book review for alice in wonderland

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - review

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a story about Alice who falls down a rabbit hole and lands into a fantasy world that is full of weird, wonderful people and animals. It is classic children's book that is also popular with adults. Personally, at 16, I found the book strange and uninteresting. However if I was 8-14 I would have loved the fantastic fantasy world Carroll creates. I never expected the events that happened because they were bizarre and unpredictable. I loved the Cheshire cat's wit and intelligence. I also love the hatter because his eccentric personality reminded me of the eccentric people I know. My favourite part was when Alice met the caterpillar, this was because of his ambiguous conversation with Alice.

However, I thought the events were sometimes random and didn't always connect. I also disliked the number of characters, this is because sometimes I found it uninteresting and sometimes it meant that I didn't have the development of scenes I wanted.

I believe that it is a clever book that I world have preferred when I was younger because now I have a different taste in books. Carroll has depicted a unique world that I hadn't seen before. This why I believe it is a book that I would recommend.

Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop .

Want to tell the world about a book you've read? Join the site and send us your review!

• Children's books
• Lewis Carroll
• Children's fantasy books (children's and teens)
• Children's books: 7 and under
• Children's books: 8-12 years
• Children and teenagers
• Adventure books (children and teens)
• children's user reviews

Most viewed

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Book Review

Andrew_Howe/Getty Images 

• Authors & Texts
• Top Picks Lists
• Study Guides
• Best Sellers
• Plays & Drama
• Shakespeare
• Short Stories
• Children's Books

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most famous and enduring children's classics. The novel is full of whimsical charm, and a feeling for the absurd that is unsurpassed. But, who was Lewis Carroll?

Charles Dodgson

Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson) was a mathematician and logician who lectured at Oxford University. He balanced both personas, as he used his study in the sciences to create his eminently strange books. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a charming, light book, that reputedly pleased Queen Victoria . She asked to receive the author's next work and was swiftly sent a copy of An Elementary Treatment of Determinants .

The book begins with young Alice, bored, sitting by a river, reading a book with her sister. Then Alice catches sight of a small white figure, a rabbit dressed in a waistcoat and holding a pocket watch, murmuring to himself that he is late. She runs after the rabbit and follows it into a hole. After falling into the depths of the earth, she finds herself in a corridor full of doors. At the end of the corridor, there is a tiny door with a tiny key through which Alice can see a beautiful garden that she is desperate to enter. She then spots a bottle labeled "Drink me" (which she does) and begins to shrink until she is small enough to fit through the door.

Unfortunately, she has left the key that fits the lock on a table, now well out of her reach. She then finds a cake labeled "Eat me" (which, again, she does), and is restored to her normal size. Disconcerted by this frustrating series of events, Alice begins to cry, and as she does, she shrinks and is washed away in her own tears.

This strange beginning leads to a series of progressively "​curiouser and curiouser" events, which see Alice babysit a pig, take part in a tea party that is held hostage by time (so never ends), and engage in a game of croquet in which flamingos are used as mallets and hedgehogs as balls. She meets some extravagant and incredible characters, from the Cheshire Cat to a caterpillar smoking a hookah and being decidedly contradictory. She also, famously, meets the Queen of Hearts who has a penchant for execution.​

The book reaches its climax in the trial of the Knave of Hearts, who is accused of stealing the Queen's tarts. A good deal of nonsense evidence is given against the unfortunate man, and a letter is produced which only refers to events by pronouns (but which is supposedly damning evidence). Alice, who by now has grown to a great size, stands up for the Knave and the Queen, predictably, demands her execution. As she is fighting off the Queen’s card soldiers, Alice awakes, realizing she has been dreaming all along.

Carroll's book is episodic and reveals more in the situations that it contrives than in any serious attempt at plot or character analysis. Like a series of nonsense poems or stories created more for their puzzling nature or illogical delightfulness, the events of Alice's adventure are her encounters with incredible but immensely likable characters. Carroll was a master of toying with the eccentricities of language.

One feels that Carroll is never more at home than when he is playing, punning, or otherwise messing around with the English tongue. Although the book has been interpreted in numerous ways, from an allegory of semiotic theory to a drug-fueled hallucination, perhaps it is this playfulness that has ensured its success over the last century.

The book is brilliant for children, but with enough hilarity and joy for life in it to please adults too, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a lovely book with which to take a brief respite from our overly rational and sometimes dreary world.

