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.

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

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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.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Modern Library Classics)

Average customer rating:

Excellent edition of an enduring classic
A Trip Down The Rabbit Hole All Grown Up

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Modern Library Classics)
Lewis Carroll
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375761381
Release Date: 2002-12-10

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

Average customer rating:

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

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

Average customer rating:

Only Two Stars for the Penguin Edition
Delightfully silly and witty
pay no attention to the fool below me
Just rent the movie

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Penguin Classics)
Lewis Carroll
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0141439769
Release Date: 2003-04-29

Customer Reviews:

Only Two Stars for the Penguin Edition.......2007-09-11

It's a fantastic book, of course, and it certainly doesn't need me to praise it as millions have done before. It's probably one of the most unique things ever written: the only book that could be considered both completely a children's story and completely a book for adults. The only problem with the Penguin edition is that it's grossly over-annotated. For scholars this may be very helpful, but sadly enough a lot of the notes are either irrelevant to non-professors or provide critical instead of historical or biographical commentary which, in my opinion, ruins the greatest delight of the book: AAIW/TLG are highly interpretable and symbolic stories, but unfortunately the commentator is always interrupting like a nagging pedant before the reader has a chance to reflect. Once again, both stories well deserve their status as true English classics but another edition might be a better choice.

Delightfully silly and witty.......2006-05-05

I had not read these books since I was probably seven or eight, and I am glad that I finally got around to reading them again. These are some of the most fun childrens books (or any books for that matter) ever written. A previous reviewer gave this book a poor rating because it was only a childrens book. I fail to understand how being a childrens book means that a book is bad. Many childrens book are among the best books that I have ever read. Just because a book is a childrens book does not mean that it is a book just for children. Lewis Carroll wrote this for children, but it is probably even more enjoyable for me to read now than it was when I was a child, for now I understand many of the double meanings and world plays that you would never understand as a child. Carroll is better with word plays than any other author that I can recall reading. He is a master of molding sentences that simply slide right off of your tongue because they flow so smoothly. This is definitely one of the best childrens books ever written.

Overall grade: A+

pay no attention to the fool below me.......2004-03-31

I was shocked when i saw that the Alice books got 3 stars. these are literary classics , the two most complicated "children books" with many levels of interpretation. I know people have different tastes but this deserved an overall score of at least four.

Just rent the movie.......2004-02-14

The first thing that must be said for anyone who's seen Disney's Alice in Wonderland and wants to read the book because they loved it so much is beware. The book and the movie, while following the same story line, are nothing alike, and if you expect them to be you'll most likely end up as disappointed as I was.

Perhaps it's because I grew up with the fluidly poetic Dr Zeus, or perhaps I just expected something that the book simply was not, but I found Carroll's tale bland and void of the essential, natural art to story-telling that all "absurd" imaginative pieces need to be enjoyable.

Though I must give credit to Carroll for what I feel he deserves- in his time, this was a wildly fantastic book with a plethora of crazy characters, riddles, poetry and inspired plot twists that carry the reader around Wonderland with the famous protagonist.
The Characters however, were truly brought to life by Disney to a degree unrealizable within the written format. I don't fault Carroll for this, but when you've seen the movie first...
I also found the transitions between scenery and scenes to be lacking in impact because there is little distinction made between one place and the next. I realize that Carroll was describing a dream (which is vague by nature), but I feel that his writing could have accentuated the transitions to give the reader more involvement in the fading between one land and the next- what we have instead is something close to "Alice was walking in a forest and now she's crossing a river." Call me picky, but such a lackluster transition is bound to bore.

Most agitating were Penguin Classic's annotations that literally littered the text with information completely irrelevant to the story. Boasting on the back that my copy is "the most comprehensively annotated edition available", they weren't lying. To get this title though, they stuck an annotation into every nook and cranny manageable. By the end of the fifth chapter I almost threw the book out of the bus window because I had read more about Lewis Carroll's diary entries and queer habit of wearing gloves everywhere than of Alice herself. At that point I more or less stopped regarding the annotations at all- content instead to deny their existence rather than try my patience at reading them. I was upset at this because there were several places where an explanation, allusion or elaboration was truly helpful, but they were one in stack of fifty and the remaining forty-nine were just too painfully superfluous to sift through

Through The Looking Glass also failed to leave an impression on me. It was a very simple extension of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but in the same exact format, with the same trite transitions and utterly lackluster performances.

I thought it was a painful struggle to finish Through The Looking Glass, and then found myself face to face with Carroll's original short story Alice's Adventures Underground- the original short story that he had written for the young daughter of a close friend which his friends had urged him to elaborate upon. Following that, I found an essay written by Carroll, Alice On Stage, about his thoughts on the cinematic production of his tale. I'm sorry; I just couldn't bring myself to bother. That was enough of Lewis Carroll for me.

Customer Reviews:

You know the stories, this is about the book........2006-05-10

One think that frustrates me is when Amazon reviews ignore the medium that the stories are presented in. My review is about this specific Hallmark Edition book.

It's difficult to find a nice hardcover version of both stories complete with the original illustrations. the illustrations are either poor quality, or are reduced in number. This book doesn't use them at all, so if that's important to you, look elsewhere. Instead it includes beautiful photographs of the scenes from the NBC TV movie. In my opinion this is better than the original, but it lacks the historical signifigance.

In my opinion, get this book. It has the stories you want and the photos are very pleasing to look at. This book is bound nicely and will make a great addition to any library or collection.

alice's adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass.......2005-11-01

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a very good book in my opinion. I feel that it is just like you are in a dream and the author does a very good job at writing the book so it seems like that. I think it is a good book because it really keeps you focused on what is happening because it is a complicated story. There are a lot of twists and turns in the book, especially in the beginning. I think that it is also a good book because the author, Lewis Carroll, includes things that you would never even think about until you read to book. I also like the book because it is very entertaining to understand how Alice (the main character) tries to deal with and interoperate all of the strange circumstances that happen in wonderland. All of the characters that are in the book are very strange and tell very bizarre stories. The stories have no point what so ever and it gets quite frustrating to Alice because she really wants to know what happens, but they just wont say it and go on and on. All of the events that happen in the book that need trial do not seem very savvy and are unjust and unfair which is quite interesting to read about because Alice gets accused of a lot of things and it is very gallant of her to stand up for herself. With all of the facts that I just stated, my conclusion is that Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a very good book and I would recommend it to any readers that would like to know about a little girl and her bizarre and exciting adventures in wonderland.

Alice in Wonderlandwith color photos from Hallmark TV movie.......2002-01-02

Alice in Wonderland with color photos from Hallmark TV movie, and also color photos from it on the dust jacket.

This is a book about a little girl who has crazy dreams........1999-10-26

This book takes place in Alice's living room and through her looking glass.(Her mirror) Alice is a sweet little girl whose cat just had kittens. She was talking to one of them, and then thought about what it would be like to live through the looking glass. While she is thinking she falls asleep.She has a very strange dream about going to looking glass land. She almost makes her dream seem real!

A literary masterpiece.......1999-10-15

Lewis Carroll provides us with a twisted view of our worldthat provokes hours upon hours of thought. This novel may seem like anovel for children, however, it is filled with more literary devices than a truck-load of Hawthorne! Beautiful imagery, puns, malapropisms, possible drug innuendoes and grammatical devices make this a masterpiece to be reckoned with. Be prepared for deep thought upon a close examination of this seeming children's novel, because it is certainly a work for the more experienced reader. By far my favorite book!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass: And What Alice Found There (Oxford World's Classics)

Average customer rating:

Timeless classic
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Alice
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
My Childhood Favorite!

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass: And What Alice Found There (Oxford World's Classics)
Lewis Carroll
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 019283374X

Amazon.com

Source of legend and lyric, reference and conjecture, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is for most children pure pleasure in prose. While adults try to decipher Lewis Carroll's putative use of complex mathematical codes in the text, or debate his alleged use of opium, young readers simply dive with Alice through the rabbit hole, pursuing "The dream-child moving through a land / Of wonders wild and new." There they encounter the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, the Mock Turtle, and the Mad Hatter, among a multitude of other characters--extinct, fantastical, and commonplace creatures. Alice journeys through this Wonderland, trying to fathom the meaning of her strange experiences. But they turn out to be "curiouser and curiouser," seemingly without moral or sense.

For more than 130 years, children have reveled in the delightfully non-moralistic, non-educational virtues of this classic. In fact, at every turn, Alice's new companions scoff at her traditional education. The Mock Turtle, for example, remarks that he took the "regular course" in school: Reeling, Writhing, and branches of Arithmetic-Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision. Carroll believed John Tenniel's illustrations were as important as his text. Naturally, Carroll's instincts were good; the masterful drawings are inextricably tied to the well-loved story. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

The Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, the March Hare, and of course Alice--the characters of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland are familiar to readers around the world. This new paperback edition features the original illustrations by John Tenniel--plus informative annotations
that highlight many interesting points--all at a highly affordable price.

