Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Another classic children's tale I never bothered to read as a child. In fact, although I must have seen the classic Disney animation at some point in my life, I have no recollection of it. I was on the Alice ride at Disneyland when it broke down one time, but that's another story.

Much of my knowledge of Lewis Carroll comes from John Lennon's admiration of him and the inspiration it gave him in his writing and music. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this for the clever use of language and the whimsy of the story. However, nothing much really happens in the story. There isn't a plot arc to speak of as much as a series of indelible character sketches: the White Rabbit, the Doremouse, the Mock Turtle, the Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Gryphon, etc. have all become part of western popular consciousness.

Carroll's personal life has been a matter of speculation, with dueling academics debating whether or not he was a pedophile and wondering why there are missing pages from his otherwise well-maintained diaries. Carroll (a pseudonym for Charles Dodgson) was also a brilliant mathematician and led by all accounts an interesting life.

I plan to read Through the Looking Glass soon for the further adventures of Alice.