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Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Alice in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic in ways that have given the story lasting popularity with adults as well as children.
90 pages, Paperback
First published March 17, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
March 17, 2024
Alice in Wonderland - from a mathematical and philosophical point of view
Lewis Carroll is the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - timeless classics.
Alice in Wonderland is a masterpiece example of reading that caters to a two-tiered audience.
There is the audience that reads his work as an entertaining, if bizarre fairy tale, never suspecting the darkly mysterious dimension of his work. Those who are able to comprehend Lewis Carroll’s hidden intentions, however, are in for a delicious treat that stretches the mathematical imagination as much as it makes one laugh at its implications.
Lewis Carroll plays with the limits of Euclidian Geometry, the Principle of Continuity, Proportion and Absolute Length, Symbolic Logic, even the maddeningly confusing world of Quaternions.
The Cheshire cat, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar and first and foremost the Red Queen are the mouthpieces and experimental outlets of various mathematical laws, some more bizarre then the other.
Need any examples? Clearly, tea-party alludes to t-party, t being the mathematical notation for time. The Red Queens’s inclinations to execute everyone with axes ought to be seen as her infatuation with axis. More intriguing even an effect paying homage to her character, The Red Queen Effect, as it is used in the science of evolution and philosophy in general, when describing the relationship of the rate of change of evolving species to each other. As Darwin observed not all animals evolve at the same rate as others as some species are more responsive to change.
There are periods in many species, yes even humans, where we push hard to gain an advantage. Yet, as species around us coevolve, we seem not make any progress as our environment speeds up too. As we push ahead even harder, the environment adapts to us even quicker. This, essentially makes us feel like treading water, or running on a treadmill. Another example is how trees grow in height so that other trees will not be able to block their light. Naturally, according to the principle of evolution, the surrounding trees need to grow taller as well. When this eventually becomes a race to reach the sky, they are captured by the Red Queen Effect for all the while as the trees put all their energy to sustain the growth of the stem, the fruit becomes smaller and smaller.
Needless to say, as another example could serve the Cold War with its proliferation of nuclear weapons and its subsequent devastating effect it had on world economy and overall survival of the human race.
Pertaining Excerpt: Alice never could quite make out, in thinking it over afterwards, how it was that they began: all she remembers is, that they were running hand in hand, and the Queen went so fast that it was all she could do to keep up with her: and still the Queen kept crying ‘Faster! Faster!’ but Alice felt she could not go faster, though she had not breath left to say so.
The most curious part of the thing was, that the trees and the other things round them never changed their places at all: however fast they went, they never seemed to pass anything. ‘I wonder if all the things move along with us?’ thought poor puzzled Alice. And the Queen seemed to guess her thoughts, for she cried, ‘Faster! Don’t try to talk!’
Eventually, the Queen stops running and props Alice up against a tree, telling her to rest.
Alice looked round her in great surprise. ‘Why, I do believe we’ve been under this tree the whole time! Everything’s just as it was!’
‘Of course it is,’ said the Queen, ‘what would you have it?’
‘Well, in our country,’ said Alice, still panting a little, ‘you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you ran very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.’
‘A slow sort of country!’ said the Queen. ‘Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.
If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!’
“Bees have to move very fast to stay still.” — David Foster Wallace
This quote shows us the dangers of unexamined behavioral patterns. If Lewis Carroll’s ought to teach us anything besides not taking all mathematical theories that seriously, it teaches us that the survival of the human race lies within cooperation. There is no need to ever grow taller, larger, grander but lifeless and “calcified” edifices in fear of not getting our share of “light”. Instead, if we could just trust each other and agree that all of us, yes that includes the animal species and plant species, must get their share of resources then the “fruit” of our labors shall be rewarding indeed.
Lewis Carroll is the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass - timeless classics.
Alice in Wonderland is a masterpiece example of reading that caters to a two-tiered audience.
