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Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream
From Alice in Blunderland: “Certain of our members claim that they have a right to sell their votes for $500 apiece–”
“Mercy!” cried Alice, “Why, that is–that is terrible.”
“It certainly is,” said the March Hare ruefully, it’s rotten. Here I’ve been holding out for $1,250 for mine, and these duffers want to go in for a cut rate that will absolutely ruin the business.”
John Kendrick Bangs takes Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and turns it into a political satire in many ways as fresh, keen and relevant today as it was a hundred years ago. (Summary by Ruth Golding)
"An Underground Best-Seller" - "Animal Farm for 21st Century Politics" - What would happen if Alice, of Wonderland fame, were dropped into a political system where the government runs every aspect of life? You would have Alice in Blunderland, a 1907 classic, brought back to life-with even more meaning for our modern times. Join Alice as she explores a city where: The town has an official beggar-who is on government salary. - Boys are required to dance with homely girls-or get arrested. - They have the safest, most fuel-efficient, mass transit system in the world-because it doesn't go anywhere. - Teeth are public property. - The Commissioner of Public Verse has 16,743 poets working for him-and words that don't rhyme are made to rhyme by civic decree. - And, the official government monetary policy is expressed as follows: We promise to pay / This bond some day / If of the stuff / We've got enough. / And if we haven't, pray don't despond, / For we'll pay it off with another bond. - "This would be one of the funniest political satires I've ever read-if it weren't so close to current reality."
“Mercy!” cried Alice, “Why, that is–that is terrible.”
“It certainly is,” said the March Hare ruefully, it’s rotten. Here I’ve been holding out for $1,250 for mine, and these duffers want to go in for a cut rate that will absolutely ruin the business.”
John Kendrick Bangs takes Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and turns it into a political satire in many ways as fresh, keen and relevant today as it was a hundred years ago. (Summary by Ruth Golding)
"An Underground Best-Seller" - "Animal Farm for 21st Century Politics" - What would happen if Alice, of Wonderland fame, were dropped into a political system where the government runs every aspect of life? You would have Alice in Blunderland, a 1907 classic, brought back to life-with even more meaning for our modern times. Join Alice as she explores a city where: The town has an official beggar-who is on government salary. - Boys are required to dance with homely girls-or get arrested. - They have the safest, most fuel-efficient, mass transit system in the world-because it doesn't go anywhere. - Teeth are public property. - The Commissioner of Public Verse has 16,743 poets working for him-and words that don't rhyme are made to rhyme by civic decree. - And, the official government monetary policy is expressed as follows: We promise to pay / This bond some day / If of the stuff / We've got enough. / And if we haven't, pray don't despond, / For we'll pay it off with another bond. - "This would be one of the funniest political satires I've ever read-if it weren't so close to current reality."
136 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1907
About the author
John Kendrick Bangs
515 books43 followersJohn Kendrick Bangs was an American author and satirist, and the creator of modern Bangsian fantasy, the school of fantasy writing that sets the plot wholly or partially in the afterlife.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
November 15, 2018
You see, Miss Alice, I made a personal study of collisions. The Mayor here ordered a fresh one every day for me to investigate, and I noticed that whenever two cars bunged into each other it was always at the ends and never in the middle. The conclusion was inevitable. The ends being the venerable spot, abolish them. - Mad Hatter to Alice.
Through the novel Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream, - a spoof of the two Alice books by Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.- John Kendrick Bangs narrates the inner workings of an eccentric political machinery, that even the modern reader will immediately recognize. A sharp political satire, first published in book form in 1907 by Doubleday, Page & Co. of New York, the narrative is a parody detailing corporate greed, state policy bloopers and overall government incompetence told in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
Even though the novel is more than 110 years old, the scenarios that it depicts are still fresh & relevant today. It takes no effort for the reader to discover and connect with the world, The Blunderland, that the author describes in the novel; the land described as the Municipal Ownership Country, were the government controls all the aspects of the people’s life; all the reader has to do is to look around.
Using absorbing scenarios, Bangs makes keen observations about political and economic issues like corruption, backhanders, centralization of power, corporate gluttony, exorbitant taxes, political patronage and gross incompetence of the people who are entrusted with running the various spokes of the government system, within his narrative.
In the parody, we meet Alice, who has ended up in a strange city named Blunderland, a city founded by the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the White Knight, and a city with a political system that will delight us with its eccentric policies, bizarre laws and strange characters. Grand but impractical facilities that she meet there, like the train that goes everywhere yet nowhere and the aromatic gas plant and economic policies like the issue of Municipal Bonds to cover every expenditure, inexplicable laws like the Municipal Ownership of Teeth, are all fine examples of the incompetence, hassles of red tape and downright stupid policies that we are so familiar with, in our modern day political environments.
A few so called experts and policymakers coming up with gargantuan and ostentatious projects, all in the name of development, safety and comfort for the general public; projects and undertakings with no real-world benefits; still cheered on, clapped and praised by cronies blinded by nepotism, political patronage and shameful fandom towards those who rule and make stupid policies are just the same today as it was during the author’s time period.
Mad Hatter, Alice, White Knight and March Hare in the Municipal Ownership Circulating Railroad, illustration by Albert Levering.
One of such grand schemes that Alice visits in the city of Blunderland is the Municipal Ownership Circulating Railroad, a circular train that stops everywhere; a big circular car that runs all around the city and joins itself where it began in the beginning; a train built on a solid foundation and one that doesn’t move an inch; a train that was invented after much research, brainstorming and policy making, as a solution for cutting down on accidents caused due to collisions between railroad cars.
The narrative by Bangs, detailing the invention of the circular railroad by the state of Blunderland, is loaded with sharp sarcasm.
The novel was originally published serially in the magazine Concerning Municipal Ownership - a magazine published by the M O Publishing Bureau, New York - from December 1906 (Vol-1, Issue-10) to May 1907 (Vol-2, Issue-5), with the title Alice in Municipaland. The novel, which was published in parts in the magazine, was accompanied by fascinating line drawings from the American illustrator Albert Levering. When the novel was published as a book in 1907 by Doubleday, Page & Co. of New York, these illustrations by Levering was also included.
Decorative illustration by Albert Levering, which accompanied each part of the novel when it appeared in Concerning Municipal Ownership Magazine.
Going through the 1906 and 1907 issues of the ‘Concerning Municipal Ownership’ magazine, I found that the original magazine piece had a total of six chapters, while the novel that got published in 1907 in book format had an additional chapter titled ‘ The Department of Public Verse ’, which presumably was added by Bangs at a later stage. After publishing the final chapter of the novel in the May 1907 issue of the magazine, it seems that Bangs also contributed a column titled Muncipalunancy in the June, July and August 1907 issues of the ‘Concerning Municipal Ownership’.
More Political Satires based on the Adventures of Alice by Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, the two Alice books by Lewis Carroll, has been used as a base for a number of political parodies. The Westminster Alice, which came out in 1902, is a collection of vignettes by Saki, criticizing the politics of Britain and features many prominent British politicians of that period.
An illustration by F. Carruthers Gould, from the 1902 edition of Westminster Alice.
Clara in Blunderland, a novel written by Edward Harold Begbie, J. Stafford Ransome and M. H. Temple under the pseudonym Caroline Lewis , and published by William Heinemann of London in 1902, is another political parody, which takes a critical look at the British Governments involvement in the Second Boer War. Lost in Blunderland: The Further Adventures of Clara, also written under the pseudonym Caroline Lewis , and published in 1903, criticizes the early administration of Prime Minister Arthur Balfour.
Adventures in Fiscal Wonderland, by John Bull, which was published in 1904, endeavors at understanding the economic state of England. Alice in Delighted States by Edward Hope, which came out in 1928, is another parody of the socio-political eccentricities, based on Carroll’s tales.
Alice In Blunderland - A Comic Book with the same title
In 1952, a promotional comic book titled Alice In Blunderland - A Fantasy For Every American Citizen came out as a tool in raising the awareness in public about wasteful federal expenditures and about government inefficiency.
A comic panel from the 1952 comic book, depicting the bizarre levels of resource wastage caused by the duplicate storage of useless documents and records.
The comics was an attempt at unraveling the mayhem and staggering cost associated with the federal functioning through cartoon panels.
Albert Levering - The illustrator
The illustrations – for both the magazine piece and the first edition book, - which accompanied Alice in Blunderland were done by the American illustrator Albert Levering (1869-1929).
Illustration by Albert Levering done for “Mrs. Raffles: Being the Adventures of an Amateur Crackswoman”
Albert Levering was the illustrator for other works from Bangs like Jack and the Check Book, Mrs. Raffles: Being the Adventures of an Amateur Crackswoman and Mollie and the Unwiseman.
