[Some spoilers included. The ending is also spoiled.]
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is a book written by Lewis Carroll (also known as Charles Dodgson), and it was published in 1865. The story relates the story of Alice who goes on a nonsensical journey into a fairyland assumed to be called Wonderland.
The story feels much like a dream. Alice feels like she is in a dream where everything makes little sense, yet she only gets frustrated by them. I've had dreams like this. Dreams put you into a sort of state that shield you from caring too much about out of place or weird things. From the moment this story begins, that's what this book feels like, and by the end of it, you find that it is in fact a dream. And that's the major spoil I warned about at the beginning.
So it is a dream done correctly. The world of Wonderland is actually a product of a little girl's wild imagination. The final chapter of this book is actually powerfully written in this respect, but there is a bit more context to it that needs to be addressed.
The thing about this book is... It's really a story about the author who was madly and even a bit creepily in love with the main character's namesake. Without this context, the book is completely meaningless and perfectly nonsensical to the point of being worthless. I didn't want to say it, but it's just true.
On it's own, it's still entertaining. It feels rather relaxing, as if you are just leaving the real world behind. There are no real worries in Wonderland. Nothing really matters. Everyone is too mad for there to be any concern. Even the Queen was too distracted to really cause her any trouble.
And I did love all of the characters. There are too many to properly mention, but I will mention a few:
1: My favorite is the Cheshire Cat. I think he may have represented the author. He was extremely charming and enjoyable. I got the impression that he was actually not as mad as he led her to believe.
2: There was a mouse towards the beginning of the book that was offended by everything Alice told him. This cracked me up. I'd love to own an offended pet mouse!
3: Bill the lizard was hilariously written. He seemed like a good and sensible character which contracted with all the mad ones. But instead of crazy, he was just a dullard that nothing ever went right for. Lewis Carroll constantly gave him the short end of the stick and turned it into comic mastery.
4: The Mad Hatter was fine, but the sleepy dormouse was better. He was too cute for me to pass up.
I recommend "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." It is a timeless classic with some rather creepy yet interesting facts that lie behind the veil. But don't read it if you're expecting anything coherent. After all, it's just a dream.
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Interesting how our bizarre sexuality can inspire us to create weird things. It is quite appropriate, I suppose. I mean, why write something realistic inspired by something ridiculous? The silliness is where our fantasy and sci fi genres come from... and they are ultimately our favorites.
ReplyDeleteOh, I loved how it worked out like that. You can see into this man's strange mind by looking through this book.
DeleteThe desires of the author spawned whimsy that stands the test of time. It's a testament to the fact that with sexual inspiration there are no limits. The Cheshire Cat was my favorite as well, he will always be an icon of euphoric madness.
ReplyDeleteThe Cheshire Cat was like looking directly at the author. Wow.
DeleteIt is a tale told purely for amusement. He wanted the character's namesake to delight in it. The frustration is all part of the fun.
ReplyDeleteThis was actually well said. I like how you put it about the frustration being all part of the fun. Good way to explain what the author was doing.
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