Review: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Book Details:
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Unabridged Classics)
by Lewis Carroll
Published 2005, Sterling
Paperback, 136 pages
ISBN: 1402725027

Synopsis:
"One of the most magical concoctions in children's literature, Lewis Carroll's tale follows Alice into the upside-down, inside-out world of Wonderland where she attends the tea party of the Mad Hatter and plays croquet in the court of the Queen of Hearts."

One of my two-year-old daughter's favorite movies is a made-for-television version of Alice in Wonderland, so after watching the movie several hundred times I thought maybe it was time to read the book. Though I show a book cover, I actually read this book using DailyLit, a website that sends excerpts of classic literature to my email once a day, which I wrote about in another blog post.
I found the book to be an enjoyable romp through a world of nonsense and fantasy, though at times a bit dour as many of the characters did not seem all that happy. I understand that Alice is a child in the story, but I still find it difficult to understand how children can be as lacking in intelligence as she is throughout her adventures - I don't recall being quite so foolish as Alice is at this age. My favorite part of the book was actually after Alice exits Wonderland and sits with her sister, telling her all about her travels. I was able to appreciate the story more once I found an entry in Wikipedia on the novel that explained much of what I did not understand, such as the various poetry recitations and songs, the real people that the characters were parodied after, the mathematical concepts explored, and the elusive answer to the Hatter's riddle, "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Answer: "Because it can produce a few notes, though… they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!"


Perhaps I have been disillusioned to the magic of this novel thanks to a combination of Disney's animated film and my daughter's obsession with her movie, but I would rate this book as a decently entertaining read, not one of my favorites. Though ,I am greatly looking forward to the upcoming movie Alice in Wonderland that stars Johnny Depp!!

First Line: "Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'"
This is a good first line that indicates both the general age and maturity of the main character of the text, Alice. It does not particularly pull me into the story, but I reserve my usual measure of a good read since this is a classic text.

Favorite Quote: "Curiouser and curiouser!"





Read For: Pages Read Challenge, 101 Fantasy Challenge, Twenty-Ten Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge