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Readers who share Alice's taste in books will be more than satisfied with The Annotated Alice, a volume that includes not only pictures and conversations, but a thorough gloss on the text as well. There may be some, like G.K. Chesterton, who abhor the notion of putting Lewis Carroll's masterpiece under a microscope and analyzing it within an inch of its whimsical life. But as Martin Gardner points out in his introduction, so much of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass is composed of private jokes and details of Victorian manners and mores that modern audiences are not likely to catch. Yes, Alice can be enjoyed on its own merits, but The Annotated Alice appeals to the nosy parker in all of us. Thus we learn, for example, that the source of the mouse's tale may have been Alfred Lord Tennyson who "once told Carroll that he had dreamed a lengthy poem about fairies, which began with very long lines, then the lines got shorter and shorter until the poem ended with fifty or sixty lines of two syllables each." And that, contrary to popular belief, the Mad Hatter character was not a parody of then Prime Minister Gladstone, but rather was based on an Oxford furniture dealer named Theophilus Carter.
Gardner's annotations run the gamut from the factual and historical to the speculative and are, in their own way, quite as fascinating as the text they refer to. Occasionally, he even comments on himself, as when he quotes a fellow annotator of Alice, James Kincaid: "The historical context does not call for a gloss but the passage provides an opportunity to point out the ambivalence that may attend the central figure and her desire to grow up." And then follows with a charming riposte: "I thank Mr. Kincaid for supporting my own rambling." There's a lot of information in the margins (indeed, the page is pretty evenly divided between Carroll's text and Gardner's), but the ramblings turn out to be well worth the time. So hand over your old copy of Lewis Carroll's classic to the kids--this Alice in Wonderland is intended entirely for adults. --Alix Wilber
From Library Journal
-Thomas L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, GA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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?" Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Like Having Cliff Clavin Reading over Your Shoulder,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition (Hardcover)
You're right: I have no one to blame but myself. (Fool me twice, shame on me.) I'd read another book annotated by Gardner before, so I knew something about what his notes were like. Still, I thought, who better to explicate the puns, colloquialisms, and mathematical, logical, and philosophical references in _Alice_ than one of the great polymaths of our time, a connoisseur of puzzles, and an aficionado of Victorian literature? Plus, it's hard to deny that _The Definitive Edition_ is a handsome one.Well, Gardner has really outdone himself this time. The notes go on and on and on, eclipsing the actual text in length. While Clavin might interrupt a conversation on the Bermuda Triangle to point out the little-known fact that it's really shaped like a tetrazidrhomboid, Gardner thinks that when a character uses an idiomatic expression involving ferrets it would be relevant to mention a get-together that ferret owners recently held in New York City's Central Park. Much of the inside information Gardner does provide is along the lines of telling us that this character is based on Alice Liddell's third cousin, once removed, or that that character is named after Dodgson's pet gerbil. I think Gardner may have finally succeeded in turning me off of annotated editions for good.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Research,
By
This review is from: The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition (Hardcover)
This is a wonderful book full of meanings and delightful little side details about Charles Dodgson. This book has the answers to many of your questions about the both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass; why did he do this, what did he mean by this... It also includes secret meanings, such as a name from one of his friends, or he did this because he had O.C.D. Annotated Alice is perfect for research papers (or reading for one's own pleasure) for it gives you some information on verses, his life...all those major details. For example, did you know that most if not all of his poems were a satire on another well-known nursery rhyme or poem. It is easy to tell in the following nursery rhyme what on what poem Carroll made a satire. Twinkle twinkle little bat How I wonder what you are at Up above the world you fly Like a tea tray in the sky Twinkle twinkle little bat How I wonder what you are at This seems simple enough, but do you know of what rhyme, "Beat Your Baby When He Sneezes" is a parody? The original poem was a song for babies to go to sleep. You will find all this info. and more. Cheers!...
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everything You Wanted To Know About Alice...,
By
This review is from: The Annotated Alice: The Definitive Edition (Hardcover)
Anyone who enjoys Alice's adventures will appreciate the care and detail that was taken in preparing this version of Carroll's tales. Gardner's annotations are superb and you realize they are just the tip of the iceberg when delving into the complexities of Carroll's Alice stories. Easy to follow annotations accompany excellent Tenniel reproductions. With the addition of the excised "Wasp in the Wig" episode this is a must for anyone who enjoyed these tales and would like to get more information about their creation.
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