I remembered that I'm supposed to be rubbing it in the BBC's face this year, and that the next book on the list that I've read is
Alice. I'm fully aware that as far as my usual reviews go, this one is sub-par, but...*shrugs*
Weary of her storybook,
one "without pictures or conversations," the young and imaginative
Alice follows a hasty hare underground -- to come face-to-face with some
of the strangest adventures and most fantastic characters in all of
literature. The Ugly Duchess, the Mad Hatter, the weeping Mock Turtle,
the diabolical Queen of Hearts, the Cheshire Cat -- each more eccentric
than the last -- could only have come from that master of sublime
nonsense, Lewis Carroll. In penning this brilliant burlesque of
children's literature, this farcical satire of rigid Victorian society,
this arresting parody of the fears, anxieties, and complexities of
growing up, Carroll was one of the few adult writers to enter
successfully the children's world of make-believe, where the impossible
becomes possible, the unreal, real, and where the heights of adventure
are limited only by the depths of imagination.
MY RATING: 3 STARS
And now for my pitiful review:
Adorable,
but the twisted, eccentric bent in me prefers Tim Burton's adaptation.
On its face, you'd think this was just a nonsense book, and to some
degree you'd be right, but when you dig deeper there's more meaning than
you realize. We can certainly sympathize with Alice, flung into a world
she doesn't understand, but I particularly admire how she stays Alice
throughout her adventure. Her encounters with all the strange and rather
inhospitable inhabitants of Wonderland don't change her for the worse
in the slightest (she was only dreaming about them, but that's not the
point). The greatest wonder to me--no pun intended--is how Carroll wrote
these books. Think of it; a grown man in the era he lived in not only
possessing such a child-like imagination, but creating with it one of
the most beloved children's books of all time. Bravo, sir!
Yeah, pitiful...I feel kinda ashamed of that one...
Your humble book nerd,
Angels
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