• 'Alice in Wonderland' Questions for Study and Discussion
• Biography of Lewis Carroll, Author of Children's Books and Mathematician
• Lewis Carroll Decoded: Quotes That Reveal the Creative Genius
• 'Alice in Wonderland' Quotes to Make You Ponder Life
• Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky
• Embedded Questions in Grammar
• Quotes From Alice in Wonderland
• Comparative Forms of English Adjectives and Adverbs
• Personal Pronoun Definition and Examples in English
• Beatrix Potter
• Possessive Pronoun - Definition and Examples
• Definition and Examples of Parody in English
• 10 Facts About the Dodo Bird
• Conflict in Literature
• Why We Don't Read
• Why “Anne of Green Gables” May Wind Up the Most Adapted Book in History

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Real-Life Heroes on YouTube for Tweens and Teens

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Alice's adventures in wonderland, common sense media reviewers.

A classic that both adults and kids love.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Exposes kids to wordplay, crazy riddles, and nonse

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is more nonse

Alice is polite, friendly, open-minded, and resili

The Queen of Hearts frequently shouts "Off wi

A blue caterpillar smokes a hookah.

Parents need to know that constantly changing predicaments, strange creatures, and the watercolors are very child-friendly. But difficult language, Carroll's nonsense poems, and adult humor will leave some children bored or confused. Still, it's a classic well worth the trouble and particularly fun as a read…

Educational Value

Exposes kids to wordplay, crazy riddles, and nonsense poetry, as well as Victorian language and customs and a little French.

Positive Messages

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is more nonsense and dreamscape than moral lesson. But it does imply the advice to, when in crazy, confusing, or challenging situations, try to keep your head (even when someone is constantly yelling "Off with her head!") and not be intimidated by outrageous characters who are insulting and threatening you and causing you trouble. In short: Roll with the punches.

Positive Role Models

Alice is polite, friendly, open-minded, and resilient as she navigates the chaotic world in which she's landed. She encounters all sorts of characters, some of whom are confusing, such as the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, and the Cheshire Cat, and some are mean, such as the Queen of Hearts.

Violence & Scariness

The Queen of Hearts frequently shouts "Off with his head!" and "Off with her head!" She orders the execution of the Cheshire Cat and threatens the Duchess and Alice with execution. The Duchess' cook throws dishes.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that constantly changing predicaments, strange creatures, and the watercolors are very child-friendly. But difficult language, Carroll's nonsense poems, and adult humor will leave some children bored or confused. Still, it's a classic well worth the trouble and particularly fun as a read-aloud.

Where to Read

Community reviews.

• Parents say (7)
• Kids say (18)

Based on 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

What strange and marvelous creatures will Alice find down the rabbit hole, and what amazing thing will happen next? The inventive language and charming fantasy make this a classic that both adults and kids love. Older ones will appreciate the satire, but some younger children will be confused or bored. Updated illustrations are appealing to children.

Is It Any Good?

Though there are many video versions and a lot of simplified retellings of this story, all kids deserve to know this wonderful adventure as Lewis Carroll wrote it. But it takes a particular kind of child to enjoy this: Complex language, nonsense, and the lack of a sensible plot are not to every child's taste. The book needs to be thoughtfully read aloud by an adult; few children will read this on their own. But, read aloud, the rhythmic poems can delight kids for their sounds and silly images.

The book works on two levels: as a delightful children's fantasy and as an impish poke in the eye to adults. Alice's strange new world remains just enough like the polite society of Victorian England that we can recognize it -- but it isn't terribly polite, allowing adults to understand much of the book as satire. Of course, kids usually don't see the satire; they simply enjoy the nonsense. If you've forgotten how to do that, Alice can help you remember.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the strange creatures in Wonderland. Which is the strangest?

Why do you think the queen is so mean? Are you confused by parts of the story? Which parts?

Do you like stories you don't understand right away? Why, or why not?

Book Details

• Author : Lewis Carroll
• Illustrator : Helen Oxenbury
• Genre : Literary Fiction
• Topics : Magic and Fantasy , Adventures
• Book type : Fiction
• Publisher : Candlewick Press
• Publication date : November 26, 1865
• Publisher's recommended age(s) : 9 - 12
• Number of pages : 207
• Last updated : November 15, 2019

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Black Beauty

Little Women

Poetry Books for Kids

Classic books for kids, related topics.

