Wonderland and Looking Glass

[Jim Egged]

If you look at the history of how the story came to be, Lewis Carroll was just telling the story to three little girls (one of which happened to be Alice Liddell the other two her sisters Edith and Lorina) whom lived very regimented lives. The father of the three girls taught Greek at Oxford University in England, and Carroll (Charles Dodgson) taught Mathematics. There was not much room for nonsense in the lives of these three little girls, so in telling stories to them Carroll created the nonsense for them. This way the children could be children. You must remember being a child once, think about some of the things Alice says to herself. She is a little girl forced to live in a grown-up world and be practical. These two stories (The Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass) are just escapes for Alice and her two sisters. They are not really some drug induced psychotic episode. These stories have entertained children for generations and continue to do so. I am glad that Lewis Carroll created them. By the way, one last comment, the original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel are excellent.

[Laura Bianchi]

Hey Jim I agree, I too have read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and think it is just a man trying to enhance the life of three little girls. Did you read were Alice actually had three sons in World War I and lost two of them?

[Sebas. Melmoth]

Chas. Dodgson did tell imaginative stories to his friends' children, but the marvellous books Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There are literary works of incredible fantasy, poetry, and logic.

[loe]

Alice's Adventures aren't only entertainment for children. ;)
I love these two stories - especially this kind of nonsense that actually makes sense somehow and all the puns. Absolutely great! :)

Years ago I read a German translation, but it's really hard to translate these puns and jokes adequately. Currently I'm reading the stories in English and enjoy every word very much!

[applepie]

I'm reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to my kids at the moment. Even my 3 year old is loving it, but I imagine to her much of it just sounds like nonsense.