The Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll

by Stuart Dodgson Collingwood

First published in 1898.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Classics

232 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2010

About the author

Stuart Dodgson Collingwood was an English clergyman and headmaster. He wrote two books about his uncle, Lewis Carroll.

Reviews

[Monica Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lewis Carroll (author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Other Stories) is the pen name of C. L. Dodgson.

Much of this book, written by the nephew of the famous author, was pieced together from diaries and notes spanning a lifetime. Although tedious in parts, it is well worth reading portions of this book to gain a better understanding of the brilliantly creative mind of the author we call Lewis Carroll. This book is free at: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11483

To anyone who has ever wondered where his incredibly imaginative ideas came from, I give you a peek into his childhood...from the book:

"In this quiet home the boy invented the strangest diversions for himself; he made pets of the most odd and unlikely animals, and numbered certain snails and toads among his intimate friends. He tried also to encourage civilised warfare among earthworms, by supplying them with small pieces of pipe, with which they might fight if so disposed."

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by his nephew just eleven months after the death of the man. Interesting. But it leaves you confused. It is a sort of hagiography. But the letters quoted that Lewis had written to the little girls do very much give the impression of a pedophile.
It seems the family had deliberately held back evidence for relationships with adult women. One does not know.
In an early letter Carrol quotes an interesting kind of lie. “My colleagues are as innocent as I am”.

[Bea Ruiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to review…. As others have mentioned, this is a compilation of letters from LC gathered by his nephew, who added a paragraph in present tense here and there.
I’m giving it 2 stars because LC was undeniably imaginative and some might find this biography interesting.
To me it was a wonderful nap-inducer. Mostly tedious, confusing at times, in the sense that it leaves you wondering if you understood what you just read.
Sometimes I wonder what publishers value that so many nap-inducers see the light while wonderful stories and writing styles never do.
In all honesty, I did not finish it. I couldn’t afford another nap today ;)

[Iqra Tasmiae]

https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/02...

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the first edition of this book once. Of course it is a glowing account of the author, but as a period piece it gets one closer to how LC was received then. Lots of questions about his relationship with young girls are not raised - we would today.