Review: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Synopsis: As this is the Norton Critical Edition, it contains Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, the Hunting of the Snark, essays on the Background and Critical Essays. The stories tell the adventure of a child names Alice who enters into a place of nonsense and backward rules called Wonderland, and tells of her many adventures there in.

Review: Having seen the Disney version, the recent Tim Burton version and some shadowy version from the 1980s, I am familiar with the base story. I figured it was time to read the source and discovered something I figured all along. I do not like Alice in Wonderland. As a child, the constant changing of the rules terrified me. It's not much better as an adult. As for the prose, it's been described as "whimsical and innocent" but I found it boring and bit confusing. It could be said I feel this way about the story because I don't have the "heart of a child" but considering I didn't like it as a child, I suspect it's a personality quirk.
There is something a bit prentenious about denouncing a book long held as classic children's novel, a superb example of nonsense prose and a wonderful puzzle. I'm not say it's not all those things; I'm saying I don't like it.

Booksmarks: 5 of 10

Awards: Several older ones

Date Finished: 2-11-2011
Pages: 430