The Complete Illustrated Works of Lewis Carroll

(Original Review, 1994-08-10)

I’ve always interpreted “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” as a (modern) Fairytale.

In a way most of modern commercial movies are more like classical fairytales: very elemental stories set in a simplistic moral universe, with stereotypical characters. The movies may seem to be more complex but that is mostly 'effect'. Movies are very good at the dazzle part of the story telling business. Complexity of story: very much less so.

It is an interesting point though: the differences between stories that were only meant to be told and the kind of stories we have invented and/or developed the moment we could write them down. It is, for instance, suggested that the flowery & repeated descriptors in Homer show more (rose-fingered dawn, wine-coloured sea et cetera) were part aide-memoirs and part moments that the storyteller didn't have to think about the next word. They were, in other words, part of the mechanics/structure of the story. Something that was no longer needed when people could write the stories down.

So, stories from the oral age have, by necessity, a different shape than later stories like Alice’s. Come to think of it, in a way it's similar to watching a movie in a theatre or a DVD at home. In the theatre you can't pause or rewind: you have to follow the 'story' in the moment. Same with oral and written stories. Around the campfire both storyteller and audience are engaged in a live stream event. You can't have your audience interrupting you, asking you to explain who is who again and wasn't X killed by that cyclops or was that Y...? A written story can have more complexity, because readers can take a break. Try to do “Shogun” as an oral story...

Still, fairytales are probably among the first type of story told and lots of modern stories still carry that DNA. Yes, some modern literature has as much in common with fairytales as birds with dinosaurs but they are still related. More to the point, we wouldn't have birds without those dinos. You could argue we wouldn't have either James Clavell or Marcel Proust without those old oral stories (and fairytales) too...

I think we can discount the druggie and Freudian interpretations as modern fantasies*. But otherwise it is clearly satirical at different levels (the boring schoolroom, linguistic philosophy) while alluding to events and places and presumably people in Alice's life. In a way it's the sort of story that we all make up for our children and grandchildren, but cleverer than most.

(*) So here's mine: There is a convincing theory that Carroll emphasized his relations with little girls (which in the Victorian mindset were necessarily innocent and asexual) to distract attention from his numerous relationships with young (20ish) women which the Victorians would have thought improper for a clergyman. So he sends Alice off down a hole and prattles on about her adventures while having it away with Dinah on the surface. Mind you, it’s just a theory… show less

Very victorian, in both pleasant and ennoying ways. Of course, Alice is Alice, a timeless masterpiece. The rest of the book is a miscellanea of children rhymes, plain plays on words with awkwardly moralistic aims, and dreamy tales. I enjoyed it, most of all the fairy story "Sylvie and Bruno" with its religious sermons disguised as conversations at the picnic, and with its sugar-sweet fairy children. Only for expert classic readers :)

I will not venture to comment on Alice as myriads of better minds than mine have already done so. Except of course to acknowledge and delight in the work of genius that it is.
I assumed that all of Carroll's works would be on the same level as "Alice." I have been stunned to find, in the Sylvie and Bruno section of this, that Carroll could and did write dreadful Victorian dreck. Saccharine, schmaltzy, bathetic pathos. Deliberate icky children's vocabularly - the repeated use of "oo" for you and "welly" for very.
Stock characters and images - the lovely innocent little girl who is entirely self-sacrificing, the mischievous little boy who is being taught to be a man...
I was appalled at insipidity of this sort from the Alice author.
show more However, of much interest are his most definitive opinions about social issues which he incorporates shamelessly into these "children's stories." He disapproves of hunting, for instance.
Also, he has quite strong opinions about what true Christianity is, and puts these in too. He discusses Jesus quite naturally and has his characters not only quote the Bible but discuss scriptural and spiritual questions.
After "Slyvie and Bruno" came "Letters to Child Friends." I did not care for these very much either.
Heavy-handed attempts at humor, and, it appears, little comprehension of the fears one can evoke in children. They rather reminded me of those unpleasant occasions in public places when you hear parents or caretakers saying awful things to children.
I have learned that "Slyvie and Bruno" was one of the last things he published, so I am not certain why it appears where it does in the book.
"The Hunting of the Snark" is delightful. He struck on just the right combination of rhythm, rhyme and subject, and the nonsense aspect is very well done. I loved the 10 characters all beginning with "B", and their various subplots. And I can see how a number of phrases from this unusual work have entered the lexicon. show less

I found this in a bookstore in Myrtle Beach and was ecstatic. It had "The Hunting of the Snark", which I h ad heard of, but never read, and the Sylvie and Bruno books, which I had never even heard about, with a other stuff that was all bonus.

