Sylvie and Bruno Concluded [EasyRead Edition]

Sylvie and Bruno #2

by Lewis Carroll

“Sylvie and Bruno Concluded”, a sequel to “Sylvie and Bruno”, is as enigmatic to adults as it is to children.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Classics, Childrens, 19th Century, Victorian, British Literature

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1893

About the author

The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer.

His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems "The Hunting of the Snark" and "Jabberwocky", all considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense.

Oxford scholar, Church of England Deacon, University Lecturer in Mathematics and Logic, academic author of learned theses, gifted pioneer of portrait photography, colourful writer of imaginative genius and yet a shy and pedantic man, Lewis Carroll stands pre-eminent in the pantheon of inventive literary geniuses.

He also has works published under his real name.

Reviews

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite Lewis Carroll passages is to be found in this undeservedly forgotten book. If you don't already know what Black Light is, read on:

"Our Second Experiment", the Professor announced, as Bruno returned to his place, still thoughtfully rubbing his elbows, "is the production of that seldom-seen-but-greatly-to-be-admired phenomenon, Black Light! You have seen White Light, Red Light, Green Light, and so on: but never, till this wonderful day, have any eyes but mine seen Black Light! This box", carefully lifting it upon the table, and covering it with a heap of blankets, "is quite full of it. The way I made it was this - I took a lighted candle into a dark cupboard and shut the door. Of course the cupboard was then full of Yellow Light. Then I took a bottle of Black ink, and poured it over the candle: and, to my delight, every atom of the Yellow Light turned Black! That was indeed the proudest moment of my life! Then I filled a box with it. And now - would anyone like to get under the blankets and see it?"

Dead silence followed this appeal: but at last Bruno said "I'll get under, if it won't jingle my elbows."

Satisfied on this point, Bruno crawled under the blankets, and, after a minute or two, crawled out again, very hot and dusty, and with his hair in the wildest confusion.

"What did you see in the box?" Sylvie eagerly enquired.

"I saw nuffin!" Bruno sadly replied. "It were too dark!"

"He has described the appearance of the thing exactly!" the Professor exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Black Light, and Nothing, look so extremely alike, at first sight, that I don't wonder he failed to distinguish them! We will now proceed to the Third Experiment."

I understand that CERN have finally succeeded in duplicating the Professor's results, and will be publishing details in the near future.

[Fabian · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you haven't read the first one.... do NOT bother. & if you have read Sylvie and Bruno 1, well, don't bother either.

I think I've had a fine time reading the four novels Carroll produced. This one continues the tale of the mystical children/fairies, and the main character, after 50 chapters (25 for each novel), is an undoubted pedophile! Why else mix in adult attitudes with the purity and naivete of children? Why have them make cameos at the strangest of interludes?

I do not understand the madness. "Sylvie and Bruno" are emblematic figures, but the plot is invisible, despite its countless possibilities. It IS unexpected, but also excruciatingly unexplainable.

[Eleanor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very strange book, with everything from cutesy-pie fairy children to mass deaths in a nearby village. The illustrations are lovely and there are some amusing sections, such as the Professor's lecture and the humans' dinner party, but overall I still find the whole concept a mess.

It isn't a child's book, despite all the fairy interludes. Not much in the way of plot, either in the sections about the fairies or those concerning the humans. Generous dollops of discussions about Christian values and attitudes. And that's it really.

I'm amazed that some reviewers can say it's so much better than the Alice books. Really?

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you thought Sylvie and Bruno ended a little abruptly, you thought correctly. In this sequel, Carroll brings closure to his characters and their plotlines, from the unhappy Dr. Forester to sweet-natured Sylvie (and even Prince Uggug). I found it to be a little less humorous than book 1, but still greatly moving and, as before, a brilliant combination of nonsense and serious social commentary. Highly recommend reading this right after the first book, since together they form the complete story.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: Second part of Sylvie and Bruno, without any lack of continuity or interruption. I maintain the same mark and the same review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The ending is foreseeable.

ESPAÑOL: Segunda parte de Sylvie and Bruno, sin solución de continuidad. Mantengo la crítica y la calificación. El final es previsible.