He was also famous for his ”Everybody does it” – The national excuse, illustration done in 1910, which depicts a large circle of men, from various professions , marching around a large map with the label The United States of America, while each taking money from the pocket of the man in front of him. The illustration, which was done for the Puck magazine, symbolizes the avarice in the society and the evil connection between money and politics.
Albert Levering passed away on 12 April 1929.
An interesting political parody
Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream is not a novel that will make you laugh out loud, as the humor can be a bit wry, but it is still an interesting political parody, which is fresh, funny and highly relevant.
Through the novel Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream, - a spoof of the two Alice books by Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.- John Kendrick Bangs narrates the inner workings of an eccentric political machinery, that even the modern reader will immediately recognize. A sharp political satire, first published in book form in 1907 by Doubleday, Page & Co. of New York, the narrative is a parody detailing corporate greed, state policy bloopers and overall government incompetence told in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
Even though the novel is more than 110 years old, the scenarios that it depicts are still fresh & relevant today. It takes no effort for the reader to discover and connect with the world, The Blunderland, that the author describes in the novel; the land described as the Municipal Ownership Country, were the government controls all the aspects of the people’s life; all the reader has to do is to look around.
Using absorbing scenarios, Bangs makes keen observations about political and economic issues like corruption, backhanders, centralization of power, corporate gluttony, exorbitant taxes, political patronage and gross incompetence of the people who are entrusted with running the various spokes of the government system, within his narrative.
In the parody, we meet Alice, who has ended up in a strange city named Blunderland, a city founded by the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the White Knight, and a city with a political system that will delight us with its eccentric policies, bizarre laws and strange characters. Grand but impractical facilities that she meet there, like the train that goes everywhere yet nowhere and the aromatic gas plant and economic policies like the issue of Municipal Bonds to cover every expenditure, inexplicable laws like the Municipal Ownership of Teeth, are all fine examples of the incompetence, hassles of red tape and downright stupid policies that we are so familiar with, in our modern day political environments.
A few so called experts and policymakers coming up with gargantuan and ostentatious projects, all in the name of development, safety and comfort for the general public; projects and undertakings with no real-world benefits; still cheered on, clapped and praised by cronies blinded by nepotism, political patronage and shameful fandom towards those who rule and make stupid policies are just the same today as it was during the author’s time period.
Mad Hatter, Alice, White Knight and March Hare in the Municipal Ownership Circulating Railroad, illustration by Albert Levering.
“The only way that I can find
To stop this car colliding stunt
Is cutting off the end behind
And likewise that in front.”
One of such grand schemes that Alice visits in the city of Blunderland is the Municipal Ownership Circulating Railroad, a circular train that stops everywhere; a big circular car that runs all around the city and joins itself where it began in the beginning; a train built on a solid foundation and one that doesn’t move an inch; a train that was invented after much research, brainstorming and policy making, as a solution for cutting down on accidents caused due to collisions between railroad cars.
“Yes, but if they don’t go – how does anybody get anywhere?” asked Alice.
“They can get off and walk,” said the Hatter. “And it’s a great deal less dangerous getting off a train that doesn’t move than off one that does… …we M. O. people are after the comfort and safety of the people first, last and all the time.”
The narrative by Bangs, detailing the invention of the circular railroad by the state of Blunderland, is loaded with sharp sarcasm.
The novel was originally published serially in the magazine Concerning Municipal Ownership - a magazine published by the M O Publishing Bureau, New York - from December 1906 (Vol-1, Issue-10) to May 1907 (Vol-2, Issue-5), with the title Alice in Municipaland. The novel, which was published in parts in the magazine, was accompanied by fascinating line drawings from the American illustrator Albert Levering. When the novel was published as a book in 1907 by Doubleday, Page & Co. of New York, these illustrations by Levering was also included.
Decorative illustration by Albert Levering, which accompanied each part of the novel when it appeared in Concerning Municipal Ownership Magazine.
Going through the 1906 and 1907 issues of the ‘Concerning Municipal Ownership’ magazine, I found that the original magazine piece had a total of six chapters, while the novel that got published in 1907 in book format had an additional chapter titled ‘ The Department of Public Verse ’, which presumably was added by Bangs at a later stage. After publishing the final chapter of the novel in the May 1907 issue of the magazine, it seems that Bangs also contributed a column titled Muncipalunancy in the June, July and August 1907 issues of the ‘Concerning Municipal Ownership’.
