Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Penguin Classics)
by Lewis Carroll

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Book Reviews of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Penguin Classics)

Book Review: Alice and her wonderful adventures in a land of nonsense
Summary: 4 Stars

The majority of copies of the book contain not one, but in fact two stories. The title tale, "Alice's Adventures..." and part two - "Through the Looking Glass." Book one sees Alice begin her exploration of Wonderland by following a rather eccentric white rabbit into its burrow, and upon reaching the bottom (for it is a long way down), all hell breaks lose when she drinks from a bottle curiously labelled 'drink me,' causing her to shrink until she is no more than a few inches tall. From there she comes across the white rabbit's house (and at one point gets stuck with one leg up the chimney as she begins to return to her normal size). Following this, she meets a smoking caterpillar, is very nearly executed by the cantankerous Queen of Hearts, and befriends a grinning Cheshire cat. The reason behind my decision to award the book four stars instead of five is due to the quality of Through the Looking Glass. I do not feel it contained as much warmth and wit as its predecessor. Part two of the book follows Alice as she embarks on an adventure through Looking Glass Land (which she accessed by climbing through her living-room mirror). Everything in this strange new land works back-to-front and (unsurprisingly) nonsensical events are very much the norm. This particular section of the story is set out as a game of chess - with Alice beginning her quest as a pawn. In each square she has a separate adventure, and she must reach the final square in order to achieve her goal and become a Queen. Although I believe Carroll's ability to structure the story in this way to be incredibly inventive, I think it relies too heavily on long-winded tales and overblown sentences of nonsense. The section involving the bizarre Looking Glass insects, however, is particularly imaginative: "There's the Snap-Dragon fly. Its body is made of plum pudding, its wings of holly leaves and its head is a raisin burning in brandy." It contains some wonderfully inspired characters such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, but there is less eccentricity than was present during the first story. All in all, Through the Looking Glass (although it has its moments) is a bit of a let down after part one.

Anyone considering reading the book - which I have no hesitation in recommending wholeheartedly - would, I believe, also enjoy the 1950's Disney big-screen version which complements the book superbly. If you have yet to see the film, however, the original illustrations in this version (by John Tenniel) accompany the readers' journey through Wonderland marvellously, and are a particular favourite with youngsters. Not only is the following line - taken from the Mad Hatter's tea-party - one of my favourites, it is all too easy to mentally picture the bizarre scene: "'We quarrelled last March - just before HE went mad, you know' - pointing with his tea-spoon at the March Hare."

There are certain aspects of the story (such as the caterpillar's love of his hookah) which would undoubtedly be banned from modern-day children's stories - deemed unsuitable. What I find remarkable is that although the book was originally published in eighteen ninety-eight, its popularity to the present day is astounding; it seems that everyone who has read the story has loved it and frankly, who can blame them?

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