Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

Published in an omnibus edition by Penguin Classics: London, England, 1998.
First published individually 1865.
'The Centenary Edition' includes 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' with commentary and short stories.

You know, I've never read Alice in Wonderland before! 

The closest I've come is a memory I have of a relief teacher in primary school reading out an excerpt from the chapter 'A Mad Tea Party', including the unanswerable riddle about a raven and a writing desk, a clock that tells you what day it is, and a story about sisters in a treacle well who draw treacle. It is very odd, but I remember thinking that the puns were clever, and thus, my impression of the Alice stories have been - from childhood - just that: odd, but clever.

Maybe I had built it up too much in my imagination.

This first Alice story is certainly odd! But clever...? Maybe...?

The edition I read has many endnotes, many of which try to tie Carroll's jokes and allusions to various political figures of the day, or give some context to the 'in-joke' elements of others, but without this context, it might be that too much time has passed to really 'get' this book. It's the old axiom that explaining a joke ruins it, and too many of the jokes in Alice need to be ruined.

The story is also all over the place, which unfortunately stuck out even more for me because of the quote by Carroll on the back cover: "I had sent my heroine straight down a rabbit-hole...without the least idea what was to happen afterwards." Yes, this is one way of writing (I am often more of a 'pantser' than a 'plotter' myself), but if it means that your overall story lacks a clear structure and direction... then maybe don't have that element highlighted on the back cover (not that Carroll would have had much say in this centenary edition!).

We get all the famous beats: falling down the rabbit hole, drinking and eating various magical foods and drinks, the Cheshire cat, the caterpillar, the Mad Hatter's tea party, the Queen of Hearts... but none of it really seems to matter all that much. And the ending! Let's just say, my English teacher in highschool warned me against finishing stories in this fashion!

So... yeah... not my favourite. Maybe not as bad as I'm making out, but certainly not as good as primary-school Karl thought it was.

Or maybe, just maybe, this is a kids book for kids?!

I'll let you know in a few years if I decide to test it out on Ezekiel.

Completed 17 December 2025.

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