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I recently saw a review where someone had read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, felt completely confused, and was basically told by all commenters that "Carroll was on Opium," as an explanation for the weirdness of the writing. I suggest that original poster, instead, pick up a copy of The Annotated Alice. Both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass were essentially written for one person, Alice Liddell. Most of the references in the books that are completely odd are in-jokes that can be understood only by a reader living in England at the time of the writing, or in some cases by Alice herself. Some parts of the book are mathematical references that probably only Carroll understood, and still other references are informed by how chess pieces move about a board. Gardner pulls together vast quantities of information to make the reading of Alice more available to modern readers. Nearly every poem in Through the Looking Glass is a parody of a popular poem of the day, and those original poems are included in the notes. There is a complete translation of "Jabberwocky," including which words really were made up by Carroll and which were actual words (you'll be surprised :)) Whether or not you have read the Alice books, I suggest reading the annotations as you read the book. This is as opposed to the Oz books, where I found it easier to read the whole story first and then the annotations. I think this is because Gardner does not include a note in the annotation as to what he is referring to in the text, and you would end up reading the entire book twice. Anyway, altogether an enjoyable read, even if it is not as good as The Annotated Oz.

2020-09-04 20:04