More Political Satires based on the Adventures of Alice by Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, the two Alice books by Lewis Carroll, has been used as a base for a number of political parodies. The Westminster Alice, which came out in 1902, is a collection of vignettes by Saki, criticizing the politics of Britain and features many prominent British politicians of that period.
An illustration by F. Carruthers Gould, from the 1902 edition of Westminster Alice.
Clara in Blunderland, a novel written by Edward Harold Begbie, J. Stafford Ransome and M. H. Temple under the pseudonym Caroline Lewis , and published by William Heinemann of London in 1902, is another political parody, which takes a critical look at the British Governments involvement in the Second Boer War. Lost in Blunderland: The Further Adventures of Clara, also written under the pseudonym Caroline Lewis , and published in 1903, criticizes the early administration of Prime Minister Arthur Balfour.
Adventures in Fiscal Wonderland, by John Bull, which was published in 1904, endeavors at understanding the economic state of England. Alice in Delighted States by Edward Hope, which came out in 1928, is another parody of the socio-political eccentricities, based on Carroll’s tales.
Alice In Blunderland - A Comic Book with the same title
In 1952, a promotional comic book titled Alice In Blunderland - A Fantasy For Every American Citizen came out as a tool in raising the awareness in public about wasteful federal expenditures and about government inefficiency.
A comic panel from the 1952 comic book, depicting the bizarre levels of resource wastage caused by the duplicate storage of useless documents and records.
The comics was an attempt at unraveling the mayhem and staggering cost associated with the federal functioning through cartoon panels.
Albert Levering - The illustrator
The illustrations – for both the magazine piece and the first edition book, - which accompanied Alice in Blunderland were done by the American illustrator Albert Levering (1869-1929).
Illustration by Albert Levering done for “Mrs. Raffles: Being the Adventures of an Amateur Crackswoman”
Albert Levering was the illustrator for other works from Bangs like Jack and the Check Book, Mrs. Raffles: Being the Adventures of an Amateur Crackswoman and Mollie and the Unwiseman.
He was also famous for his ”Everybody does it” – The national excuse, illustration done in 1910, which depicts a large circle of men, from various professions , marching around a large map with the label The United States of America, while each taking money from the pocket of the man in front of him. The illustration, which was done for the Puck magazine, symbolizes the avarice in the society and the evil connection between money and politics.
Albert Levering passed away on 12 April 1929.
An interesting political parody
Alice in Blunderland: An Iridescent Dream is not a novel that will make you laugh out loud, as the humor can be a bit wry, but it is still an interesting political parody, which is fresh, funny and highly relevant.
September 15, 2015
Bangs has created a master piece of satire in this "Alice In Blunderland".
He goes on the premis of Alice In Wonderland and the Mad Hatter and the White Knight, from The Looking Glass, and the March Hare create a city that is perfect they say, but when Alice goes to visit it she finds that their are a very lot of restrictions and scarey strange costumes being created there.
It shows how socialism can slowly creep up one priveledge at a time being held back, and soon enough it has you in it's clutches.
I recommend this to all.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond
He goes on the premis of Alice In Wonderland and the Mad Hatter and the White Knight, from The Looking Glass, and the March Hare create a city that is perfect they say, but when Alice goes to visit it she finds that their are a very lot of restrictions and scarey strange costumes being created there.
It shows how socialism can slowly creep up one priveledge at a time being held back, and soon enough it has you in it's clutches.
I recommend this to all.
Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond
February 6, 2021
This is a great satire. The author uses all of the same charitors from Alice in Wonderland and talks about the moddern slip of our echonomy and culture into socialism. I recommend this book to all.
December 5, 2011
Alice in Blunderland is a satire on communism, capitalism and the bad side of governance. I stumbled on this book and I don't understand why this is not very popular. Much to my surprise, this was first published in 1907; the lush commentary therein is much more incisive today than it was in 1907, now that the world has the benefit of hindsight both on socialism and capitalism.
