50 books to read before you die discussion

Next book to be read as a group - 29 on the 50 list.

A great book, of course.

I love the mischievous yet fond humor when Carroll pokes fun at Alice in the first chapter:

"`I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I've got to?' (Alice had not the slightest idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but she thought they were nice grand words to say)."

Who hasn't done as Alice did? Of course, a child's pretentiousness can be more readily excused!

Half way past chapter 4. So far she's shrunk and grown a few times, eaten things lying around and offended mice and birds by talking about her cat. Also, she's cried quite a few time.

Now she's stuck in a house and making a nuisance of herself.

Have to say, I read this as a child after watching the Disney cartoon and really like it. Reading it as an adult, I don't see the point of a lot of what's going on, or why Alice behaves the way she does.

It's an easy read though, and I'm going to stick with it to see if I feel differently later on.

Hi there! My name is Margret and I am one of the new moderators of the group, so nice to meet you.

There has always been a certain degree of enigma surrounding the story of Alice in Wonderland. From the strangeness of Wonderland as a setting to the nonsense-spewing characters, nobody really knows what it’s all supposed to mean ...

What do you think it is about Alice in Wonderland that has made it such an enduring story to this day? Moreover, do you think it even has a meaning at all?

Feel free to join the discussion.

I have just finished reading this, still collecting my thoughts about it really. I must admit it wasn't quite what I was expecting, which I find rather interesting actually.

Really wish I'd read this as a child, I think I would have found it absolutely fascinating.

I read Alice in Wonderland for the first time about a year ago and I must admit that I was never particularly captivated by it. Having grown up watching the 1951 Disney adaptation, perhaps I just expected a little more fun and colour. What I found instead when reading the book was a rather grim and uninviting world that didn’t really appeal much to my imagination. But who knows... perhaps it‘s just one of those children’s books that you have to have grown up with in order to fully appreciate.

Margret wrote: "I read Alice in Wonderland for the first time about a year ago and I must admit that I was never particularly captivated by it. Having grown up watching the 1951 Disney adaptation, perhaps I just e..."

This is pretty much how I feel about the book too. I grew up with the Disney version, and even read the book as a child. I loved them both.

Reading it now however, as an adult I found it quite disturbing.

It has so many red flags for parents, the baby shaking episode, constantly eating things lying around to grow or shrink, the duchess who keeps trying to invade Alice's personal space.

Maybe I'm reacting to news about Lewis' strange obsession with the real Alice (https://www.theguardian.com/world/200...), but I'm actually surprised by how much I don't like it anymore!

Everybody knows Alice in Wonderland from the great Disney animated movie, but the film is based mostly on the first book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with only a fraction from Through the Looking Glass (Tweedledee and Tweedledum, for instance.) Through the Looking Glass is where Carroll published Jabberwocky. I'm not a poetry person, but Jabberwocky is so whimsically wonderful. I've known it my whole life, even though I hadn't ever read this book, in which Humpty Dumpty tells Alice of the meaning of some of the unfamiliar words in Jaberwocky. I never even knew that Alice was acquainted with Mr. Dumpty. I give it extra credit, a fourth star, because of that marvelous poem. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

@Indeneri. I entirely agree. I was also left rather puzzled when reading those passages, the baby-shaking episode in particular. I don’t really understand why an author should wish to include something like that in a story that he knows is going to be read by parents to small children.

All the more puzzling is the fact that we never really get an explanation for why some of the Wonderland inhabitants act the way that they do.

There’s a popular theory out there that each of the characters in Alice in Wonderland is meant to represent a different mental condition, though how much of that is actually valid, I’m not quite sure. If it is, I doubt it was intentional on Lewis Carroll’s part. All the same, it’s an interesting connection.

I agree with Buck Jaberwocky is amazing.

The more I think and ponder on this book the more I like it, though not in the way I was originally expecting to, for I am quite partial to the surreal.

The Disney film of course produced certain expectations, but after actually reading the book I feel the animated film kind of misses the point, I’m curious if anyone else feels that way too. Personally I feel this isn't meant to be a tale of fun and adventure as it’s portrayed in the film. Wonderland is a confusing and scary place, it's growing up and the dreaded world of adulthood where everyone is angry and spouts mindless nonsense all the time, the rules make no sense and constantly change.

It feels like a cruelly accurate warning to kids on what is to come in the future.

Looking forward to reading Through the Looking-Glass, love Jabberwocky too, the words ‘gyre and gimble in the wabe’ just pop into my head every now and then and make me smile.

Margret wrote: "Hi there! My name is Margret and I am one of the new moderators of the group, so nice to meet you.

There has always been a certain degree of enigma surrounding the story of Alice in Wonderland. F..."

The way Carroll plays with logic and perception is remarkable ... for me, it is just delightful.

Alice and Wonderland is one of my all-time favorites. I agree with Kayleigh that the Disneyfied version missed the point. It is funny, creative, and without a doubt weird, but the way the author playfully manipulations logic is genius. Through the Looking Glass is likewise wonderful, to me.

It is my request to all of you that please provide me a notes on Alice, Adventure I'm wonderland

I can't afford to this book

please help me I have to do assignment on it..

Shaikh wrote: "It is my request to all of you that please provide me a notes on Alice, Adventure I'm wonderland

I can't afford to this book"

https://www.gradesaver.com/alice-in-w...

Alice is one of the best iconic books ever written and has set the scene for future children’s literature. It is an example of popular culture that is known throughout the world. There are so many layers to Carroll’s Wonderland and you are able to project your own meaning onto this nonsensical and clever story. To me it encapsulates the very ambivalent nature of the world we live in and how we understand ourselves and how we make sense of society in this often illogical world.