Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)

Why do you want another copy of Alice in Wonderland when you already have at least three copies and other abbreviated versions? Well, it was really for the illustrations. I really like Helen Oxenbury's work and here was a great collection of her work for $5 at the local markets....who could resist. OK, I haven't read the story again. Actually, I never liked the story as a kid. Adults always seemed to be foisting it on me and I thought it was all very weird and unbelievable and full of tricky insider jokes for adults. I shared a flat (apartment) once, however, with a guy who was very keen on Alice in Wonderland and was always citing stuff from it ....like..."Words mean precisely what I want them to mean ...neither more nor less"and...."Would you please tell me which way I ought to go from here?"....That depends a good deal on where you want to get to", said the Cat. I don't much care where ..." said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go", said the Cat. it It was only as an adult that I kind of got interested in the author who was a lecturer in Mathematics and logic at Christ's College Oxford. He was Charles Dodgson who went under the pen name of Lewis Carroll. So the book is full of logical questions, paradoxes, illogical answers and mathematical quirks....... But Charles Dodgson seemed to have a rather unhealthy interest in young girls. I recall seeing a book of his that I think contained photos of young girls. (He became interested in photography and about 60% of his photos were of young girls. Seemed just slightly creepy to me.....but give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he just liked writing stories to entertain. He published Alice in Wonderland in 1865 and it became increasingly popular.
Anyway, that's not why I bought the book. I bought it for the illustrations and they really dazzle. Helen Oxenbury has a wonderful way with perspective and a slightly cartoonish drawing style that is perfectly suited to this particular book. There are some of her pencil sketches and a few watercolours combined with pencil backgrounds. All in all it works very well. I think she has captured the spirit of Alice rather well. In many of the versions I've seen , Alice comes across as a rather bossy and determined little girl but her she is confident but sympathetic. And a rather likeable character from the drawings. Needless to say, she is a modernised Alice and, I think has much more appeal than the older "tougher" Alices.
A great version of the book. ( )

Gosh guys, what can I even say about Alice in Wonderland?

I love this story, more as an adult than I did as a kid. I love the variety of characters and I sort of love that a century and a half ago, Wonderland was the place school children would dream of going, much like Hogwarts is to my generation. It's such a fun, fast-paced, creative story and Alice is the most wonderful child. She's so well balanced, both polite and grumpy, and she carries the book. All y'all in love with Hatter and the Cheshire Cat? That's thanks to Disney's itinerations... Alice carries the original story.

What I love most, though, is that this novel never gets old. Every time, there are new details to be discovered. It's good in any format (Scarlett Johnasson's reading is the best audiobook edition!) and it absolutely inspires to build bigger worlds and be more creative in my own writing and in my own life.

Simply put, I love Alice and all her adventures. ( )

I had every intention of embracing the Wonderland dream and awarding this at least four stars. I started reading while imagining [a:George MacDonald|2413|George MacDonald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1201019294p2/2413.jpg]'s children sprawled on rugs before a fire and listening to Carroll, a family friend, read his work aloud for the first time.

But the further into this tale I ventured, the less I seemed to "get it." The wordplays are endlessly clever. The nonsense is a memorable sort. The logic pitfalls are fun. I'll even take the time to watch a film adaptation, out of curiosity. Obviously, this work will forever hold great appeal for readers with a greater appetite than mine for the absurd. But I didn't engage with it enough to rate it higher. ( )

I plan to read Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy and thought it might be interesting to reread the book, this time in French.

>My first observation was that the translator did a good job and most of the book was translated well - at least to the limits of my memory. Then I did notice some shortcomings, for instance the wordplay in the mouse poem relating the mouse's tail to the tale being told just didn't work in French. However, the translator did include good footnotes. Here, he explained differences in the French and English version. He also added some historical notes that I found added value to the story. This included some symbology that I was completely unaware of.

Some of the jokes and puns were, if my memory serves, and perhaps were replaced with new or similar ones taking advantage of the language differences.

Overall, it is a quick read, delightful and imaginative and well worth some time spent. ( )

Many of the reviews on this site do not relate to the Salvador Dali illustrated book, but rather to another illustrator. Very Confusing.

I love Alice's imaginative adventures and her increasing confidence as she accepts her changing size and bizarre circumstances.

Yet, just as I did not enjoy the treatment of animals in a cruel way - the flamingoes, hedgehogs, guinea pigs -
when I first read the book as a child and, although I was happy with the final resolution of the Queen and her deck of cards,
the constant "Off with their heads!" was and is still annoying.

Dali's paintings remain dramatic and an eternal evocative mystery. So good that this book has come to all of us! ( )