The adventure begins when Alice is visited by the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the White Knight and the Cheshire Cat. Mad Hatter, tired of "the Copperation" that "grabs whatever comes in sight", built a city where everything, including the citizen's teeth, is "owned by the Municipal", and invites Alice for a tour. Some die-hard right-wingers will probably miss that Mad Hatter is also the representative of the bad practices of "grabbing Copperation"; practices that include strange cost-cutting rationalizations and bedding the government. Mad Hatter sets up his office so that he always wins the elections, even if the citizens are very dissatisfied with his cracked schemes.
The book is from the point of view of Alice, who mostly suspends her judgment on the workings of Blunderland due to her innocence, but with Municipal's ownership of "everything", Alice runs into a problem of going home.
Bangs covers many aspects of politics including privacy, censorship, criticism, technological progress and its impact on citizens (Bangs unknowingly hit on social media gems), equality, role of language in legalities and governance, rearing children and more.
Sly, cutting and completely hilarious. It's a masterful satire that answers to people's irrational confidence on economic and political ideologies.
The adventure begins when Alice is visited by the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the White Knight and the Cheshire Cat. Mad Hatter, tired of "the Copperation" that "grabs whatever comes in sight", built a city where everything, including the citizen's teeth, is "owned by the Municipal", and invites Alice for a tour. Some die-hard right-wingers will probably miss that Mad Hatter is also the representative of the bad practices of "grabbing Copperation"; practices that include strange cost-cutting rationalizations and bedding the government. Mad Hatter sets up his office so that he always wins the elections, even if the citizens are very dissatisfied with his cracked schemes.
The book is from the point of view of Alice, who mostly suspends her judgment on the workings of Blunderland due to her innocence, but with Municipal's ownership of "everything", Alice runs into a problem of going home.
Bangs covers many aspects of politics including privacy, censorship, criticism, technological progress and its impact on citizens (Bangs unknowingly hit on social media gems), equality, role of language in legalities and governance, rearing children and more.
Sly, cutting and completely hilarious. It's a masterful satire that answers to people's irrational confidence on economic and political ideologies.
June 3, 2016
This is one of those books that is written to warn its readers of the woes of communism. Think of Ayn Rand for something along similar lines. Unlike the only Rand book I've read so far, which is Anthem, this is actually pretty well written.
It's based on Lewis Carrols Alice in Wonderland, and all the main characters from the original are here, but this time Alice goes to Blunderland. A country that has taken up some form of communism, or mutual ownership of everything, including teeth.
As a political satire it is a little bit heavy handed, as if the writer doesn't completely trust its readers to understand what it is saying, but the story still works in its context. The best thing about it is that it is sometimes laugh out loud funny.
It's based on Lewis Carrols Alice in Wonderland, and all the main characters from the original are here, but this time Alice goes to Blunderland. A country that has taken up some form of communism, or mutual ownership of everything, including teeth.
As a political satire it is a little bit heavy handed, as if the writer doesn't completely trust its readers to understand what it is saying, but the story still works in its context. The best thing about it is that it is sometimes laugh out loud funny.
Read
April 3, 2014Another delightful recording by Ruth Golding, a satire on revolutionary utopianism.
Chapter 1: On Petty Bourgeois Anxiety over Socialist Ownership of Teeth
Chapter 2: ... and Public Transit
Chapter 3: ... and Regulation of Industrial Nuisances
Chapter 4: ... and Property Crimes (though, in truth, the idea of patrol officers walking fussy babies is funny)
Chapter 5: ... and Technological Innovation in Communication, and Evolution
Chapter 6: ... and Art
Chapter 7: ... and Children (... and now, the weather!)
Isn't the very idea of management by people without professional training hi-larious? Clearly property rights correlate one-to-one with personal liberty, right?
It would all be funnier if it wasn't just a better-written version of FoxNews.
Chapter 1: On Petty Bourgeois Anxiety over Socialist Ownership of Teeth
Chapter 2: ... and Public Transit
Chapter 3: ... and Regulation of Industrial Nuisances
Chapter 4: ... and Property Crimes (though, in truth, the idea of patrol officers walking fussy babies is funny)
Chapter 5: ... and Technological Innovation in Communication, and Evolution
Chapter 6: ... and Art
Chapter 7: ... and Children (... and now, the weather!)
Isn't the very idea of management by people without professional training hi-larious? Clearly property rights correlate one-to-one with personal liberty, right?
It would all be funnier if it wasn't just a better-written version of FoxNews.
June 6, 2015
This book was a laugh riot. The Mad Hatter's personal lexicon was very a skewed and hilarious.
December 4, 2023
Entertaining cute listening 🎶🔰
This is a free novella e-book from Amazon by John Kendrick Bangs.
A cute twist on Alice in Wonderland in a quick novella e-book. It has all the characters but the Hatter is in charge of the Blunderland.
I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers looking for a quick cute interesting 👀 novella 👍🔰.
I found this author as one of the authors in The Victorian Mystery Megapack and have enjoyed the stories so far.
This is a free novella e-book from Amazon by John Kendrick Bangs.
A cute twist on Alice in Wonderland in a quick novella e-book. It has all the characters but the Hatter is in charge of the Blunderland.
I would recommend this novella and author to 👍 readers looking for a quick cute interesting 👀 novella 👍🔰.
I found this author as one of the authors in The Victorian Mystery Megapack and have enjoyed the stories so far.
June 16, 2021
Pretty good.... Love all Bangs' works I've read. He's rather an unsung hero of literature, IMO
January 11, 2016
Doubtless a poignant satire in its own right, (though in a way somewhat redundant; taking a satire and writing a satire based on it) but also incredibly long winded and focused on people and events too far before my own time to mean anything to me. Certain events were fairly obvious in their meaning, but left me more depressed than enlightened.
April 30, 2009
A political satire that rings true today.
February 15, 2022
Lewis Carroll's "Alice" books have been an inspiration for parody almost since the first book's publication in 1865. 'Alice in Blunderland' came out just as 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' entered the public domain and the floodgates were opening for re-interpretations. Like earlier parodies ('The Westminster Alice', 'Clara in Blunderland', 'John Bull's Adventures in the Fiscal Wonderland'), this one is political in nature. Unlike the earlier works, it focuses on a political philosophy, collectivism, instead of aiming at specific political figures of the day. This helps it appear more timeless than its contemporaries.
The story follows Alice as she finds herself in Blunderland, a country (more of a city-state) run by the Mad Hatter and other characters from Carroll. It is completely given over to M.O. (Municipal Ownership), with utilities such as the Municipal Chewery.
"No more private ownership of anything from a toothbrush to a yacht, and the result is we are all happy."
"It sounds fine," said Alice. "Though I think I should rather own my own toothbrush."
"You naturally would under the old system," assented the Hatter. "Under a system of private ownership owning your own teeth you'd prefer to own your own toothbrush, but our Council has just passed a law making teeth public property."
And so on. The author, John Kendrick Bangs, does a fair job of maintaining the Carrollian feel of the text, while the illustrations by Albert Levering are solid but, for the most part, fail to capture the look of the Tenniel originals.
The best thing 'Alice in Blunderland' has going for it is that its subject matter is still an ongoing issue today. As a piece of "Alice" fiction, I prefer 'Alice's Adventures in Cambridge' (1913), which is not as timeless, but has more of Carroll's stream-of-consciousness about it. Still, 'Blunderland' is a quick read and readily available in modern reprints or for free on many digital platforms. So, it might be worth a look if the concepts interest you.
The story follows Alice as she finds herself in Blunderland, a country (more of a city-state) run by the Mad Hatter and other characters from Carroll. It is completely given over to M.O. (Municipal Ownership), with utilities such as the Municipal Chewery.
"No more private ownership of anything from a toothbrush to a yacht, and the result is we are all happy."
"It sounds fine," said Alice. "Though I think I should rather own my own toothbrush."
"You naturally would under the old system," assented the Hatter. "Under a system of private ownership owning your own teeth you'd prefer to own your own toothbrush, but our Council has just passed a law making teeth public property."
And so on. The author, John Kendrick Bangs, does a fair job of maintaining the Carrollian feel of the text, while the illustrations by Albert Levering are solid but, for the most part, fail to capture the look of the Tenniel originals.
The best thing 'Alice in Blunderland' has going for it is that its subject matter is still an ongoing issue today. As a piece of "Alice" fiction, I prefer 'Alice's Adventures in Cambridge' (1913), which is not as timeless, but has more of Carroll's stream-of-consciousness about it. Still, 'Blunderland' is a quick read and readily available in modern reprints or for free on many digital platforms. So, it might be worth a look if the concepts interest you.