There is the audience that reads his work as an entertaining, if bizarre fairy tale, never suspecting the darkly mysterious dimension of his work. Those who are able to comprehend Lewis Carroll’s hidden intentions, however, are in for a delicious treat that stretches the mathematical imagination as much as it makes one laugh at its implications.
Lewis Carroll plays with the limits of Euclidian Geometry, the Principle of Continuity, Proportion and Absolute Length, Symbolic Logic, even the maddeningly confusing world of Quaternions.
The Cheshire cat, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar and first and foremost the Red Queen are the mouthpieces and experimental outlets of various mathematical laws, some more bizarre then the other.
Need any examples? Clearly, tea-party alludes to t-party, t being the mathematical notation for time. The Red Queens’s inclinations to execute everyone with axes ought to be seen as her infatuation with axis. More intriguing even an effect paying homage to her character, The Red Queen Effect, as it is used in the science of evolution and philosophy in general, when describing the relationship of the rate of change of evolving species to each other. As Darwin observed not all animals evolve at the same rate as others as some species are more responsive to change.
There are periods in many species, yes even humans, where we push hard to gain an advantage. Yet, as species around us coevolve, we seem not make any progress as our environment speeds up too. As we push ahead even harder, the environment adapts to us even quicker. This, essentially makes us feel like treading water, or running on a treadmill. Another example is how trees grow in height so that other trees will not be able to block their light. Naturally, according to the principle of evolution, the surrounding trees need to grow taller as well. When this eventually becomes a race to reach the sky, they are captured by the Red Queen Effect for all the while as the trees put all their energy to sustain the growth of the stem, the fruit becomes smaller and smaller.
Needless to say, as another example could serve the Cold War with its proliferation of nuclear weapons and its subsequent devastating effect it had on world economy and overall survival of the human race.
Pertaining Excerpt: Alice never could quite make out, in thinking it over afterwards, how it was that they began: all she remembers is, that they were running hand in hand, and the Queen went so fast that it was all she could do to keep up with her: and still the Queen kept crying ‘Faster! Faster!’ but Alice felt she could not go faster, though she had not breath left to say so.
The most curious part of the thing was, that the trees and the other things round them never changed their places at all: however fast they went, they never seemed to pass anything. ‘I wonder if all the things move along with us?’ thought poor puzzled Alice. And the Queen seemed to guess her thoughts, for she cried, ‘Faster! Don’t try to talk!’
Eventually, the Queen stops running and props Alice up against a tree, telling her to rest.
Alice looked round her in great surprise. ‘Why, I do believe we’ve been under this tree the whole time! Everything’s just as it was!’
‘Of course it is,’ said the Queen, ‘what would you have it?’
‘Well, in our country,’ said Alice, still panting a little, ‘you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you ran very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.’
‘A slow sort of country!’ said the Queen. ‘Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.
If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!’
“Bees have to move very fast to stay still.” — David Foster Wallace
This quote shows us the dangers of unexamined behavioral patterns. If Lewis Carroll’s ought to teach us anything besides not taking all mathematical theories that seriously, it teaches us that the survival of the human race lies within cooperation. There is no need to ever grow taller, larger, grander but lifeless and “calcified” edifices in fear of not getting our share of “light”. Instead, if we could just trust each other and agree that all of us, yes that includes the animal species and plant species, must get their share of resources then the “fruit” of our labors shall be rewarding indeed.
June 5, 2017
3.5 stars
May 21, 2025
Love it. A favorite of mine.
July 1, 2022
My children and I actually listened to this as a audio book on the way to appointments today.
We truly enjoyed the story and the way the audio brought it alive for me and the kids. While I've watched several renditions of Alice in Wonderland, this is the fist time I've ever listened/read the book and I'm so glad I did ❤
We truly enjoyed the story and the way the audio brought it alive for me and the kids. While I've watched several renditions of Alice in Wonderland, this is the fist time I've ever listened/read the book and I'm so glad I did ❤
May 5, 2022
read for school 👍🏻
January 5, 2024
Number 3 of the 339 books that Rory Gilmore was seen reading in the show Gilmore Girls. It was cute, it was fun, it makes me want to watch the movie.
March 29, 2020
Very engaging read. Absurd at most points, starting from the very long fall at the beginning, oh I wish I can fall down somewhere in such no hurry. One needs to let go of the straight logic to enjoy this book. I am heading now to the movie made in 1951 and then the more recent one made in 2010.
June 21, 2017
'Alice in Wonderland' is one of the most adored fantasy fictions of Lewis Carrol.It is a book of 'literary nonsense' genre and as everything is illogical in fantasy world,Alice decided to chase a rabbit with a pocket watch.This story thickened with interest and charm while Alice tried to shrink and enlarge herself with various potions. 'We are all mad here'-indeed,the mad world is colourful with lots of absurd but thoughtful underlining meaning. The reigning of the queen reminds us the reigning of one autocratic rule. 'Off with his head' doesn't initiate fear at one point,it is amusing then.That nonsense world has no discipline and little Alice woke up from her dream when she gathered the courage to shout 'You're nothing but a pack of cards!'
To think and to tell that with courage is the lesson for little Alice,at last.
It is a engaging read for grown ups,only if you are reading with the quest of finding inner deep meaning. Otherwise, treat yourself with a fascinating fairytale in the Wonderland.
To think and to tell that with courage is the lesson for little Alice,at last.
It is a engaging read for grown ups,only if you are reading with the quest of finding inner deep meaning. Otherwise, treat yourself with a fascinating fairytale in the Wonderland.
December 15, 2022
Lb lengvai fainai susiskaite. Buvau primiršus istorija. NIEKADA NEGALVOJAU KAD ALISA BUVO ROMANTISKAI (kaip ir?) SU MAD HATTER. Ir tas skrybelius zr hot for no reason as ji toki attractive isivaizduoju XDDDDDD
Siaip galvojau bus labiau vaikams knyga bet ten daug kraujo buvo ir ziaurybiu, biski netiketa. Gal tik visas tas karas tarp sesiu raudonosios karalienes ir baltosios karalienes toks lame- galetu labiau paaiskint kdl jos pykstasi ir kdl red queen yra tokie ziauri.
O siaip labai pasakiski vaibai. Fantasy books>>>>>
Siaip galvojau bus labiau vaikams knyga bet ten daug kraujo buvo ir ziaurybiu, biski netiketa. Gal tik visas tas karas tarp sesiu raudonosios karalienes ir baltosios karalienes toks lame- galetu labiau paaiskint kdl jos pykstasi ir kdl red queen yra tokie ziauri.
O siaip labai pasakiski vaibai. Fantasy books>>>>>
February 20, 2024
Not sure a child would want to read this. Pretty sure they wouldn't enjoy it.
Chapter 1 is pleasant. I enjoyed reading about her fall... but she should have landed on all the other characters because they're incredibly unpleasant and annoying. Then bounce, eat a watch to go back in time and get fatter and land on them again. Bounce again, eat a space rocket and don't come back.
I really didn't like it. Can't wait to read Through the Looking-Glass!
Chapter 1 is pleasant. I enjoyed reading about her fall... but she should have landed on all the other characters because they're incredibly unpleasant and annoying. Then bounce, eat a watch to go back in time and get fatter and land on them again. Bounce again, eat a space rocket and don't come back.
I really didn't like it. Can't wait to read Through the Looking-Glass!
September 27, 2024
“Alice in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll is a timeless classic that never loses its charm, even after multiple readings. This was probably my fourth or fifth time reading it, and I still enjoyed its whimsical absurdities and creative characters. Alice’s journey through Wonderland is both nonsensical and deeply insightful, making it a delight for readers of all ages. It definitely deserves a spot on any "100 books to read before you die" list, which I’m currently working through :)
October 16, 2023
Verhaal kende ik nog wel van vroeger.
