Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland

Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Series: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland #1
Genre: Classic, Fantasy, Middle Grade
Format: Kindle
Pages: 96
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

Also in this series: Through the Looking-Glass

My Thoughts

This is the first time I’ve ever read this classic story. I’ve been somewhat familiar with ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND because of the numerous movie adaptations. However, I was never versed in the original written story. I was expecting a fun, whimsical tale about Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. Instead, what I read was a discombobulated book of nonsense.

I tried to like this book. I really did. But there were only very few parts that Carroll actually showed and not told. I now understand the importance of that writing rule. All the telling was boring. Also, Alice was always off on some tangent that had nothing to do with the story. It just made me hate her and how she went about things. Alice cannot be seven years old. She acted more like a teenager or even an adult than a child.

I liked the idea of the story–a young girl somehow finding herself trapped in a world she doesn’t understand, meeting curious creatures and people, and then finding out that it’s all a dream. If only the execution were better. Nothing was coherent and there was no rhyme or reason to anything.

My favorite part of the story was Carroll’s description of the Queen of Hearts’ court. I loved that he didn’t just come out and say that everyone was part of a pack of cards until he gave you a visualization of it all. And, I loved that the different suits meant different things. It was fun and it made those characters come alive for the short time they were there. I wish the rest of the book were like this.

I’m not too excited to read THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS, but I’m still going to read it. Hopefully, I’ll like it better than this one, but I don’t have high hopes.