June 1, 2026
Apparently, intended as social satire, it seems critical of things being run by the government. I have a different perspective on the pros and cons of private business and government services, which might affect my opinion. However, I didn't see the particular oddities as being presented in a way that results in humor. (Humor is tricky in terms of what is creative and what is funny.) For instance, in terms of public transit, Blunderland has a "train" that is like a huge circle - which never moves in any sense. People get on, get off, then walk the entire distance to their destination. That was so weird I don't even see it as slap-stick.
Read
June 30, 2020This is a retelling of the Alice story that is used a satirical device in order to make fun of issues going on in politics in the early 1900's USA. I enjoyed how well the author continued the Carroll style of writing in a whole new set of ideas. It also shows that many of the same arguments we have today over politics were going on back then,
March 20, 2025
I adored this twisted spin on Alice.
It gave me the same awful knot in my tummy as 1984 once you realise that we are closer to this dystopian life than you think. The mad hatter does a great job explaining the nonsense world of Municipal Ownership.
It gave me the same awful knot in my tummy as 1984 once you realise that we are closer to this dystopian life than you think. The mad hatter does a great job explaining the nonsense world of Municipal Ownership.
April 19, 2018
It's ok! But wasn't my cup of tea. Narrator was quite good, extremely clear
March 8, 2024
I thought this was decently written. It was also an engaging, fairly bizarre and fun little read. I keep my eye out on eBay for his book of ghost stories, so It was cool to see this pop up from librivox. I'll try to review in good faith and save some people I disagree with politically a little time. I agree with the author's ideology and I also enjoyed Alice in Wonderland. I would adjust my rating as follows;
If you flirt with Socialism, Postmodernism, or Marxism et cetera... subtract a star.
If you didn't read or you didn't care for the Lewis Carroll story... subtract another one.
If you are some sort of libertarian type with a Cheshire Cat tattoo, go ahead and assume you would give it the full 5☆.
If you flirt with Socialism, Postmodernism, or Marxism et cetera... subtract a star.
If you didn't read or you didn't care for the Lewis Carroll story... subtract another one.
If you are some sort of libertarian type with a Cheshire Cat tattoo, go ahead and assume you would give it the full 5☆.
March 1, 2013
Concise, clever, entertaining.
I prefer this spin-off over the original by far. The original is, I find, highly overrated; it is extremely random (obviously, a breaking-out-of-the-box achievement for its time) and not exceptionally well written, considering the time period (whereas, compared to our time period an elementary writing level is considered a literary achievement).
I enjoyed this book.
I prefer this spin-off over the original by far. The original is, I find, highly overrated; it is extremely random (obviously, a breaking-out-of-the-box achievement for its time) and not exceptionally well written, considering the time period (whereas, compared to our time period an elementary writing level is considered a literary achievement).
I enjoyed this book.
May 28, 2013
Alice escapes with her Wonderland friends to the new Blunderland. The Mad Hatter shows Alice different things and explains about their Mutual Ownership of everything in Blunderland. I think it's the author's satire of communism and socialism. He shows things to the extreme--what happens where people share EVERYTHING in common. This isn't spectacularly written, but it's free and doesn't take long to read.
January 21, 2013
I am chronically attracted to all things Alice and had not realized this was a "political satire" when I decided to read it. Needless to say, I did not enjoy it, but that's not because it was poorly written at all. It just wasn't for me.
January 3, 2016
The satire is strong, as is the wordplay and terrible puns. The book ends up being fairly dark, which I also appreciated. However, I just didn't find the read as interesting as other works by Bangs and felt it a bit too plodding and disordered to unwaveringly hold my attention.
November 2, 2023
Like all David Lodge's works, this was highly readable, insightful and very entertaining. It has the added benefit (for someone like me interested in religion) of raising very pertinent questions about what people believe and why, and how we come to change our minds.
Want to Read
November 10, 2011Apparently this title was reused by Phyllis Naylor; my library only has her book.
January 30, 2013
i like this book it is really good its not one of my favorites but its still really good
March 6, 2013
Hilarous and biting satire/sarcasm. Couldn't help but LOL many times. It's available on Librivox for free, so treat yourself to a great piece of literature!
November 4, 2013
Fun tongue-in-cheek satire. Timeless subjects. Really enjoyed this one.
December 22, 2014
I really can't say enough good things about JKB's writing. It's still fresh 100+ years later.
February 11, 2015
Eat your heart out Ayn Rand.
January 17, 2017
Inventive and funny.
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