Kwam laatst een keer voorbij in een podcast en toen dacht ik, ook wel weer een keer misschien als luisterboek doen. Dat is altijd leuk voor onderweg, verhaal is ook niet zo complex, dus zeker als luisterboek geschikt.
Dus als we met de kids in de auto ergens naar toe gingen dan ook even dit luisterboek op gezet. Boek werd op een prettige manier verteld, en tjja, het verhaal kende ik wel, die was al goedgekeurd.
Lekker fantasierijk, daar houden we wel van.
Kids waren niet bijster enthousiast, maar hebben er toch wel van genoten.
Kwam laatst een keer voorbij in een podcast en toen dacht ik, ook wel weer een keer misschien als luisterboek doen. Dat is altijd leuk voor onderweg, verhaal is ook niet zo complex, dus zeker als luisterboek geschikt.
Dus als we met de kids in de auto ergens naar toe gingen dan ook even dit luisterboek op gezet. Boek werd op een prettige manier verteld, en tjja, het verhaal kende ik wel, die was al goedgekeurd.
Lekker fantasierijk, daar houden we wel van.
Kids waren niet bijster enthousiast, maar hebben er toch wel van genoten.
October 25, 2018
This story about a little girl go to a other place, and adventure, fannlly come out, the fun ting in the story is Alice met two very big and fun man, last time is read canton, this book is more funny.
January 21, 2023
One of my favourite books to re-read, it is always a pleasure to look at Alice’s adventures from a new perspective and see the wondrous world of adventure and creativity that lies in our imagination at any age.
June 3, 2018
I don’t remember reading it as a kid. And I don’t think I would have enjoyed it then either. It’s just not the type of story that I’m interested in.
July 12, 2020
I have read this book so many times, when I have nothing to read or I want an in-between book because I truly do love this book.
February 22, 2021
My 8 yr old son laughed at a few parts but he kept saying the story made absolutely no sense and was completely ridiculous. It wasn't a favorite.
July 4, 2022
very interesting
Read
April 9, 2025what the heck
May 29, 2014
I regret not reading this book until my adulthood. Lewis Carroll is a master of off the wall dialogue. He can say the weirdest things but keep them true. I would hate to get into an argument with him. I highly recommend the book.
January 13, 2015
It was a funky book. A lot of the characters and side plots seemed to be all over the place. Too absurd for my taste, however I cannot deny that Carroll had a purpose behind his writing that I didn't fully comprehend. The book is god though, because I laugh out loud at several parts.
September 13, 2010
all i can say is watch out for them 'shrooms .... what a trippy book!
August 21, 2013
Great to read, so hard to put down with a complete new view on Alice in the looking glass also! Would definitely recommend!
October 10, 2014
Trippy, but I loved scene with a mouse trying to get dry by using a dry sense of humor. :)
June 23, 2015
I loved "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass," but the poem, "The Hunting of the Snark," wasn't for me. It was so great to revisit Alice & her adventures, though!
January 3, 2015
Can't stop comparing this original Alice In Wonderland story to the Disney movie I remember so well in my head. Was analyzing why Walt Disney took off some parts and added some of them in.
April 26, 2016
You have to read this when you are young. I did, but my mistake is to read it again. So, good book; but for youngsters.
July 17, 2016
Re-reading since childhood and its not lost its magic, very trippy.
February 7, 2022
This is a cute quick read full of funny and happy nonsense. People should read it.
Re-read for Polarthon: I listened to the audiobook. Still LOVE this!
Re-read for Polarthon: I listened to the audiobook. Still LOVE this!
April 20, 2018
listened to audiobook and watch 1951 movie
Lots of little bits of interesting goodness and what the whatness.... lol simple and interesting how many connection I found to it.
"she generally gave herself very good advice but very seldom followed it" and "violet sugar makes children sweet tempered" aka lavender.....interesting.
Lots of little bits of interesting goodness and what the whatness.... lol simple and interesting how many connection I found to it.
"she generally gave herself very good advice but very seldom followed it" and "violet sugar makes children sweet tempered" aka lavender.....interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews