Hello Book Lovers!!!
I've eventually finished this rather hefty book!!! It took me quite a while to get through as the text is pretty small and there are so many sections in this edition. Also there were pretty drawings to distract me from the reading...
The first few sections of this book were an introduction which discussed things such as the history behind Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and then a biography about the creator. I found this very interesting to read and it was nice to find out some new information I didn't previously know about this well known tale. There were also notes on the text and discussions about the artwork for this novel which I found so interesting to read as it talks about the creation of the nonsense behind the story and how the characters were drawn like they were in the artwork.
The next section in this book was the story of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. As this is such a well known story I'm not going to go into the synopsis of it but I loved the nonsense of it and the drawings that were on some of the pages were just fantastic. It took me longer to read this section because I found myself looking at the drawings for ages!!! I think the ending is to sudden for me but I loved the way it was written and I looked forward to getting onto the next section of this book.
The next section was Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. I did really enjoy this story as well but just not as much as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I loved all of the poetry that was included in this story and I think that added a unique element. I also loved Tweedledee and Tweedledum. They make me laugh so much, they are definitely my favourite characters in this story (the Cheshire Cat being my favourite in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland). Again this story was so full on nonsense and what I really love about these stories is that even if you get confused, it doesn't really matter because you are just being confused with Alice.
The next section of this book was actually two sections but the first one is super short so I'm putting two sections together. The first section was Introduction: Alice's Adventures Underground. I really enjoyed reading this section as it discussed the differences in the many publications and then it talked about the differences between Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Alice's Adventures Underground. There is one section that I really enjoyed reading and it has stuck in my head so I just want to share that with you now:
'At the heart of the book is not the Queen of Hearts, the homicidal matriarch who presides over the last chapter, but Alice, who in answer to the pigeon's question ("' What are you"') and challenge ("' I can see you're trying to invent something"') answers "' I'm a little girl"', but 'rather doubtfully, as she remembered the number of changes she had gone through'. And that of course is what the book is about, Alice's trying to invent herself as 'a little girl', in the face of the dizzying changes of size and context she undergoes underground. Alice's Adventures Underground offers a different, developmental narrative of Dodgson's invented story but also of Alice's fictional journey of growth and self -invention in a world of startling physical and biological transformations.'
I love how it talks about Alice's growth and her inventing herself as this is something that we all go through in life and so it is very relatable.
Straight after reading this section I read the whole of Alice's Adventures Underground which is the original version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This version is only 4 chapters long whereas the version we have all grown to love is 12 chapters long. Even though this is so much shorter, it still works and I loved reading it, the only thing I could fault about it is the fact the Cheshire Cat is not in this version and I love the Cheshire Cat!!!
We are getting onto the final sections of this book now...woohoo!!! The next section was "Alice" on the Stage. As a dancer I do lots of performances so it was nice to have this section talking about theatre in the book. I liked how it discussed the character development and the talents of the younger actors in the performance. Finding out how the theatre adaptation was brought to life was really interesting to read as I have never seen any theatre version of it (apart from when I was in the pantomime and played the Dormouse).
The final sections are of notes on both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I found these interesting to read as it discussed where some of the words came from and the inspirations for the novel but I did find this section pretty difficult to concentrate on. That could just be because I was super tired when I read it but it seemed pretty long winded.
And that brings us the the end of this very long review!!! Overall I really enjoyed reading each of the stories and finding out the history behind them and the inspirations etc. I would definitely recommend this edition to anyone that enjoys finding out the backgrounds to novels.
Rating /5
4
Happy Reading!!!
xHannahx
The final sections are of notes on both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I found these interesting to read as it discussed where some of the words came from and the inspirations for the novel but I did find this section pretty difficult to concentrate on. That could just be because I was super tired when I read it but it seemed pretty long winded.
And that brings us the the end of this very long review!!! Overall I really enjoyed reading each of the stories and finding out the history behind them and the inspirations etc. I would definitely recommend this edition to anyone that enjoys finding out the backgrounds to novels.
Rating /5
4
Happy Reading!!!
xHannahx
No comments:
Post a Comment