[Book Review] Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

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 conversations?"

So begins the tale of Alice, following a curious White Rabbit down a rabbit-hole and falling into Wonderland. A fantastical place, where nothing is quite as it seems: animals talk, nonsensical characters confuse, Mad Hatter's throw tea parties and the Queen plays croquet. Alice's attempts to find her way home become increasingly bizarre, infuriating and amazing in turn. A beloved classic, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has continued to delight readers, young and old for over a century.

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I have been in a bit of a reading slump, so buddy reading Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with Erica @ Erica Robyn Reads was a great way to help pull me out of this slump. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is my go-to answer when people ask me my favorite book. I obviously have a ever growing list of favorite books but this book is the one that I have the most sentimental feelings towards. Mostly because it was the first book I read on my own when I was really young. 

"Alice replied eagerly, for she was always ready to talk about her pet."

Alice is a character I find so irritating, mostly because often kids can be irritating, but also impressive. On one hand she's definitely a bit stuck up and a giant know-it-all, she's only seven years old. And although that shows a great deal in the story in terms of her thought process and how she responds to the events in the story, she also shows a great deal of cleverness for a seven year old thrown into a magical nonsense world. I think a lot of her rudeness comes from being a child, since most kids do not have filters, mixed with obviously being a privileged little girl. She's obviously used to not only getting what she wants and often the citizens of Wonderland knock her down a couple pegs throughout the story. She almost gives me Sorcerer's Stone Hermione vibes, and it's probably why little me loved Alice and Hermione so much when I was reading their stories for the first time. My favorite character in all versions of this story is always the Cheshire Cat. I am also pretty fond of the Mad Hatter (but I disliked Johnny Depp's portrayal in the movie). I find the Blue Caterpillar fun too because he's also a bit snobby in his own way, and having him face off Alice, a entitled little snobby girl, makes their conversations that much funnier to me.

Wonderland is one of my favorite fictional worlds. I think it reminds me the most of childhood, which is probably because I read it for the first time when I was little. The nonsensical atmosphere where nothing seems to really make sense, but it all does at the same time reminds me so much of fairy tales and innocence. 

"But it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."

The writing is very straight forward and not very descriptive. It reminds me of old fairy tales like Hans Christian Anderson stories. I never felt like the story was dragging on because of the length of the book. I guess you can say Carroll tells more than shows with his writing in this book, but I think that was fairly common in childrens literature at the time. Again, I am thinking of old fairy tales I've read in the past. But there aren't a ton of descriptive moments and it feels like Carroll is telling the story directly to the reader versus it being just a story. If that makes sense. I also forgot how funny the story is, especially the banter between Alice and the other characters. Alice has a smart mouth, whether she means to come off this way or not, and often she either proves herself to be incredibly clever or she gets knocked down a peg or two by the characters. I definitely found a lot of the moments really funny. It's so odd how this book feels so much like it's written in it's own distinct other language, and if you get it you just get it. I also love that you don't know if Alice actually did dream Wonderland and everything that happened or if she was actually there. I love that because it's a trope that maybe has been over used by now but as a little kid I was completely mind blown by because similar to Wizard of Oz, it's never actually confirmed one way or the other.

Overall, I am really glad I re-read this book, a huge thank you to Erica for convincing me to buddy read with her! It helped me feel more motivated to read more and I am really hoping this is the end of my slump for at least enough time for me to get through the books I desperately need to read. 

"We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
 

Thanks for reading!!