Alice in Wonderland- Lewis Carroll

Purchase:  Amazon | Chapters

Published:  1865
Pages:  129
ISBN:  9780007350827
Genre:  Adventure/Fantasy

Started:  Aug. 25, 2011
Finished:  Aug. 28, 2011 (4 days)

Where Found:  Book Depot
Why Read:  On my TBR list

Summary:  Intrigued by a white rabbit with a pocketwatch, a precocious young girl named Alice stumbles down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of riddles, rhymes, and oddball creatures.

Review:

How have I never read this before?!  I loved the Disney movie as a child and the fairly recent Tim Burton version was entertaining (albeit taking liberties with the plot to make Alice an unlikely action heroine), and let's just pretend the 1933 movie with Cary Grant (!), Gary Cooper (!!) and its cheesy visual effects never happened.  Despite this, I had never delved into the Lewis Carroll story.  I think most of the language would go over child readers' heads, like the gags on Sesame Street (my current favourite: Grover's Old Spice spoof "Smell Like a Monster") that send adults a wink while their kids are watching with them, but is enjoyable for all audiences regardless.

Not since reading Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest has a story exploded with sharp satire, hilarious antics, and the dizzying feeling of not being entirely certain of its world but loving the adventure for its own sake.  The story has boundless energy with Alice encountering a new character in every small chapter, remaining clueless as to her place in Wonderland but being charmed and pleasantly befuddled by it.

This can (and should) be read in one sitting and preferrably aloud as its language is too smart and funny not to be shared.  As the famous line from the first page goes, "What is the use of a book without pictures or conversations?"  And by the way...exactly how is a raven like a writing desk?

Rank:  (A+)- Timeless Classic, Highly Recommend