[lauren :) · Rating 1 out of 5]

the only decent thing about this book was the nonbinary oven

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 2 out of 5]

In most aspects, the second Sylvie and Bruno book is a lot like the first. The narrator still flashes in and out between the two worlds, there are occasional poems mixed in, and there is entirely too much time spent on philosophical and ethical musings.

Both book are mixed bags, alternating between delightful fancy, Victorian melodrama, and extended periods of tedium. But I either found less to like in Sylvie and Bruno Concluded or just tired of it more quickly. The title characters are arguably even flatter than before, and melt in the background a lot more too. The real-world scenes do contain some funny moments, like the jam connoisseur and the "Cub-Hunt" with the spherical Principal, which is a wonderful piece of classic Carroll silliness. There is also a lovely passage describing some music Sylvie plays on the piano. But most of the time is taken up once again by Lady Muriel's romance. I still liked Lady Muriel, but the love story falls flat on its face. Why, you may ask? Because the only character Lady Muriel has any deep interaction with is Nameless Narrator! Arthur is such a non-character that I ended up wanting her to marry the narrator instead. Arthur "dies" heroically later, but of course it was all a mistake so the intelligent and vivacious Muriel ends up with bland ol' Arthur after all. I still like my "ship" better. It doesn't help that Sylvie is so often equated to Muriel while Arthur suddenly seems to be a reflection of Bruno(Sylvie's brother!). This further cements my conviction that the Arthur/Muriel romance simply should not have been!

Sylvie and Bruno Concluded has its good moments, but not enough to fully make up for the disappointments. Even Uggug and his nasty parents barely show up to add any villainous zest. As a whole, this sequel could have been worse, but in even more ways it could have been so much better!

[Miranda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story. Sometimes a bit hard to follow until you get used to switching back and forth between reality and the "eerie" states where Sylvie, Bruno, and the rest reside. Christian overtones are present, but not so overbearing that one can't take a general lesson or two from them. It's quite sad that this book isn't better known. Or maybe it's just me that had never heard of it. Alice is great and all, but mischevious Bruno has completely won my heart.

[Elizabeth Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books like these are the reason why I will forever read children’s novels from the 1800s. This book approaches subjects such as socialism, religion, two-party political systems, competitive examinations used to assess worth of students in universities, and so much more while continuing the tale of Sylvie and Bruno’s lives in the fairy lands and mortal world. It amazes me how well Carroll incorporated adult themes so flawlessly into a children’s story. Beautiful book!

[Robu-sensei · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is no surprise that the Sylvie and Bruno stories aren't among Lewis Carroll's most famous, but I wasn't disappointed by them. Their balance between reality and fantasy is weighted much more heavily toward reality than are the Alice books, but fortunately that doesn't stifle Carroll's flair for silliness as much as you might expect.

Mister Sir, the narrator, reminds me just a tiny bit of Carlos Castaneda in The Teachings of Don Juan in that he drifts back and forth among several alternate and overlapping states of reality: plain reality, a more or less pure dream state (where the action in Outland takes place), and a curious overlapping of reality and the fairy world (in which he interacts with the title characters).

I'd been forewarned of their religious content, and considering Carroll's reputation as a religious conservative, I braced myself for a fantasy story heavily laced with evangelism. However, the discussions the narrator has with the other principals read more like a theological discussion than like proselytizing. Carroll even takes a dig at Old Testament morality in this passage, a favorite of mine:

"In the Old Testament, no doubt, rewards and punishments are constantly appealed to as motives for action. That teaching is best for children, and the Israelites seem to have been, mentally, utter children. We guide our children thus, at first; but we appeal, as soon as possible to their innate sense of Right and Wrong: and, when that stage is safely past, we appeal to the highest motive of all, the desire for likeness to, and union with, the Supreme Good."

In the preface to Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, the author admits to having taken considerable heat for the theological discussions in the previous volume; his criticism of the implicit selfishness in modern sermons, against which he contrasts more sophisticated, "adult" morality in the quoted passage above, caused several of his readers to complain. He also stands by what he wrote, however, and refuses to apologize for it. I applaud his refusal to back down before the kind of perpetually offended moralizers with which our modern society is also plagued.

[Becca Henderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Soooo boring and such random nonsense, only finished it because it was good to get my daughter to sleep 😂

[Livy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2

[Jessie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only part of this I actually enjoyed was the newspaper article discussing the death of a main character

[Vanyo666 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull, dull, dull, and then cruel, and then not quite.
As in the previous half, but only worse.

