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Summary: Pysco but Cool
Review: In this book you find out about a little girl named Alice who falls down big holes, eats strange mushrooms, and shakes a chess piece so hard that it turns into her kitten. Join Alice in her adventures in wonderland and through the looking glass. This book is so totaly unpredictable and exiting that you can't put it down. It also makes you wonder and wish this could happen to you. Take a walk through Alice's imagination and read this book.
(I'm so cool.)
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Summary: A classic that is crucial for aspiring fantasy writers
Review: It's difficult to critique a classic, especially one as well-known as this one, so I have decided to take a different path and strongly recommend this work to all aspiring fantasy authors.Rather than becoming absorbed/obsessed with the works of Tolkein or Jordan, take a long and critical look at this masterpiece. A fantasy, first and foremost, must be fantastic, and Lewis Carroll evokes the fantastic and surreal beautifully without sacrificing that centerpiece of drama known as characterization. The novel's constructs are mind-bending and dizzying; the novel is truly fit for Wonderland.
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Summary: Through the Looking Glass and Alice in Wonderland
Review: Kept me occupied on the day when school let out early (Jan. 31) and I lost touch with all of the world while I was reading it! I think the part with Tweedledee and Tweedledum was cute! There are several poems in here they're so good that I'm trying to memorize them, like I am the dictionary! (don't knock it till you try it.)
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Summary: it always gets me curiouser and curiouser
Review: Long time ago, I should have read this story as a child, but I don't remember how come I didn't, but I don't remember either how I came to know Alice so intimately, as if this was a legend that had leaked out to me and never to be forgotten. No doubt, this is one hell of a legend. The title itself belies it to be just a fantastical childhood tale but it is actually a book that will get adults curiouser and curiouser until all the puns that are intended to taunt the deluded adult world will boil down to giving you a crazy smile. I swear by a mouse's tail- these two Alice books are charming, and so full of funny, far-out characters. I cant resist being crazy with the mad tea-party, and the wacky game-story of cards and chess, of the chesire cat that is actually more charming than eerie, and of course, Alice who is smart, proud and always snappy. Although my favorite of all is the wise caterpillar who smokes a hookah and sits on a mushroom.
And I love the drawing given by John Tenniel, and some text's visual presentation are supercool. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass" is actually a story of growing up, or more like a child's discovery of wisdom, or maybe an exploration of wisdom in a child's perspective. The setting of cards and chess is an allegory of the world of chance and determinism, and the pervasive foreshadowing of death seems silly but anyway childish. Sometimes I don't understand why the book is one of the most quoted. Perhaps because aside from being popular, I am sure this tale really brings out the child in anyone. Lewis Carroll might have only told this story to put a loquacious girl in silence but fortunately, he has not made a very simple fantasy. He has invented an Alice in a lot of us.
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Summary: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Carroll
Review: My book was Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. It was a difficult book to read for some people I think because it was difficult for me. They had a lot of things in the book like getting large and small again. It was just very confusing. Alice is about seven years old and she follows this white rabbit to a door and falls she then finds a door and gets in by a key and she is in a garden full of white roses being painted red. She meets Duchess who had a baby that turned into a pig! She played polo with the Queen of Hearts and woke up on her sisters lap...then she was playing with her kittens and went through a mirror and she was going through a chess board to become a queen. I would recommend this book for ages six and up because it is a classic.
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Summary: "Curiouser and curiouser!"
Review: My first exposure to Lewis Carroll's classic children's story was through the 1951 Disney film adaptation "Alice in Wonderland," which I watched repeatedly as a child. The creative quality of the story never failed to fascinate me, and I kept going back despite my deep-rooted terror of the frightful Queen of Hearts, who always gave me nightmares! However, it was not until recently, as an adult, that I ever picked up the book/s upon which that film was based. In some ways I wish I had read it when I was younger, as the book certainly makes a great deal more sense than the movie does (as much sense as a story of this sort can, anyhow), but thankfully this book is unique in that it is just as enjoyable for adults as for children.
The story is actually spread across two books, here contained in a single volume. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was first published in 1865 and relates the events that take place after young Alice falls asleep during her lessons and dreams of following a white rabbit down a rabbit hole. Alice encounters all manner of strange creatures in her dream, and finds herself in all sorts of curious predicaments where common sense fails and the nonsensical comes to be expected. There is no central, concrete storyline, but rather Alice moves rapidly from one bizarre situation to the next before waking once more and relating the whole adventure to her sister.
The second of the two books, "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There," appeared in 1871 and is very similar in nature to the first, though having a slightly different plot. Here Alice steps through an ordinary looking-glass one day, only to find herself in a world where, if you wish to get anywhere, you must walk in the opposite direction! Walking toward your desired destination only gets you further and further away. Also, interestingly, the land which Alice has entered is essentially a giant chessboard, and she must move through the different squares to reach the other side if she wishes to become a queen (which she does).
The characters Carroll created in these two stories are some of the most strikingly unique and unforgettable in the world of literature. Alice herself, based largely on Alice Liddell, a real-life child of whom Carroll was very fond, is a wonderful heroine that you can't help admiring. Throughout all of her backwards and upside-down adventures, she remains ever sensible and analytical, always trying to reason her way out of the most unreasonable situations. Other characters a reader won't soon forget include the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse, the Cheshire Cat, Bill the Lizard, the Caterpillar, the Duchess and her peppery cook, the aforementioned Queen of Hearts, the Mock Turtle, the Gryphon, the Red and White Queens, the talking flowers, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Sheep, Humpty Dumpty, and the Red and White Knights. Carroll also created many fascinating new creatures in his stories, including bread-and-butterflies, rocking-horseflies, "slithy toves," "mome raths" and more.
What I find most intriguing, as an adult reader of these books, is Carroll's brilliant use of wordplay and symbolism throughout the stories. Nearly everything has some sort of double meaning. There are hidden messags and subtle witticisms on every page. Carroll also includes several parodies of what were well-known songs and rhymes in England at the time. Young children will love the books for their fantastic qualities and imaginative inspiration, but most readers will not pick up on the many puns and jokes until they are a little older, so these stories really do have something to offer to anyone, no matter what age. I'd highly recommend the book to any reader - and be sure to get an edition that includes the original illustrations.
This review refers to the 2004 Barnes & Noble Classics printing, with introduction and notes by Tan Lin.
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Summary: Alice in Wonderland- once scared me, now is cool
Review: My mom first read this book to me when I was seven years old. Because I was only in first or second grade, Alice in Wonderland scared the heck out of me. I remember parts were pretty horrific and confusing. I kind of hated it. It was like Stephen King for a first grader- which, if you ever go to a website on Lewis Carroll, shouldn't surprise anyone because Carroll had loads of problems and was pretty much tripped out while writing this (I think).
Now that I'm older, I decided to re-read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. While reading it, it's hard to decide whether this is just a load of imaginative creativity, or a metaphor of something deeper that is true in society today, or true in the 1800's. Well, I guess you can read it either way- but there is definitely some deep stuff in here. Many poems will stop and make you think, and as the story progresses you can't help but feel like you are Alice (which is pretty amazing, because this isn't like Lord of the Rings or anything, it's basically a fairy tale on drugs).
Definitely, definitely, definitely do not hesitate to pick this book up and read. Another review said it was disturbing- well, in some ways it really is. But the characters and the plot line (or lack of!) keep you interested and keeps you reading. AIW and TTLG are must-haves in anyone interested in fantasy/sci-fi, along with Chronicles of Narnia and other great classics.
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Summary: A Splendid Book To Read
Review: The book ''Alice in Wonderland Through The Looking Glass'' was an interesting book. I liked the book because it had neat words to learn and also the pictures were very well in illustration. My favorite part in the book was when she met the catipillar. That was my favorite part because he was so calm the way that the author wrote, and he also described the catipillar's actions very well. The ending was nice because it was just good to know she got what she wanted. This book is good and confusing but it is worth while.
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Summary: "We're all mad here..."
Review: The complete madness that is the Alice in Wonderland stories will never cease to be well-loved. I have always loved this story, being attracted by the strange and wonderful things in Alice's adventures through this mysterious and exciting land. I'm currently reading it to my young sister, who is only five, and she loves as much, if not more, than I do! "We're all mad here..." Words of wisdom from my favorite character, the Cheshire cat. This book is something that stays with you throughout your life and it is indeed a timeless children's classic! If you haven't read it yet, do so soon! This is a story no one should miss out on.
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Summary: Not Just a Beloved Children's Book!
Review: This book is a delight to both young and old, and as many times as I've read it or had it read to me, I still love the story. For one thing the characters are unforgettable. Who can forget the Queen of Hearts, Tweedledum and Tweedledee and the Mad Hatter? There are so many adaptations of this book and so many varied ways to enjoy it, that there is perhaps a danger that it may be overused. I think though that it is best enjoyed read in a book since that is where the imagination can take over and make the book something magical. Take the time to reread this great classic. It's well worth it.
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