Who Doesn't Love a Classic? discussion

This is one of those few books I have read twice. The first when I was a young girl, this second time as a mother reading it aloud to her children. Everyone knows this story, a crazy dream like tale of a young girl who falls through a rabbit hole and there has many madcap dventures featuring some of the most beloved characters in all of literature - The Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, the Chesire Cat, and The Queen of Hearts.

Unfortunately for me this did not stand up to my childhood memories. I really think that it is a book best suited to children. It is so utterly nonsensical that only those few adults still retain the innonce and wonder of childhood will be able to read it with the same sense of wonder and imagination that we had as children. My boys were entralled by the story, and particularly loved the illustrations. I think their favorite character was the Cheshire Cat. For me, I just couldn't suspend my sense of reality quite far enough. This is unfortunate because I truly believe that without Alice, my beloved Fairyland series, which also features crazy creatures and improbable adventures, would not exist.

Sara, I feel as you do, and yet there are adults who still love it.

I had similar thoughts. I think some of the adventures were too disjointed for me -- my comment thought was, "Wait, what?". It just jumped around too much. I have to give props for the imagination though; I think that's a good part of what has made the story endure so well, in addition to the childhood wonder that you mention.

I like that you acknowledged Alice as an influence. I was thinking the other day about how so many books and authors have been influenced by Lewis Carroll's stories. The theme of chasing a goal and all the sidetracking along the way, especially if it's magical or whimsical, seems to be pretty common in both children's and adult's literature.

Tracy wrote: "I like that you acknowledged Alice as an influence. I was thinking the other day about how so many books and authors have been influenced by Lewis Carroll's stories. The theme of chasing a goal and..."

Thanks Tracy. I don't always get the influences, but when I do catch them, I think it is important to acknowledge them.