[Em Carr · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Far superior to the previous volume, if only because of the amusing preface (in which Carroll responds to criticism), Mein Herr's elaborate discussions of education on his planet (hunting boy scholars, examining old professors at the ends of their lives and forcing them to pass their comps if they want to keep being fed), the surprisingly heartfelt Arthur/Muriel stuff (including some fairly good rants from Arthur before he "dies" and after he returns), and far less Sylvie/Bruno. What we do get of S&B is terrible, just ghastly stuff, almost enough to knock this down to a 4-star rating but for the genius of Carroll's set-piece jokes...including a "temperance interlude" with "Willie the drunk" so thumbsuckingly stupid (and from a polymath, no less, but one who is pandering here for goodness knows what reason) it ought to be edited out of proper editions. Other than the professor/Mein Herr pictures (they're wonderfully egglike), most of the Harry Furniss illustrations in this volume aren't great (vol. 1 has vol. 2 beat cold there) and all are well below John Tenniel's ridiculously high standards.

Recommended, but this isn't for everyone...especially people who liked the two Alice books because they were so tightly plotted (which is like watching the Lynch movies for the plot, but I digress...).

[Книжни Криле · Rating 5 out of 5]

Луис Карол е един от най-големите класици на детската литература, а неговата Алиса е сред най-разпознаваемите и обичани персонажи и до ден днешен не е престанала да интригува малки и големи читатели и да се радва на всевъзможни интерпретации и адаптации. Не зная дали е логично или странно, че останалите произведения на Карол остават в сянката на двете книги за Алиса. От една страна, трудно е да се повтори феноменалния успех на историята с бели зайци, усмихващи се котараци и гневни кралици, смесила в себе си чистия ескейпизъм и лудешкия нонсенс с купища игрословици, двойнствен смисъл и енигматични препратки. От друга страна пък същия този феноменален успех би трябвало да е повече от добра причина да се четат и останалите произведения на Луис Карол, пък било то и от чисто любопитство. Днес ще ви разкажем за двата тома с магическите приключения на „Силви и Бруно” (изд. „Делакорт”). Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле":

https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/201...

[Roman Kurys · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, I gave it a spin.

I knew better after read ng the first part, but I thought maybe, just maybe this will be for me. I was wrong.

For me it felt like this was a very dull read with no real story or plot or progression, really.

There was some melodrama, albeit extremely dry.

There were many philosophical conversations about the nature of society and people which were, ok…but served no point and didn’t lead to anywhere.

There were these extremely long poems (multiple pages long) that told very odd stories, which I just disliked.

There was this one part where I gasped unbelieving that happened, so there’s that.

Ending was very abrupt and rather boring to me for both real world and the fairy land. Things just sort of went on and then magical button click…the ends! Love conquers all.

Oh well…onto the next adventure.
Would not recommend this at all.


Roman

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admire the experimental nature of this story. The first part of Sylvie and Bruno was equally ambitious, but I found it a little harder to get through. For some reason, though this part was equally strange and still required attention to keep up, it sat better with me. Perhaps because we're already introduced to the characters, and it's therefore easier to fall into the world(s), because there's less to learn? I do also like a lot of the characters in the book (Sylvie and Bruno on particular - both in the sense of liking their personalities, and in the sense of liking the way they're written.

[Avery · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still just as confused, if not moreso, reading this one as I was with the first. It continues to flow in a truly dreamlike nature, which can make things hard to follow, even more than anything in Alice. There were a lot of parts I kinda just skimmed over, but the best moments were the bits of poetry or just plain silliness (like the Professor's Lecture).

I've done just a basic quick read of both of these, but I think they would be worth rereading more carefully at some point, to really study them and "get" it, since there seems to be plenty of philosophy and satire tucked amidst the nonsense.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were a couple insightful monologues, especially the one on two party government. But the rest was mostly either twee Victorian moralizing or really boring. I also really hate how Bruno talks. That was really grating to listen to.

[Nick Mclean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to read some of Lewis Carroll's less well known work. This definitely doesn't hold up as well as the Alice books, but the same sort of whimsical, child's eye view, of an often ridiculous world shines through.

[Stacy Croushorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The conclusion was better than the first part, but I still didn’t care much for the book.

