It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then
I do not even know if I ever read Alice in Wonderland (aka Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland). I thought I did, but I also grew up in the time of Disney who of course made an animated movie and the later Tim Burton movie.
Book Review: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Rating:
Title & Author: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll
Genre: Fantasy, Classic
Release Date: November 26 1865
Series: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Publisher: Macmillan
Synopsis
When Alice first saw the White Rabbit and followed him down the big rabbit-hole, it was the start of the most wonderful adventure a little girl could have.
Just imagine finding yourself having a conversation with a Blue Caterpillar on top of a mushroom. Or sitting down to tea with a March Hare, a Mad Hatter and a very gentle little Dormouse!
Of course there were times when Alice wasn’t quite sure if she was really enjoying herself. It certainly wasn’t very much fun listening to the tearful Mock Turtle telling her his sad story. And it wan’t much fun being the guest of the Queen of Hearts. “Off with his head!” or “Off with her head!” was the terrible Queen’s favorite command when any of the players at her Croquet Party upset her. No wonder Alice was glad to make her escape!
I gave Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland four out of five stars because it is such a magical story. I am sad high school never made me read it because there are so many elements that one could discuss for a class.
I actually picked up my copy last year when I found a beautiful edition of it from Barnes and Noble. But except for reading the introduction, I did not find the time to read it and I was looking for something simple to read. But this book is not as “simple” as I expected.
All the easy use of opiates made me think the entire story could be one big trip by Alice. Everything from the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter. They are so crazy! I really hope Caroll did not use opium himself when babysitting the girl he actually wrote the story for.
The characters are very original and curious. Alice is a girl that needs to find herself again and she is so curious, eating things here and there without being careful. The Mad Hatter is luckily not as mad as Johnny Depp’s Hatter.
Overall this novel was good, but there are some better authors/novels around.
The Movie(s)
I watched the original 1951 a couple of times, even in recent years. I like the artstyle of the movie and the way the Queen of Hearts is shown. I think this movie is the most real adeption of the original book.
The later movie with Johhny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and others was a bit worse. It is still a good movie, but it strays for me a lot away from the novel and I also did not like the amount of CGI in that movie. Especially Depps eyes bugged me.
Let me know what you thought of this book and/or movie!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.
For now, let books enrich your life!