Bush included the nation with Iran and Iraq as an "Axis of Evil" state. Further interest was generated in October of 2002, when the North Korean government confirmed that it possesses a nuclear weapons program. I, along with many Americans, are now seeking information about this mysterious hermit nation. I chose Kongdan Oh's "North Korea: Through the Looking Glass" because it seemed to be a non-technical overview of North Korean society, economics, and politics. The blurbs on the back cover described the book as providing "genuine insight" gleaned from "painstaking research." Unfortunately, the book did not live up to its promise.

One finds oneself wishing that the authors would share with the reader all of the interesting data that they discovered in researching the book. Instead, all we get are general statements about the corruption and ineptitude of the North Korean government. This could have been a much better book if the authors had elected to paint a more vivid picture by including more detail. Here's an example: on page 66 the authors make the following statement: "North Korean government and party officials also engage in many illicit activities such as counterfeiting, production of illicit drugs, and smuggling (especially conducted by the DPRK's foreign diplomatic corps). " There is no elaboration on this provocative declaration. The citation for this statement is an article by David Kaplan et al. in US News & World Report, dated February 15, 1999. I looked up the article and found it to be fascinating. The US News piece states that North Korean counterfeit "$100 bills ... are cranked out on a $10 million intaglio press similar to those employed by the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, officials say. North Korean defectors claim the notes come from a high-security plant in Pyongyang. Kim Jeong Min, a former top North Korean intelligence official, told US News that he had been ordered to find paper used to print US currency but couldn't. 'Instead. I obtained many $1 notes and bleached the ink out of them,' he says." You can see how the authors water down the source material to a bland presentation of generalities. It as if the authors went to the same writer's school as the North Korean propagandists, from whom they endlessly and boringly quote.

I was also annoyed by the repeated jabs at the North Korean government. Readers should be allowed to come to their own conclusions about the foolishness of the North Korean dictator, rather than be pelted with parenthetical inserts about the ineptitude of the leadership. An example: "The most pressing economic problem is the food shortage. The apparent (but wrong) solution to the problem is to try to achieve economic self-sufficiency... " This style gets irritating very quickly. Sometimes, the writing becomes downright stupid. An example from chapter 8: "North Korea is half a world away in the part of the globe less familiar to Americans -- Asia rather than Europe."

I was interested in examining the 29 photographs that occupy the center of the book. Unfortunately, they all appear to be government-approved. For instance, there are several sterile photos of peoples' backs as they stand still looking at statues exalting communism. Of course, the lifelessness of theses photos probably does reflect the Zeitgeist of this unfortunate country. But I wish the photographs could have provided more insight into the difficulty of daily life in North Korea.

Despite the flaws in the book, the subject is of such intrinsic interest that I kept reading. My persistence was rewarded at the end of the book, where the authors discuss policy options in dealing with North Korea. This section was well-reasoned and shows that the authors do indeed know their topic. Too bad the preceding 200 pages were not equally as good.

A Hermit Kingdom.......2002-10-23

A great introductory insight into one of the most strange and mysterious countries on earth. The authors provide valuable examples and a good understanding as to how the bizarre North Korean government operates, and how this regime minipulates the minds of its people. The most interesting parts of the book are the insights provided by the many defectors from the North, and the stories they tell.

In my opinion, the book lacked any real insight into North Koreas military capability, it kind of leaves the reader wondering how strong this country really is. Though the author does mention that North Korea has a "military first" policy, and most of its money and resources goes into the military, we don't know what types of capabilities they really have, what types of technology they possess, and what countries are supplying them with what technological products. This lack of information may be due to lack of the authors access to this information.