[Scout Who · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable; no complaints

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartwarming conclusion

[Ariel O'Suilleabhain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nonsensical sensical classic opens up by alluring the reader to a place of guessing as if this were the first volume of 'Sylvie and Bruno.' For those endowed of the gift of a great and spiritual imagination such as during this second volume of the adventures of the two, author Lewis Carroll (pen name) for though you do not really know whether Sylvie and Bruno are fairies, angels or the ghosts of small children you are moved right along. But the creatures as adorable narrators draw you toward a better concentration of the words on the pages here to pay much better attention to the melodies of the pages. The reasons behind why Carroll set the basis of the book for exploration of the two worlds of fairie land and the Victorian era becomes clear as you read the intriguing child book as trope. The many and entertaining stories which surround a lot of the experiences encountered through the poems and speaking of Sylvie and Bruno along a path of delight.

" 'And how ever did he get here' " said Bruno. "Ask him, Sylvie. I doesn't know how."
And then began an eager talk in Doggee, which of course was lost upon me: and I could
only guess, when the beautiful creature, with a sly glance at me, whispered something
in Sylvie's ear, that I was now the subject of conversation. Sylvie looked round
laughingly. "He asked me who you are," she explained. "And I said 'He's our friend.'
And he said 'What's his name?' And I said 'It's Mister Sir.' And he said 'Bosh!'

"What is 'Bosh!" in Dogee?" I inquired. "It's the same as in English," said Sylvie.
"Only when a dog says it, it's a sort of a whisper, that's half a cough and half a
bark. Nero, say "Bosh!" And Nero, who had now begun gamboling round us again said
"Bosh!" several times; and I found that Sylvie's description of the sound was perfectly
accurate. "I wonder what's behind this long wall?" I said as we walked on.

And while the artistic use of character conversation regarding basic human morals and religion, society, and philosophy make the book a type of fairy tale, the use of such stories during that time were used to both entertain and teach children good behavior, how to adopt a faithful lifestyle and although seemingly advanced for a small child some basics about common human decency. I read an original copy of the second publication of the 1893 Macmillan And Company and New York volume. And just holding such a gem - the cover page of the book alone introduced a number of the hand-penned illustrations of Sylvie and Bruno and a complete forty-six illustration compilation of drawings by Harry Furniss throughout the book, lavished my experience in a way that I do not know how to humanly describe to you with words.

Author Ariel O'Suilleabhain

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange hodge-podge of sentimental stories of fairies/children, nonsense stories & verse, and pseudo-scientific & theological dialogues. I went ahead and put it on my "young readers" shelf because I think it is meant for young readers, I'm just not sure how much they might enjoy some of the conversations of the adult/human characters. In the introduction Carroll says that he created the Sylvie and Bruno stories by collecting random thoughts and dialogues he had or thought about; then piecing them together as a story; it shows, the plot is haphazard. Sylvie and Bruno is only the first half of the story and if you stop at the end of this book, you may wonder what happened to the whole outland/fairyland side of the story as it seems to have just disappeared. It does return and resolve itself (in a Lewis Carroll sort of way) in the second part Sylvie and Bruno Concluded. I recommend you read both together. There are a lot of hidden gems in here, mostly the sweet, silly, sentimental stories of the fairy children Sylvie & Bruno. The human/adult characters are much less compelling, especially the stiff and didactic hero Arthur.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was very excellent. I think it is Lewis Carroll at his best. Yes, better then the Alice series put together. This story definitely has a healthy dose of what is reality and what is fantasy/dream. Some stories can over-react with that issue but this is perfect. And when these two worlds collide there seems to be harmony to it. It definitely is one of his more Christian oriented stories as well as his best.

[Celeste]

The second half of the story - not terribly different than the first, only it did come to some conclusion. Bruno's baby speech was getting pretty tiresome by the end. The philosophical points in this half seemed to be a bit deeper than the first. But again, if you try to think too hard about the storyline you'll just make your head hurt. Don't try to make sense out of the whole thing (like most of Carroll's work, it seems) and it's a passably interesting read.

[Danger Kallisti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not really much more to say here; it's just the sequel. It carried on with the marvelous, psychedelic weirdness and safe, child-friendly Christianity. I have to admit that I was pretty sick of Lewis Carroll by the time I neared the end, but it all wrapped up prettily enough that in the end I didn't mind.