Lewis Carroll

"Books? You want books?! Ha! We've got books on hairy otters, on onions and on mars! All the fungus you could care for, plus, three triple zillion stars. We've got books on flossing teeth, plus three books on tossing sheep. If we spent our lives just counting books, we'd never get to sleep!" -Leopold the Librarian ("The Great Wishy Woz")
Post Reply
User avatar
bookworm
ToO Historian
ToO Historian
Posts: 16248
Joined: July 2006
Contact:

Lewis Carroll

Post by bookworm »

I never thought I was a fan of Lewis Carroll's Alice books, because random nonsense stories bother me and I was always under the impression that's what they were, but I've come to realize that impression is incredibly inaccurate. I had thought that because I'd never actually read the original books, my understanding of the stories was only from various adaptations of them and from knowing a few of the poems, out of context, through cultural prevalence.

A few months ago I watched this great analysis series on Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass which opened my eyes to what a true linguistic genius Carroll was and how these books are absolutely not nonsense, but are in fact very carefully and very cleverly written. Being guided through the fantastic wordplay, metaphors, and jokes and references gave me a huge appreciation for these books that I never expected I would feel!

Ever since then I've been wanting to add them to my personal library, and have been checking any thrift and book stores that I visit to see if they had any copies of either one. Today I stopped into a thrift store and saw an old family friend looking through their books. I went over to talk to her, and after a few minutes turned and looked toward the bookshelf I happened to be standing in front of, and literally straight in front of my eyes was a really nice leather bound combined edition of both books with the original illustrations. Grabbed it immediately; I'm so pleased! :D
Image
User avatar
Catspaw
Care Bear Admin
Care Bear Admin
Posts: 30425
Joined: April 2005
Location: Canada
Gender:

Post by Catspaw »

Wow, that sounds like a great book find! :D Love it!

I read the original book a really long time ago. I should add it to be "read again eventually one day probably" list after your endorsement, bookworm!
Image
Post Reply