Customer Reviews:

Timeless classic.......2007-09-20

Without a doubt, one of the most endearing and fascinating books in all of literature. While it is often labeled a children's novel, it takes the understanding of an adult to grasp the richness of symbolism contained in each page. We get a front row seat as Alice journeys through a myriad of characters that range from the bizarre to the down right funny. Alice is the wiser for each encounter, but what makes the book so charming is that she manages to retain her child-like wonder.
I must admit that this novel would not be complete without the illustrations from Punch cartoonist John Tenniel. Tenniel gives the characters a richness and exaggerated life that is unmatched. The book is incomplete without those drawings.
Lastly, there is little bit of Alice in all of us. Who among us has not wanted to walk in the forest, open a closed door, or peek behind a curtain. The thought of escaping and exploring the unknown without the fear of harm is almost intoxicating. If that is you, get the book and start down the rabbit hole.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland........2007-01-11

This book is the Norton Critical Edition (Second Edition) of _Alice in Wonderland_ by Lewis Carroll, edited by Donald J. Gray, with the picture of the "Jabberwock" on the front. The Norton Critical Edition contains the following parts: a brief preface, the text of _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_, the text of _Through the Looking-Glass_, the excised "The Wasp in a Wig", the poem "The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony, in Eight Fits", background material from Carroll's early life, the Alice books, and later life (including letters of his), and several interesting essays in criticism. The Alice stories are some of the greatest classics of children's literature, but their bizarre nature and intriguing mathematical, philosophical, and theological speculations make them interesting for adults and thinkers as well. Many have tried to psycho-analyze the stories (using absurd antiquated Freudian methods), but I agree with G. K. Chesterton that to do such is to destroy the stories. These stories exist in the fine tradition of the Victorian fairy tale (which emphasizes what has been called the "Victorian cult of the child"), and despite modern difficulties, they remain an important contribution to children's literature. Among other things it has been suggested that the stories include elements that resemble drug use and that Carroll was a precursor to Einstein in his understanding of the relativity of size and shape, but despite these understandings the stories remain unique for their captivating power and intriguing as stories themselves. Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898) who was perhaps best known in his time as a logician and tutor in logic and mathematics. Dodgson did quite well in mathematics as a youth (as he did in nearly all his subjects, but particularly in mathematics) and continued his studies at Oxford. Originally Dodgson had promised to become an Anglican clergyman upon completion of his studies, but he never fully completed his ordination. Instead he served as a lecturer in mathematics and logic, writing several interesting books in logic for popular audiences at the time (though he could not have foreseen more recent developments in logic, such as the work of Russell and Whitehead in the _Principia Mathematica_). Dodgson also served as a tutor to children (and he developed a particular fondness for children, particularly young girls, that many would come to criticize later). As a tutor Dodgson met the girl Alice Liddell, who served as the inspiration for the Alice stories. It is rumored that Dodgson may have fallen in love with her, which led to some difficulty. Dodgson's philosophical, religious, and social views were notoriously conservative and conventional, though it seems that he incorporated many unconventional ideas into his stories. In his old age, Dodgson remained a bachelor, though he increasingly involved himself in amateur photography (some of which proved particularly risqué and has led to subsequent rumors about Dodgson). Today, what Dodgson remains most famous for are his stories for children. Within his stories interesting mathematical, philosophical, and theological issues are raised; among them, the issue of the meaning of words and language (Dodgson's writings and poems have been called "nonsense" and he frequently makes use of "nonsense words" of his own invention) calling to mind the later philosophy of Wittgenstein, various theological issues, the philosophical issue of the dream-like nature of reality, the issue of birth, adolescence, sexual development, and life and death, the issue of Darwinian evolutionism, and various mathematical and logical issues, as well as interesting puzzles. The essays included with this volume bring up some of these issues and provide interesting points about the stories.

The works of Lewis Carroll included in this volume are as follows:

_Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ (1897 edition) - a rewrite of the original _Alice's Adventures Under Ground_ and beautifully illustrated. This is the story of Alice (based on Dodgson's student Alice Liddell) as she encounters a talking White Rabbit, travels down a rabbit-hole, and there encounters many bizarre happenings and various talking creatures. The story has an eerie drug-induced feel to it (which causes one to question the very basis of reality) and many have speculated that this story may include instances of drug use. In particular, while in "Wonderland", Alice eats various foods and drinks various potions which cause her to grow taller or shorter. In "Wonderland", Alice encounters the rabbit, a talking mouse (who she reminds of her cat Dinah and provokes him thus), various birds and animals (in which they have a "caucus race", perhaps calling to mind the "Caucasian race" and various racialist theories of the time which Dodgson disapproved of), a lizard named Bill, and a puppy. After this, however, Alice encounters a caterpillar sitting on a mushroom. The caterpillar is smoking from a "hookah" (perhaps a reference to drug paraphernalia) and invites Alice to take a bite from the mushroom. Upon taking the bite from the mushroom, Alice undergoes radical changes in height. Some have regarded these alterations to be reminiscent of the hallucinations that occur upon ingestion of certain mushrooms, such as the Amanita muscaria. Alice also encounters the Duchess and her baby (a pig), the Cheshire cat (who fades away leaving only his grin), the Madhatter (mad no doubt from mercury poisoning), the March Hare, and the Dormouse having tea, and then she encounters the Queen of Hearts playing croquet as well as the "mock turtle". Finally, a trial occurs in which the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the tarts from the Queen of Hearts. At this trial, Alice must testify and present her evidence. At the end, Alice awakes from her dream after realizing that the Queen and the King are nothing but a pack of cards.

_Through the Looking-Glass_ (1897 edition) - This story begins with Alice reflecting on her cats and a game of chess. Indeed, the entire story involves a set-up on the chess board in which Alice herself is to eventually become queen. Alice enters a mysterious world ("Wonderland" again no doubt) through the looking-glass and there encounters various creatures. This is of course the story where the infamous nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" appears. Alice encounters various talking flowers, various insects, two brothers Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty (an egg), and the lion and the unicorn. Alice also encounters the red and white queens and eventually is to become queen herself. During the course of the story the secret meaning of certain words in "Jabberwocky" are revealed to Alice. At the end, Alice is at a feast when she suddenly shakes the red queen who becomes a kitten. Alice awakes to conclude that it was "all a dream", though the issue of reality is raised again.

"The Wasp in a Wig" is a short scene left out of the original _Through the Looking-Glass_.

Also included is the poem, "The Hunting of the Snark" (1876), which is a nonsense poem about a group of men on a ship who are hunting a "snark".

This Norton Critical Edition is an excellent edition of Lewis Carroll's children stories and poems. Carroll's stories are to live on due to their uniqueness and their bizarre nature. But, as pointed out they also raise several interesting philosophical questions and thus are interesting for adults as well as children. They are also greatly enjoyable and certainly recommended.

Alice .......2006-10-18

One of the classic Disney movies I remembered was the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Reading this novel gave me the same feelings I had in my childhood years watching the movie. I could be wrong but it seems to me that everything in the book was exactly like the movie. Alice was reading her sister's book and fell asleep under a tree. Then she woke up, saw a rabbit in clothes with a clock talking. She then followed the rabbit into this hole. After that she was in a never ending tunnel, which lead her to a strange world. Alice encounters many obstacles in the story and showed how she dealt with them.
I thought the book was just like the movie. I guess was I was reading the novel made me have a better understanding. I was mainly looking for any symbolism of some sort, but failed to do so. I was also shocked at what the things characters were doing in the book and made it into a Disney movie. For example the Caterpillar smoking a hookah. I didn't know what hookah was until last year. I was really confused in some parts of the novel. This book I thought was great for someone that hasn't even heard of Alice in Wonderland. It is a very thin book but it was like reading a children's book. I thought the novel would have a different story than the movie. From a scale of 1 - 10 I would give it a 7. Just because it was interesting and reminded me of the past.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.......2006-10-17

In the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll a young girl with the name of Alice travels to a distant land that seems altogether and quite possibly unreal to her. The book starts off with Alice in the park with her sister. She has nothing to do as her sister is reading so when Alice sees a talking white rabbit scampering by, she doesn't hesitate to follow it. Following the rabbit leads her to a world she could have never dreamed of. This book can take you to magical places you would have never dreamed of. Through the use of Carroll's thorough descriptions and dramatic elements this book is sure to take you on one wild ride. I thought that the book was very well written and very interesting. I could really imagine what the characters look like and feel how Alice would have felt. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a good adventure and lots of twists along the way. This book is for children and adults alike. As long as you have an imagination and a great sense of adventure you are sure to love this great tale of a girl and how she found herself in an imaginary world.

My Childhood Favorite!.......2006-05-06

When I was eight years old, this version of Alice in Wonderland was aired on T.V. I thought I had watched the best movie ever at that time, and still, to this day, I have more fond memories of watching that movie than any other time in my life! The songs were beautiful! I can still sing the song Alice sang to the deer - "Why do people act as if they're crazy? Why to they behave the way they do? I have to say, this is one my favorite songs of all time!
If you get a chance to purchase and watch this movie, you will witness the beautiful music!

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