Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson). This creative novel is full of charm, comedy and of course, adventure. The imagery and fantastical nature of the story knows no bounds and as far as I’m concerned, no other children’s novel has come close to this read.
As I have mentioned previously, my favourite genre of book is the fantasy genre. There are no limits within fantasy, you can go beyond the unexpected, and that’s what drew me into this book time and time again. I first picked it up when I was around 8 or 9 years old. I was quite young for such a lengthy novel, but I persevered and became completely engrossed in Alice’s world. Being quite an inquisitive child myself, I related to Alice, I wanted to go on her adventures too. I have re-read this book many times since then, and as an adult, it’s a comfort read.
The story starts with Alice as she sits by a river reading a book with her sister. Whilst daydreaming, she sees a rabbit; a white rabbit; a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and holding a pocket watch…and talking! From then on the narrative takes a different turn and we follow Alice as she falls down a rabbit hole; shrinks to the size of a mouse; almost drowns in her own tears; grows to the size of a house; joins in a peculiar game of croquet; and takes part in the Mad-Hatter’s Tea Party. She then meets the Queen of Hearts and is embroiled in a rather unusual turn of events which culminates in her almost getting executed.
This irregular story is enough to capture anybody’s imagination, but for me, the characters are what really make it stand out. The Cheshire Cat was always my favourite, the way he appeared and disappeared without a warning, coming out with complete and utter nonsense, nonsense which somehow seemed logical, if that’s at all possible? But he always seemed to guide Alice to a certain extent:
"Would you tell me, please, 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.
"– so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
"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.
"– so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.
"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."
Not to mention Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, the White Rabbit and of course, the Mad-Hatter and the Dormouse.
The book reaches its climax at the trial of the Knave of Hearts who, like the nursery rhyme, is being accused of stealing the Queen of Heart’s tarts. Alice tries to stick up for the Knave as the evidence against him lacks any substance whatsoever, and as is a recurrent proclamation throughout the book, the Queen demands “Off with her head!”. As Alice fights off the Queen’s soldiers, she awakes, realising it was all just a dream.
As much as I loved this book, and still do, I always find the ending rather disappointing and lukewarm. I would have much preferred an alternative ending that saw Alice stay in Wonderland and overthrow the Queen of Hearts, however, I’m not sure if this would have inspired our imaginations in the same way.
My favourite thing about the book is the language. Lewis Carroll continuously plays with the English language throughout the narrative, using puns, prose and in some cases, complete nonsense, to convey the extraordinary world of Wonderland. Carroll was actually a mathematician and he regularly lectured at Oxford University. I like to think that this novel was his escape from the world of logic, an opportunity to expand the other side of his brain, the creative side, although others may disagree with me (there has been discussion that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was the result of a bad trip).
Picking my number 1 children’s read was not easy, but the reason I chose this over all of the others was because it’s timeless. It’s a timeless classic which offers an escape to adults, and a funny, joyful adventure for children. It has been popular for well over a century, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment