Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
By Lewis Carroll and John Tenniel
3/5
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About this ebook
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, in 1871. Considered a master of the genre of literary nonsense, he is renowned for his ingenious wordplay and sense of logic, and his highly original vision.
Read more from Lewis Carroll
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Reviews for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
1,554 ratings164 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5hard to believe i've never read this but wonderful story
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I once read Alice in Wonderland when I was younger and I thought it was okay. Not amazing, but okay. I reread it now a few years later in this edition and I think it was the illustrations that did it for me. I really enjoyed the story. The pictures brought so much to the story. I would recommend this edition. 5 out of 5 stars.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5An Exercise in Insanity
This book was insane. The adventures she had and the creatures she met...It all sounded like what a bad acid trip would be like.
I'm honestly not sure I enjoyed it. This may require a re-read in the future. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Alice in Wonderland vertelt het verhaal van de kleine Alice die in slaap sukkelt bij een uitstapje en in haar droom een wit konijn achterna rent door een pijp. Ze komt in een volledig andere wereld terecht en wordt geconfronteerd met de meest vreemde schepsels: eigenaardige dieren en levende kaarten, enzovoort. Allemaal zijn ze druk met zichzelf bezig en niet echt er op uit Alice beter te leren kennen. Die vraagt zichzelf trouwens geregeld af wie ze eigenlijk is. De gekste gebeurtenissen doen zich voor en de gekste teksten worden de lezer voorgeschoteld, tot Alice uiteindelijk weer ontwaakt.Achter de spiegel borduurt voort op dat thema, zelfs in een nog hogere versnelling. Alice geraakt in een spiegel en komt buiten het zichtsveld weer in een vreemde wereld terecht. Vooral de schaakfiguren beheersen hier de zaak. Er zijn andermaal tal van zonderlinge figuren. De dialogen hebben nog meer dubbele bodems dan tevoren. Maar het geheel geeft een zo mogelijk nog verwarder en daardoor ondoorgrondelijker indruk dan het vorige verhaal. Op de duur wordt het - zeker bij een lectuur voor kinderen - gewoon ontoegankelijk. Het einde is vrij abrupt.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic book! Wonderfully illustrated!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It was okayy..
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dette er den originale håndskrevne version af historien "Alice's Adventures under Ground", urmanuskriptet. Den blev oversat til dansk som "Maries Hændelser i Vidunderlandet" allerede i 1875, men den var dårligt oversat og vakte ikke større begejstring. Der er et efterskrift, der fortæller bogens historie og fx at "How doth the little busy bee, improve each shining hour..." er et digt fra 1715 af Isaac Watt.Historien kender vi jo: Alice følger efter en kanin, falder ned i et hul, havner i en sal med døre, drikker af en flaske og bliver mindre, men kan nu ikke længere nå nøglen. Hun spiser af en kage, der gør hende for stor. Hun har grædt en stor vandpyt og falder selv i den sammen med en mus, en and, en dum dodo, en dværgpapegøje og en ørneunge og en masse andre dyr. Den hvide kanin dukker op igen og hun følger efter den til dens hus. Indenfor drikker hun igen en flaske og bliver kæmpestor. Peter Kanin truer med at brænde huset af, da firbenet Ole ikke kan få hende ud, men hun når at blive lille igen. Hun stikker af og møder snart efter den blå kålorm. Hun læser en underlig version af "Du er gammel, far Vilhelm" op for kålormen. Derfra går det via Filurkatten over til gartnerne, der maler hvide roser røde. Den Røde Dronning har let ved at dømme folk til døden, men Alice redder gartnerne ved at stikke dem i lommen. Dronningen spiller kroket med Alice, men snyder groft. Næsten alle bliver dømt til døden, men faktisk er det indrettet så ingen bliver henrettet. En forloren skildpadde og en grif bliver afbrudt i deres historie af en retssag, hvor Dronningen vil have først dommen og så beviserne.Netop da vågner Alice.Fremragende historie oprindeligt fortalt til Alice Liddell. Historien er både bundet til Carrolls egen tid og alligevel stadig holdbar.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very nicely read. Enjoyable audiobook.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Ugh. Alice is ridiculously annoying. I did not enjoy the plot of this, the poetry, the constant repetition of ideas (the shrinking and growing). None of the characters were in any way interesting. I don't understand the universal love of this book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The edition I read was actually an online version with the same illustrations and everything. It is a rather fun book, and is certainly far deeper than the "children's book" that it is depicted to be on its surface. I wouldn't say I loved it, but it was certainly worth finally reading the book behind a story I have heard so much about. The language twists alone made it well worth it, as there is definitely a lot of creativity there.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As a child, I read the stories of Alice in Wonderland (and, later, Through the Looking Glass) with a sense of wonder and amusement. Alice shows that it is possible to engage with a world which makes no sense on her own terms; she is not overwrought at her lack of understanding of the improbable and bizarre happenings around her. She brings reason to bear in narrow, specific cases (such as when arguing with the Red Queen), but is not paralysed by the irrationality of general occurrence. In this, she is like all children - dealing with reality not by knowing, but by exploring and engaging. This sense of innocent inquiry creates great sympathy in the younger reader.As an adult (older, grizzled and perhaps wiser), re-reading these stories once again provokes wonder and amusement - but this time, the wonder is at the ingenuity of the author and the amusement is if anything greater. This shift in reaction is because, as an adult, I know a few things: I know that it is impossible (in general life!) for soldiers to be playing cards, for Cheshire cats to disappear from the tail and for children to shrink and grow at the slightest provocation. Knowing this increases my admiration for Lewis Carroll, as he has constructed a world where the impossible occurs, but not without its own logic.While there is nonsense, there is structure - and the impossibilities have the common feature that they are all things which might occur to an imaginative young child while daydreaming. Thus they are not simply random (which would be nowhere near so satisfying to read), they are linked and interlocked to form a thoroughly pleasing structure. The underlying structure of the poem Jabberwocky has been analysed at length in [Hoftstadter], which elicits further wonder at the interlinked meanings and senses in the work. The amusement, of course, comes from understanding more of the jokes!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the Classic nonsense tale of an English girl falling down a rabbit hole, there to encounter the strange world of absurdly anthropomorphized animals and playing cards, enigmatic messages and, well, sizing issues :-D
A Classic is usually a novel that has become so ingrained in the collective memory or culture, that one might not be sure whether one has read it or not. The reputation of the book itself precedes the actual experience of reading it and the characters are often the prototypes of later iterations and any number of adaptations. If you've never experienced Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, or read it once before, or even if you've read it multiple times, it bears (another) reading. As familiar as many are with the tale, to actually read or hear the original, un-Disneyfied tale is a pleasure as the nuances of the language surface and fade in ephemeral logic and gently wry humor. The subtlety, whimsy and detail of Wonderland, its inhabitants and their language lends itself to repeated discoveries.
Michael York as the narrator of this audiobook edition brings a nice range of character voices to the story, never sounded absurd himself as he renders the tale of Alice with obvious affection and a master storyteller's grace. His smooth, somewhat effete British voice evokes the romance of an afternoon spent on the Thames and brings the curiouser and curiouser world of Carroll's creation to life.
Redacted from the original blog review at dog eared copy, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; 07/12/2011 - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It was fun and bizarre and I'm happy I read it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5“We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” The Chesire cat to AliceWhat delightful wonderous nonsense. To spend 2 hours and 44 minutes listening to Scarlett Johansson’s joyful narration of "Alice in Wonderland" was like a breeze of fresh air for my overworked brain.“Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin… but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!” Is it subversive nonsense? Filled with hidden meanings? Cleverly organised and meticulously metered out nonsense? Maybe…I don’t know - overblown psychoanalytical interpretations kill the wonder of it all - and it’s original intention: The enchanted nonsense of a child’s imagination. As the forever tea party - where Alice ponders:“The Hatter’s remark seemed to have no sort of meaning in it, and yet it was certainly English.”And it’s certainly a “curious dream” I will revisit again and again. Scarlett, we have a date next year for another 2 hours and 44 minutes.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Its been many years since I last read this and it was better than I remember it being and more nonsensical. I think my memory of the book had been warped by the movies (just a bit crap especially the most recent Johnny Depp one!).
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5While the story is creative, it is also a lot of nonsense. Albeit is supposed to be a dream, it is rather bizarre. I find it odd that the story has such renown. I mildly recommend this book mainly for the value of being familiar with the story because it is so well known.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Alice in Wonderland might have been the world most reinterpreted work in every form of living history. While I love the interpretative works like ABC's Once Upon A Time, SyFy's Alice, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and such, unfortunately, it's one of my most hated Disney movie of all time despite it is one of a setting of Square-Enix's Kingdom Heart which I used to like playing it.
Alice's Adventure in Wonderland started when the curious Alice who followed a rattled rabbit in waistcoat into a whole that leads to a place where she called Wonderland. She had the most curious response to her environment and tried logically to make sense of her surroundings. She met with countless of creatures of all shapes and sizes. She did however shapeshifted to various shapes and sizes from eating and drinking things in the nonsense world.
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) was a mathematician and to me, it was evident that he uses applied mathematics and probabilities in his plots despite the confusion in story progressions and the deux es machina nature of the book. He added puzzles and contradicting poems and often offering questions and dialogues to an other ignorant audience. In what probably an attempt to elevate himself in a way that no one could comprehend his inner joke that I need The Annotated Alice to make sense what it is. Well, thats what I think....
I would say the most content that you get from the book was from the characters in it. There are also a bulk of poetry and riddles that occupied the book that made the premise sounded like the "Inception" within a story. The bulk of what AiW meaningful were the multitudes of intriguing characters and unpredictable qualities of all of them which are interesting even when you see them being caricatured in every sort of ways. That is why the reinterpretation of the characters are very appealing to me.
From the first chapter, I was surprised that I do feel similarities with myself and Alice in the book. She's curious, she actually contradicted herself like I do all the time. She sees the world as dull and she's attracted to intelligent things that when she's unable to rationalize the things that were happening, she came out with interesting solutions. For the story of a little girl, she's quite intelligent for her age. She is rational and intuitive and fearless. I guess it explained why the Disney interpretation of Alice gave me an unsubtle intense dislike because the animation seemed to fit in the perception of woman and superficial Disney princess in the 50s and not the book. I have taken a liking with the 2010's version but Alice is very similar to the ones in the animation that it came off as bland and dull despite interesting casts.
Had the book came without its attached illustrative etching from Sir John Tenniel, one would have some problem in the settings of the book. I do find Wonderland were up to the interpretation of people who want to view it. And in my mind eyes, unlike the characters residing in it, Wonderland is much less of a vibrant and bleak country like the differences with the romance of the south and the industrialize north of England like the setting of Victorian era's "North and South" novel. In a sense the realism Carroll tried to emulate by refusing to humanize the characters and giving them an anthropomorphic qualities and comical portrayals in the illustrations. However if you think of applied mathematical in a way, what seems illogical to a rational mind is in fact dependent on the perceptions that it would have been logical in irrational beings.
For all it tries to be, Alice in Wonderland may be short but its wealth of questions lingered in millions of readers that made the book in some ways; immortal. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I had never read the original despite being familiar with multiple movie versions. The narration of the production I listened to was first rate, and there were definitely some humorous bits, but in the end the cleverness wore thin for me. This story is definitely full of originality.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Alice, a young potentially schizophrenic British lass, is transported to a world of wonder upon following a white rabbit down the rabbit hole. What follows is a disjointed series of events as Alice explores Wonderland, the world of her dreams. Your reaction to this book probably varies based on where you happen to be on life's journey. A small child may view this is to be an amusing story full of talking animals and fantastical situations. Someone a little further on in their years may view this as a handbook of things not to do. For example, if there is a cup on a table with a sign that says "drink me"... don't. If there is a piece of cake next to aforementioned drink with a sign that says "eat me"... don't. Aside from Alice's somewhat poor decision making skills, this is a fun children's classic that everyone should read at least once.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5After reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, I realized I was long overdue for a look at Alice in Wonderland – and what a short little book! And quite perfect for my level of mental energy the morning after a fever (though I didn't finish it all then). Might have to read Through the Looking-Glass, too. More as background & cultural education than as entertainment, though. It's very light and easy reading, but I didn't really find it terribly engaging or interesting. Then again, I've kinda grown out of the target age-group. Still...
