REVIEW: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
Publication Date: November 26, 1865
Publisher: Macmillan
Source: Book Purchased by Reviewer
Buy it at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, IndieBound

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Summary (from Goodreads):

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, Carroll has written a farcical satire of rigid Victorian society, an arresting parody of the fears, anxieties, and complexities of growing up.

Carroll was one of the few adult writers to successfully enter the children’s world of make-believe: where the impossible becomes possible, the unreal—real, and where the height of adventure is limited only by the depths of imagination. 

For some reason, this book was an incredibly slow read for me. I just could NOT get into it and i'm not 100% sure why.

For what it is, I can see why people were amazed at the writing style in this book when it originally came out in the 1800's. Lewis Carroll, pen name to Charles Dodson, was such an imaginative and creative writer for his time. He took a simple verbal story to a little girl and turned it into a superstar book franchise. Can't hate him for that..

Though I have to admit that this book was not my cup of tea (pun intended...hehe)

It really didn't give me the feels and addiction I was hoping for when reading. I kind of expected this book to be THE happy place of all happy places because I just knew (or thought I knew) that it would be one of the best books i've ever read....unfortunately it was not.

For one thing, I always assumed that Through the Looking-Glass was kind of a continuation to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Now I find out through this combination book, that they are actually totally different stories and that all "Alice" movies have combined into one story. I feel a little betrayed about that, but I can move on.

I wish there was more detail I could give you about the two stories, but they were both so hysterically insane that I simply just can't find any words to describe them to you.

The only thing I can say about my thoughts on this book is that we did not click! Unfortunately so, because I truly had high hopes for it and am slightly disappointed in my regards towards it. But as I said earlier, I can totally see why this book was loved during its time and even can appreciate that it will always remain a classic!

Though I did not enjoy my time reading it as much as I would have liked, I highly recommend everyone to find a copy of this book (or its variations) and start reading a piece of history that is sure to leave you feeling, if nothing else, impressed!