Sylvie and Bruno are nothing like Alice. They are, frankly, very sweet.

I particularly dug the Sillygisms after I had taken Logic in college, five years later.

I have had to buy a second copy and it is pretty beat up, but I'm not willing for it to be absent from my bookshelf.

I found this in a bookstore in Myrtle Beach and was ecstatic. It had "The Hunting of the Snark", which I h ad heard of, but never read, and the Sylvie and Bruno books, which I had never even heard about, with a other stuff that was all bonus.

Sylvie and Bruno are nothing like Alice. They are, frankly, very sweet.

I particularly dug the Sillygisms after I had taken Logic in college, five years later.

I have had to buy a second copy and it is pretty beat up, but I'm not willing for it to be absent from my bookshelf.

Very nice complete edition of Carroll's work - containing both 'Alice' books, both 'Sylvie and Bruno' books, poetry, short stories and puzzles, with the original illustrations.

Alice in Wonderland - 5 stars
Lewis Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland' is a classic that everyone should read. Many of Carroll's characters and situations have become part of Western culture, which only shows his genius and how great his influence has been. His play with words, his insane universe with amazing characters, and his symbolism make this a work that can be read over and over. Each time I read it I discover new things, and look at it in a different way.

Alice Through the Looking Glass - 5 stars
When I first read 'Through the Looking Glass' I really didn't show more like it as much as I had liked 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', but I find that it has grown on me with a number of re-readings. I think 'Through the Looking Glass' is perhaps a bit more difficult, or more 'mature' than Alice. It is also a bit 'choppier' because of the jumping between different scenes, whereas Wonderland is more of a continuous story.
Either way, I think reading it several times has opened my eyes to more of the symbolism in the novel, and has very much increased my enjoyment of it, and I think it's definitely worth the effort of getting more closely acquainted with it.

Sylvie and Bruno - Sylvie and Bruno Concluded - 4 stars
The two stories of Sylvie and Bruno really make up one continuous whole. Though there is an 'ending' to the first part, the second part is more like the second chapter than a second book.
Though still in line with the fairy tale style of Alice, Sylvie and Bruno is somewhat more serious. There still is a lot of wordplay and fantasy, but there are also more serious discussions on theology and philosophy. For Carroll, this book was supposed to be not just amusing, but also instructive.
A very enjoyable read and definitely gives you something to think about - though for children the discussion might be a bit long-winding at times.

Miscellaneous writings - 3-4 stars
Aside from his four main novels, Carroll wrote numerous poems, stories and puzzles during his lifetime. Though not all are equally great, we clearly see Carroll's style in all his works - even when discussing the wine stores of the Christchurch Common Room.
It's nice to have a more complete edition and read not only the novels, but also get to know some of his other writings. I especially enjoyed the 'Tangled Tale', with math-problems intertwined with the story, but there are many gems to be found among Carroll's Miscellany. show less

For me, the great benefit of having the collected works is that besides having the Alice stories and the Snark, which are readily available elsewhere, this collection includes Sylvie and Bruno and Sylvie and Bruno Conluded, parts of which I like very much, though it is uneven, partly because it alternates between a fairly conventional this-world romance and a fairytale adventure. Overall, I tend to say the fairytale adventure is better, but there are good parts in th this-word story (the concept of a ghost wallowing in bread sauce, for example) and weak parts in Sylvie and Bruno (notably when the two children get just too unbearably cute or sentimental.)
The bet of part of S&B is the Mad Gardener's Song, which has been done very well as show more a separate picture book (though that version loses a few references to the story, notably the double rule of three). show less