Silly Question on Lewis Carroll

[Kiwi Shelf]

Alright, he was not an author that I ever knew of other than "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," and I know how those books turned out. So, my boyfriend was reading a poem by him, and suddenly I want to read him. Can anyone suggest the best way to be introduced if I don't want to go the popular trek? Wait, introduction bad word, I have read "Alice in Wonderland," only I was a kid back then. I want to read something different, and type in him google just give me a list. I want a centiant (hope that is spelled right) being to give their opinion.

[amuse]

i reread both those books a couple of months ago. the poetry was so much better than i remembered. i haven't read anything else by him, but both books have great poetry, some of which i'd managed to forget and was so happy to reunite with. a lot of his dialogue is also very adult, and went over my head as a kid.
that didn't help did it.
maybe you meant sentient?

[IWilKikU]

The reason that those two books are so popular is that they are his best. The books are great, from the crazy abstract storylines to the great poetry. Give them a reread, I think you'll be impressed.

[simon]

Read Sylivia and Bruno, it's about two kids that go into a little fantasy world, not as good as the Alice books, but an interesting look at his style of writting.

[emily655321]

Oddly enough, I've never read either "Alice" all the way through -- bits and pieces when I was a kid. Most of what I know is from my mother telling the different adventures of Alice to me as bedtime stories -- and, of course, the Disney. But whatever... I have read a pretty comprehensive collection of his poetry, and I absolutely love it. He had the spirit of a surrealist -- something about the imagery, combined with the common subject of adults as children who have lost their wisdom, hits the same nerve in me as a really weird dream. I recommend the poetry to start with, because it gives you an overall feeling of his attitudes and what's going on in his head.

[Kiwi Shelf]

Sentient, yes thank you. I know what I wrote didn't look right.

And, I think I will just go down "The Alice and Wonderland" track. I was just wondering if there was anything else to recommend.

Thanks!

[Raven]

Well, I have the Complete Works, its only something like £10.99

[fictiondays]

I highly recommend reading the Annotated Alice. It contains both Alice books with highly informative notes by Martin Gardner. Much of the humor and references in the books is topical, and this will help explain things.

After that The Annotated Hunting of the Snark.

[Kiwi Shelf]

I will keep that in mind, thanks

[Karuna]

I was going to recommend 'The Hunting of the Snark' which is shear delight. I think I read Martin Gardiner's 'Annotated ... Snark' but only after reading 'Snark' many times and even learning the 'First Fit' off by heart (it was subtitled 'An Agony in Eight Fits').

Though I respected Gardiner as I was a former reader of his Mathematical Puzzles section in the 'Scientific American' I would recommend his commentry only to those who are thoroughly familiar with Dodgeson's* (i.e. Lewis Carol's) original work.

I recall my frequently infuriating habit of reciting such delicious verses as the following to my bewildered parents:

"The bowsprit gets mixed with the rudder sometimes,
a thing which the Bellman remarked'
frequently happens in tropical climes
when the vessel is, so to speak, Snarked!"

(*for info. - which you probably all know anyway - Lewis Carol was the pen name of Carl Ludwig Dodgeson who was a lecturer in logic @ Oxford (or maybe Cambridge) University!)

[starrwriter]

I was going to recommend 'The Hunting of the Snark' which is shear delight.

I second the motion. I love the way Carroll invented gibberish words that almost seemed to make sense:

"For the Snark was a Boojum, you see."

Shear delight is right!

[Kiwi Shelf]

Interesting that my question gets answered when I resurface on here. I will look for that book, thanks!

[mickeymack]

Sorry to be a pedant but Lewis Carroll was the pseudonym of the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson! He became a lecturer in mathematics in Christ Church, Oxford.His works remain as fresh and elusive as ever.