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A classic. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the first installment of this classic story. It’s one of those movies that has been depicted in film for years, and will be interesting for children to read. This curious tale of Alice encourages children to glimpse a new world full of fun and exciting things. Things most would never even think of. It begins when Alice sees a White Rabbit running across the bank wearing a vest and holding a pocket watch. She decides to go on an adventure and follow this rabbit down his hole where she falls for what seems like ages. After growing and shrinking several times, she gets through a small door which leads to a whole different world. This world includes talking animals and cards. On this adventure through Wonderland, Alice comes across many strange circumstances and in trying to be polite gets caught in some people's company that is less than desirable (like the caterpillar, the Duchess, the Pig, the Mock Turtle, and the Red Queen). Alice enjoys exploring the world she entered through the White Rabbit’s hole that is so different from her own. But Alice finds these creature lack manners and sometimes run confusing circles with their conversation. This book is great for introducing children to the fun of poetry (which there is plenty of) and how manners were extremely important to children in 1865. This is a great and interesting read for children both young and old. Details: This novel was written to interest children in grades 3-6 and is on a 5.9 reading level.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This follows largely the same plotline as the unpublished Adventures Underground I have just read, with the welcome additions of the Cheshire cat and the Mad Hatter's tea party. Wonderful stuff, though if pushed I would say that this seems to drag a bit in one or two places (to the extent that such a minor criticism is relevant to literary nonsense) and that Underground is probably a tauter piece of writing. John Tenniel's depiction of Alice in his illustrations here has become iconic, though I thought Carroll's own original illustrations are a little more haunting. 4.5/5
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Timeless, relatable story for many young readers. Fosters and an amazing sense of imagination. Student learn that whenever they face an obstacle they can overcome it. One theme in this book is life being a puzzle. This story is similar to how a child might think. I think it would be a very good book to use in the classroom.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Recently reread and remaining one of my best beloved books of all time.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is such a classic, how can you not love it! I think this book should be read to all children at some point in their lives, not just watching the movie.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This is not as good as I expected. Lots of folks said it's really great... but I'm finding it rushed, and not compelling...
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful, nonsensical romp through a fantasy world. The characters are quirky and appealing, Alice is curious but goes along with things quite nicely. Be warned: if you are looking for a book that makes sense and is easy to follow, this is not for you! It's easy to see why this has tale captivated readers young and old for over 100 years.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Having seen the Tim Burton interpretation and the Disney adaptation I really felt like to understand the storylines I would have to read the book.
Although it's wacky and difficult to follow at parts, the storyline captures the imagination and you become emersed in this 'wonderland' with Alice.
As I read the ebook version of this, I missed out on the illustrations, but having seen them before I can understand how the story would be enhanced by having them alongside. Overall I would give this 5/5 stars because of the storyline and the insight into this confused young girls mind that really captures your imagination. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5So I finally read it. After reading Splintered, I was expecting something more darker and with other characters. I was also hoping that Alice wouldn't be an idiot. Sadly, I was disappointed on all accounts.Just because Alice is seven or something doesn't mean she has to be annoying. That was my main problem with this book: I didn't like Alice. Carol may have been trying to capture the innocence of children, but children can be innocent without acting ignorantly.I also didn't like the way the plot developed. It was very hazy and hard to understand. Alice would go to this place, and then forget about it. Then she'd go to another place, all throughout the novel. She'd figure out one problem, but then forget how to solve it in the next chapter.This ending is one of the most cliche endings of all time, and I think it started with this book. It was probably a huge surprise in the nineteenth or twentieth century, but for me, it was boring.Carol described things in the most limited way possible. I don't know how, but he seemed to make it work.It was like Carol gave just enough information for a reader to know what he was talking about, but left all the details to imagination. I feel like this will be a hit or miss for many readers, but I liked it.Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of the classics that won't make you fall asleep while reading them, so if you don't mind annoying main characters and backwards logic, you should definitely pick this up.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Listened to this on CD. Alice's adventures after she falls down a rabbit hole chasing the white rabbit. She runs into several other characters, the cheshire cat, the queen of hearts, the tortise, and has quite an imaginative adventure in wonderland.
Book preview
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, AladdinAll in the golden afternoon
Full leisurely we glide;
For both our oars, with little skill,
By little arms are plied,
While little hands make vain pretence
Our wanderings to guide.
Ah, cruel Three! In such an hour,
Beneath such dreamy weather,
To beg a tale of breath too weak
To stir the tiniest feather!
Yet what can one poor voice avail
Against three tongues together?