Book Description

Taking a strong developmental focus, this book ensures that teachers understand the close relationship between observing, understanding what has been observed, and improving the educational curriculum and environment. This edition is the result of a continued commitment to produce a book on observation that unites solid methodological instruction with a broad understanding of children's development. Chapter 1 now covers information on professional development such as the reader's responsibilities and an introduction to professional organizations, developmentally appropriate practice, and ethical conduct in early childhood education. A new Chapter 2 details the practical issues of finding the time to observe, learning the basics of observation, and minimizing subjectivity. Highlights of development during preschool and primary grades serve as a common ground of information for both novice and knowledgeable readers to respond sensitively to children's individualities and cultures. Each chapter incorporates an ethic from the National Association for the Education of Young Children's (NAEYC) “Code of Ethical Conduct”—and presents a concrete application to connect daily work with professional values For early childhood educators.

More Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass

Average customer rating:

Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice is definitive.

More Annotated Alice: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Martin Gardner
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition

ASIN: 0394585712
Release Date: 1990-11-21

Customer Reviews:

Martin Gardner's Annotated Alice is definitive........1996-08-14

Martin Gardner avoids questionable psychoanalyticinterpretations, and instead describes the objects ofCarroll's satire that have been forgotten since the Victorian era. His notes allow us to fully enjoy Lewis Carroll's humor, and to see why Alice was so loved by children then (and by mathematicians now).

The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition

Average customer rating:

Wonderful Background and Analysis, but no academic description
Nice so far.
the book that didn't arrive
Highly recommend it!
Perfect gift

The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition
Lewis Carroll
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0393048470

Amazon.com

"What is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations!"

Readers who share Alice's taste in books will be more than satisfied with The Annotated Alice, a volume that includes not only pictures and conversations, but a thorough gloss on the text as well. There may be some, like G.K. Chesterton, who abhor the notion of putting Lewis Carroll's masterpiece under a microscope and analyzing it within an inch of its whimsical life. But as Martin Gardner points out in his introduction, so much of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass is composed of private jokes and details of Victorian manners and mores that modern audiences are not likely to catch. Yes, Alice can be enjoyed on its own merits, but The Annotated Alice appeals to the nosy parker in all of us. Thus we learn, for example, that the source of the mouse's tale may have been Alfred Lord Tennyson who "once told Carroll that he had dreamed a lengthy poem about fairies, which began with very long lines, then the lines got shorter and shorter until the poem ended with fifty or sixty lines of two syllables each." And that, contrary to popular belief, the Mad Hatter character was not a parody of then Prime Minister Gladstone, but rather was based on an Oxford furniture dealer named Theophilus Carter.

Gardner's annotations run the gamut from the factual and historical to the speculative and are, in their own way, quite as fascinating as the text they refer to. Occasionally, he even comments on himself, as when he quotes a fellow annotator of Alice, James Kincaid: "The historical context does not call for a gloss but the passage provides an opportunity to point out the ambivalence that may attend the central figure and her desire to grow up." And then follows with a charming riposte: "I thank Mr. Kincaid for supporting my own rambling." There's a lot of information in the margins (indeed, the page is pretty evenly divided between Carroll's text and Gardner's), but the ramblings turn out to be well worth the time. So hand over your old copy of Lewis Carroll's classic to the kids--this Alice in Wonderland is intended entirely for adults. --Alix Wilber

Book Description

The culmination of a lifetime of scholarship, The Annotated Alice is a landmark event in the rich history of Lewis Carroll and cause to celebrate the remarkable career of Martin Gardner. For over half a century, Martin Gardner has established himself as one of the world's leading authorities on Lewis Carroll. His Annotated Alice, first published in 1960, has over half a million copies in print around the world and is highly sought after by families and scholars alike--for it was Gardner who first decoded the wordplay and the many mathematical riddles that lie embedded in Carroll's two classic stories: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. Forty years after this groundbreaking publication, Norton is proud to publish the Definitive Edition of The Annotated Alice, a work that combines the notes of Gardner's 1960 edition with his 1990 update, More Annotated Alice, as well as additional new discoveries and updates drawn from Gardner's encyclopedic knowledge of the texts. Illustrated with John Tenniel's classic and beloved art--along with many recently discovered Tenniel pencil sketches--The Annotated Alice will be Gardner's most beautiful and enduring tribute to Carroll's masterpieces yet. Celebrating his eighty-fifth birthday in the fall of 1999, the redoubtable Gardner has been called by Douglas Hofstadter "one of the great intellects produced in this country in this century." With The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition, we have this remarkable scholar's crowning achievement.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Background and Analysis, but no academic description.......2007-09-30

