Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: AND Through the Looking Glass (Oxford World's Classics)

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Lewis Carroll

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Pages: 320 (Paperback)

Editor: Roger Lancelyn Green

Reading Level: Ages 9-12

ISBN: 019283374X

Pub: Oxford Paperbacks

Pub date: 1998-03-05

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 32714

Editorial Review:

Source of legend and lyric, reference and conjecture, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is, for most children, pure pleasure in prose. While adults try to decipher Lewis Carroll's putative use of complex mathematical codes in the text, or debate his alleged use of opium, young readers simply dive with Alice through the rabbit hole, pursuing "The dream-child moving through a land / Of wonders wild and new". There they encounter the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, the Mock Turtle and the Mad Hatter, together with a multitude of other characters--extinct, fantastical and commonplace creatures. Alice journeys through this Wonderland, trying to fathom the meaning of her strange experiences. But they turn out to be "curiouser and curiouser", seemingly without moral or sense.

For more than 130 years, children have revelled in the delightfully non-moralistic, non-educational virtues of this classic. In fact, at every turn Alice's new companions scoff at her traditional education. The Mock Turtle, for example, remarks that he took the "regular course" in school: Reeling, Writhing and branches of Arithmetic--Ambition, Distraction, Uglification and Derision. Carroll believed John Tenniel's illustrations were as important as his text. Naturally, Carroll's instincts were good; the masterful drawings, reproduced here, are inextricably tied to the well-loved story. (All ages)

Reader Reviews:

Unforgettable Alice (0/0 people found this helpful)

First published in 1865, Lewis Carroll's fascinating story has captured the imagination of succeeding generations and been the subject of a number of films and TV adaptations.

Lewis Carroll was the pen-name of Charles Dodgson, an Oxford mathematician and clergyman who came to know at least one real 'Alice', Alice Liddell, who was the child of a colleague.

Re-reading the book in adult life, it's still not clear to me whether it's a children's book for children, a children's book for adults or a slightly crazy attempt to explore the mind of a child through the reconstruction of a number of dreams.

It remains a fascinating work of fiction which certainly captures the spirit of a dreamlike state and puts together all kinds of wildly symbolic and often comic ideas in a disturbing and perplexing anarchy that, so far as I know, haunts our awakening hours throughout life.

Reading it as a child and later an adolescent, the book seemed to me to be a benchmark of my own development. If I could tell at which point Alice dropped off and entered the dream and begin to have some idea of what some of these weird experiences where about; I felt I was getting somewhere.

Now, I'm not so sure. Because, after all, Charles Dodgson was never a little girl. So was he trying to show us what he thought he had understood about the mind of a little girl ? Alice is certainly a very astute, mature and logical child, who is fiercely unaccepting of the thought process of others, while perfectly quick to adapt to the crazy situations in which she finds herself.

This book is a lasting treasure, why ever it was written and what ever it really contains.

Alice in Wonderland Part one (0/0 people found this helpful)

This film has to be classed as top class film with many songs and legendary characters like Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat and Queen of Hearts. I like when Natalie Gregory tap dances with Sammy Davis Jr.

A review by my Daughter (0/0 people found this helpful)

I really really love this movie and have watched it again and again. Ireally like the way it is made, and is far better than any of the otherverisons I have seen. It's a really magical tale I have loved since i wasyoung!!

THE classic Alice in Wonderland film (0/0 people found this helpful)

This is the first part of the classic non-animated film Alice in Wonderland, my all-time favourite film from childhood. It is beautifully put together, with appearances from many familiar faces and a clever mix of comedy and tears that cannot fail to delight. A must-see for both child and adult alike.

Alice in Wonderland (1985)-The excellent version (1/1 people found this helpful)

I've seen all the versions of Alice in Wonderland but by far, this is the best version of Alice there is. When i was young me and my cousin used to watch it everyday, even though the end with Alice facing the Jabberwocky scared us. Now even though we are both in our twenties, we still watch it. It follows the original Lewis Carrol story to an extend, but its full of excitment, mystery and wierdness with an all star cast. Natalie Gregory who plays 7 year old Alice is an excellent choice for the role. The best part in the film is when she tap dances with the ledgendary Sammy Davis Jr to "Old Father William". It appeals to both young and old and I always look forward to watching it over and over again.

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