Imperious Prima flashes forth
Her edict to begin it
—
In gentler tone Secunda hopes
There will be nonsense in it!
—
While Tertia interrupts the tale
Not more than once a minute.
Anon, to sudden silence won,
In fancy they pursue
The dream-child moving through a land
Of wonders wild and new,
In friendly chat with bird or beast—
And half believe it true.
And ever, as the story drained
The wells of fancy dry,
and faintly strove that weary one
To put the subject by,
The rest next time—
"It is next time!"
The happy voices cry.
Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:
Thus slowly, one by one,
Its quaint events were hammered out—
And now the tale is done,
And home we steer, a merry crew,
Beneath the setting sun.
Alice! a childish story take,
And with a gentle hand
Lay it where Childhood’s dreams are twined
In Memory’s mystic band,
Like pilgrim’s wither’d wreath of flowers
Pluck’d in a far-off land.
1
Down the Rabbit-Hole
ALICE WAS BEGINNING TO GET very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, and what is the use of a book,
thought Alice, without pictures or conversation?
So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.
There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!
(when she thought it over afterward, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet, for it flashed across her mind that she had never before seen a rabbit with either a waistcoat pocket, or a watch to take out of it, and burning with curiosity, she ran across the field after it, and fortunately was just in time to see it pop down a large rabbit-hole under the hedge.
In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.
The rabbit-hole went straight on like a tunnel for some way, and then dipped suddenly down, so suddenly that Alice had not a moment to think about stopping herself before she found herself falling down a very deep well.
Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her, and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything; then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and bookshelves: here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labeled ORANGE MARMALADE,
but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.
Well!
thought Alice to herself, after such a fall as this, I shall think nothing of tumbling down stairs! How brave they’ll all think me at home! Why, I wouldn’t say anything about it, even if I fell off the top of the house!
(Which was very likely true.)
Down, down, down. Would the fall never come to an end! I wonder how many miles I’ve fallen by this time?
she said aloud. I must be getting somewhere near the center of the earth. Let me see: that would be four thousand miles down, I think—
(for, you see, Alice had learned several things of this sort in her lessons in the schoolroom, and though this was not a very good opportunity for showing off her knowledge, as there was no one to listen to her, still it was good practice to say it over) —yes, that’s about the right distance—but then I wonder what Latitude or Longitude I’ve got to?
(Alice had no idea what Latitude was, or Longitude either, but thought they were nice grand words to say.)
Presently she began again. "I wonder if I shall fall right through the earth! How funny it’ll seem to come out among the people that walk with their heads downwards! The Antipathies, I think—" (she was rather glad there was no one listening, this time, as it didn’t sound at all the right word) —but I shall have to ask them what the name of the country is, you know. Please, Ma’am, is this New Zealand or Australia?
(and she tried to curtsy as she spoke—fancy curtsying as you’re falling through the air! Do you think you could manage it?) And what an ignorant little girl she’ll think me for asking! No, it’ll never do to ask: perhaps I shall see it written up somewhere.
Down, down, down. There was nothing else to do, so Alice soon began talking again. Dinah’ll miss me very much tonight, I should think!
(Dinah was the cat.) I hope they’ll remember her saucer of milk at teatime. Dinah, my dear! I wish you were down here with me! There are no mice in the air, I’m afraid, but you might catch a bat, and that’s very like a mouse, you know. But do cats eat bats, I wonder?
And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy sort of way, Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?
and sometimes, Do bats eat cats?
for, you see, as she couldn’t answer either question, it didn’t much matter which way she put it. She felt that she was dozing off, and had just begun to dream that she was walking hand in hand with Dinah, and saying to her very earnestly, Now, Dinah, tell me the truth: did you ever eat a bat?
when suddenly, thump! thump! down she came upon a heap of sticks and dry leaves, and the fall was over.
Alice was not a bit hurt, and she jumped up on to her feet in a moment: she looked up, but it was all dark overhead; before her was another long passage, and the White Rabbit was still in sight, hurrying down it. There was not a moment to be lost: away went Alice like the wind, and was just in time to hear it say, as it turned a corner, Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!
She was close behind it when she turned the corner, but the Rabbit was no longer to be seen: she found herself in a long, low hall, which was lit up by a row of lamps hanging from the roof.
There were doors all around the hall, but they were all locked; and when Alice had