This book is a wonderful collection of both Alice books, accompanied by full annotations and examples of the original poems and concepts that many of the musings in the works are based on. Anyone who is interested in Alice, Wonderland, and/or the Looking-Glass should get this book, as it provides wonderful analysis and background of the author and the girl the protagonist is modeled after. It also explains some of the less obvious jokes by explaining their origins.

I also like how the annotations reference other works of analysis on Alice. There is also a list in the back of many Alice-related works sorted by category. This shows that a lot of effort was put into this book and its integrity.

Unfortunately, there are a few cons. If you are looking to buy this for assistance on a book report or project, I must warn you that the notes in this book aren't tailored for academic analysis, but more broad literary analysis. In other words; the symbols and motifs aren't as important to the author as the linguistic jokes, puns, and concepts are. Also, the wonderfully designed cover is really only a paper cover, something not discernible from the online picture.

Nice so far........2007-07-20

I haven't had the chance to delve deeply into this one yet, but I love the layout. The original story is in the middle and the notes are on the outside margins. They provide excellent insight into the depth of the story and the outside motivating factors.

the book that didn't arrive.......2007-05-10

My purchase was confirmed and I was charged for it. However, the seller had already sold it and emailed me that they were sending me a check for the amount I was billed. So far no check.

Highly recommend it!.......2007-03-30

great book. Not all the annotations are useful, but most help explain things that we may not understand since we are not of that era.

Perfect gift.......2007-03-25

I gave this book as a gift to an Alice fan and collector. She was thrilled with this gorgeous volume.

Therapeutic Metaphors: Helping Others Through the Looking Glass

Average customer rating:

Always have a story to tell
This book explains the secrets of story telling capabilities

Therapeutic Metaphors: Helping Others Through the Looking Glass
David Gordon
Manufacturer: Meta Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Psychotherapy, TA & NLP | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0916990044

Customer Reviews:

Always have a story to tell.......2005-03-15

I was going to buy the book by George Burns who wrote 101 healing metaphors. I read portions of that book, and the stories I read were excellent.

More recently I was listening to a conference call with Kenrick Cleveland, an NLP sales pioneer. During this call they mentioned Therapeutic Metaphors by David A. Gordon, and how good this book was, a must read. Then they said something that made me decide to buy this book.

When you tell a story, the listener identifies with the lead character in the story, in essence believing the character is them. Can you imagine how powerful a story you can tell, knowing the listener is identifying with the main character, and how this can be applied either to sales or relationships.

I remember telling a female friend a story about how a friend of mine made a judgmental comment about woman who was overweight. She said she felt terrible because if that's what happens to this woman, then what does that say about peoples perception of her. I said this story is not about you, and jokingly said why does everything have to be about you? She laughed and agreed. Another example is fairy tales where girls identify with the princess, and boys identify with the Prince.

So, when I heard this conference call this was an ah ha moment for me. There is much instruction in this book about how to construct healing metaphors, and some examples.

I read one story in this book, and it had such visual impact that as I read it I felt I was there as this story was unfolding. That is how strong the imagery is. I do strongly recommend this book for any aspiring writer or storyteller. After all, good storytelling is all about getting and sustaining the listener or reader's attention, and giving them a memorable experience, while getting your message across.

My first foray into this field was the Erickson story book, My voice will go with you, which I highly recommend. If you have an interest in this field this book is a must, because these are case studies from the master himself.

The Gordon book breaks down the technique in more detail, teaching you how to use metaphor powerfully.

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This book explains the secrets of story telling capabilities.......1998-07-31

Virginia satir and Milton Erickson were great story telles. Using NLP technology, David analyzed these skills and combined the results in this book.

David Gordon was around in Santa Cruz when NLP was "invented" by Bandler & Grinder, yet he choose to focus on a different aspect, thus giving us some more material to learn from. This book is about building metaphors, improving upon them using elements that come from early NLP-research, and using them. In short,it is a complete guide to become another Milton Erickson or Virginia Satir yourself, or at least as far as story telling will bring you. You'll learn to use representation systems, submodalities and Satir categories to enhance your story.

READ OTHER REVIEWS ON Merl's World on NLP, a amazon associate specialized in reviewing NLP Books!

Book Description

Conceived by a shy British don on a golden afternoon to entertain ten-year-old Alice Liddell and her sisters, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass have delighted generations of readers in more than eighty languages. “The clue to the enduring fascination and greatness of the Alice books,” writes A. S. Byatt in her Introduction, “lies in language. . . . It is play, and word-play, and its endless intriguing puzzles continue to reveal themselves long after we have ceased to be children.”

Customer Reviews:

Excellent edition of an enduring classic.......2006-06-07

The Modern Library edition is a nice choice for the adult reader, featuring all the wonderful original illustrations (by British political cartoonist John Tenniel), a thoughtful forward by A.S. Byatt, and just enough notes and commentary to provide some additional historical and cultural context.

Lewis Carroll was an imaginitive genius and has created some of the most unforgettable and timeless characters with this work - the Mad Hatter, Tweedledee & Tweedledum, the hookah-smoking Caterpiller, the perpetually late White Rabbit - and the absurd situations Alice finds herself in are poignant and amusing at the same time.

However, one thing I did not realize coming back to these stories for the first time as an adult was just how largely character and situation-driven these stories are. Carroll moves rather disjointedly from one nonsensical scenario to the next, paying very little attention to a cohesive narrative thread. Indeed the world of Alice is best experienced as a whole, when the menagerie of characters can come to life, but these stories could just as easily be read out of order or taken out piece by piece. The creative work doesn't suffer a bit because of this, but readers should not come to these books expecting a novelistic experience.

These are creatures to love, lines to savor, and the most curious things to consider.

A Trip Down The Rabbit Hole All Grown Up.......2005-07-14

There is one thing that all potential customers must keep in mind when buying any Alice book: Do not purchase one that does not include the illustrations of John Tenniel! This edition includes all of them and the quality of the reproductions on the pages are excellent. Tenniel's illustrations help add to the childish excitement of Carroll's stories and will be especially invaluable to teenagers and adults, having just by nature of growing up lost some of the imaginative innocence, that ability to stretch reality, that we all possessed as kids.

Of course, the illustrations wouldn't mean jack if they didn't have a captivating story to work with. Carroll's amusing tale of nonsense is targeted as a kid's book, and that is always where many of our fondest memories of it will remain, but as a college student reading it I was amazed by its power to suspend reality and return me to a level of imagination that I had simply thought I lost somewhere along the way. The trip down the rabbit hole can be quite a different experience from a different point of view.

This particular edition also includes a good introduction and very helpful explanatory notes organized chapter by chapter. The introduction and notes offer insights to Carroll's life and his relations with the real life Alice and her family that, from a student viewpoint, reveal an interesting and more personal side of the Alice tales.

Average customer rating:

NOT for the serious study of Alice illustrations
analyzing Alice
The title is misleading
A beautiful and entertaining look at Alice's world
Alice as Art

The Art of Alice in Wonderland
Stephanie Lovett Stoffel
Manufacturer: Smithmark Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0765191334

Customer Reviews:

NOT for the serious study of Alice illustrations.......2001-04-21

What a dissapointment this book was, having bought it online, I was unable to flip through it's pages first. If you want to seriously study the various illustrators of Alice, don't bother with this book.

First, none of the illustrations are captioned and you have to look up the credits in the back. Yet the foldout page with pictures of Alice from many illustrators is not credited at all, including a lovely image by Mabel Lucie Attwell (who's images do not appear any where else in the book.)Even the cover credits is missing one of the illustrators.

Secondly, one gets the feeling that many if not most of the images are cropped (many times in odd ways) for the sake of their precious layout. Others have touted the design of the book as being reflective of Alice's quirky world. I rather suspect the designer was trying to be trendy, with grunge-like fonts, color overlays on many of the illustrations and some used behind the text as backdrops. It just makes for difficult reading. I didn't even like the uncoated paper it was printed on.

And lastly, don't expect any discussion about the illustrations or the illustrators that created them. Even the great Tenniel himself was only alotted a paragraph or two. The only other discussion is on pages 80-81. Arthur Rackham was allowed a paragraph (and only one image) as well as Barry Moser, yet none of Moser's work was included in the book! Go figure.

If you really want to look at some lovely Alice images, you'd be better of with "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland -A Classic Illustrated Edition" compiled by Cooper Edens. At least you get to see the whole image the way it was intended.

analyzing Alice.......2000-01-01

It is not for those who have not read the book itself nor watched the movie. It is a book for those who question the 'queer ways' of Lewis Carroll's masterpiece. Alice in Wonderland has been one of those classic books that most took for granted, but it is not really just for kids who'd be amused by the cheshire cat and all the other interesting characters. The book, The Art of Alice in Wonderland, rekindles what the real sense of this wonderful story is: It is written by an adult to let kids see and understand the humor of the ways of adults. The book analyzes the representation that Lewis Carroll gave to each of the events and the characters. It is a not as fictitious as most think. There are events in the book that are actually seen in our lives, often unconciously by most of us. The author shows how the conversations between Alice and the other characters and the way Carroll manipulated words were not only used as ornaments but as priceless lessons taught by a marvelous teacher. It also explains how the author came up with such a colorful world and how he built a world for children that adults should come to know about and eventually learn from. I must admit though that it is quite a disadvantage for the reader to be confused by the book's artistic layout. Although the layout was very much in line with the book's imaginary, chaotic and unique setting, it prevents more serious readers and ones who have difficulty to follow mazes, to read what I can say is but just a small and yet important part of what Lewis Carroll really wanted to convey. The Art of Alice in Wonderland is not just a book for those who'd like to see the different ways Alice has been interpreted by artists. It shows the art of the writer, Lewis Carroll himself, in revealing to us in a satirical and very queer way that sometimes the personalities that pass us by are sometimes nothing but a pack of cards.

The title is misleading.......1999-11-28

I was disappointed as soon as I saw this book. I have just now, after several months, begun to look at it more closely.

At first, I thought that the art that was included in the book was from some kinds of modern cartoonish sources that didn't show the variety of assays made at this subject over the years. On second look, these are many many different applications, including advertising, which is interesting after all.

Also, I was disappointed to see that the book was filled with a breathy essay that was, as far as I could see, a superficial rehash of things I have read many times already. But, I see that it is more a discussion of the many venues that have taken the character images in "Alice" for inspiration. Still, the copy is very difficult to read because of graphic issues. I think this book might be a paean to Madison Avenue, etc. Not the usual voice one hears discussing our "beloved" Alice, but potentially a fresh angle.

But, in closing, the final disappointment, though the title of the book gives the art first billing (and the ruminations of our author no mention at all), all attributions as to the sources of the different representations are not captioned, nor are they in the body of the essay, but are in an appendix at the back of the book. Tacky.

A beautiful and entertaining look at Alice's world.......1999-04-14

This is the most stimulating, and fun book about Alice and her art that I have seen. Alice's topsy-turvy world and it's inhabitants are vividly depicted in a book layout that is similar to the shifting, colorful, and unexpected aspects of the art and the stories. I found it to be very informative and entertaining, and enjoyed the rich variety of interpretations different artists bring to these amazing stories.

Alice as Art.......1999-03-10

Personally I own and particuarly enjoy this title. It displays an array of Alice-art and text in a graphically overwhelming sense that I believe is very close to the nature of the story itself, very anti-logically yet pleasingly.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass

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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
Lewis Carroll
Manufacturer: MacMillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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