• Magic and Fantasy

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

A Summary and Analysis of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

There is a famous anecdote about Lewis Carroll and Queen Victoria: Victoria enjoyed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) so much that she requested a first edition of Carroll’s next book. Carroll duly sent her a copy of the next book he published – a mathematical work with the exciting title An Elementary Treatise on Determinants .

Unfortunately, like most good anecdotes, this one isn’t true, but such a story does highlight the oddness of Carroll’s double life. Carroll, despite the radical nature of his nonsense fiction, was a conservative mathematician and don at the University of Oxford, real name Charles Dodgson.

But what does this novel, one of the most popular Victorian books for children, mean? Before we analyse Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland , it might be worth recapping the novel’s plot.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland : summary

The novel begins with a young girl named Alice, who is bored with a book she is reading outside, following a smartly-dressed rabbit down a rabbit hole. She falls a long way until she finds herself in a room full of locked doors. However, she finds a key, but it’s for a door that’s too small for her.

However, there is a bottle labelled ‘DRINK ME’ on a table, so she drinks down its contents and promptly shrinks. But now she’s too small to reach the key on the table! She eats a cake labelled ‘EAT ME’, and she now grows to be too big – much bigger than her usual size. She begins to cry.

After shrinking back to her usual size, Alice starts to swim on the tide of her own tears, meeting a range of other animals including a mouse and a dodo. The latter declares there should be a Caucus-Race: everyone runs around in a circle but nobody wins. When Alice starts to talk about her cat back home, she inadvertently frightens all of the animals away.

The White Rabbit orders Alice to go into the house and find the gloves belonging to a duchess. Alice finds another potion in the house, which makes her grow large again when she drinks it. When animals hurl stones at her, these turn into cakes and she eats them, returning to her normal size.

Alice meets a blue caterpillar sitting on a mushroom and smoking a hookah pipe. The caterpillar tells Alice that one side of the mushroom will make her taller, while the other side will make her shorter. She breaks off two pieces from the mushroom and eats them. Sure enough, one side shrinks her again, while the other side makes me grow into a giant.

Alice sees a fish, working as a footman, delivering an invitation for the Duchess who lives at the house; he hands the letter to a frog who is working as the Duchess’ footman. Alice goes inside the house again. The Cheshire Cat appears in a tree, directing her to the March Hare’s house. He disappears but his grin remains when the rest of him has gone.

Alice attends the Mad Hatter’s tea party, along with the Marsh Hare and Dormouse. They throw lots of riddles at her until she becomes fed up with them and leaves. She finds herself in a garden in which playing cards are busy painting flowers.

Alice meets the King and Queen, the latter of whom orders her to play a game of croquet in which live flamingos are used instead of croquet mallets (and hedgehogs are deployed as balls!).

The Duchess, who owns the Cheshire Cat, turns up just as the Queen is trying to have the Cheshire Cat beheaded. A Gryphon takes Alice to meet the Mock Turtle, who tells Alice he used to be a real turtle and is now sad because he was mocked when young. The Mock Turtle and the Gryphon then dance to the Lobster Quadrille.

The Queen of Hearts demands Alice’s head be removed: ‘Off with her head!’ But when Alice stands up to her, the Queen falls silent. Alice attends a trial at which the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts. Alice realises she is starting to grow bigger.

She is summoned as a witness at the trial, but she has grown so big now that she accidentally knocks over the jury box containing the animals on the jury.

The Queen accuses Alice of stealing the tarts and once more demands her head. Alice stands up to them, and as the playing cards advance on her, she is wakened from her dream, and finds her sister shaking her: the playing cards have become leaves that have fallen on her. She is back in the real world.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland : analysis

‘Lewis Carroll’ was really a man named Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a mathematician at Christ Church, Oxford. As such, he led something of a double life: to the readers of his Alice books he was Lewis Carroll, while to the world of mathematics and to his colleagues at the University of Oxford he was (Reverend) Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a man who formed his pen name by reversing his first two names (‘Charles Lutwidge’ became ‘Lewis Carroll’).

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland began life on 4 July 1862, when Charles Dodgson accompanied the Liddell children – one of whom was named Alice – on a boat journey, and told them the story that formed the basis of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland , which appeared three years later.

Although its working title was Alice’s Adventures Underground , it was published with the more enchanting title which captures the magic, illogic, and nonsense which characterise the world ‘down the rabbit-hole’ in which Alice finds herself.

Carroll’s was by no means the first portal fantasy novel of this kind: two years earlier, in 1863, Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies had appeared. The book tells the story of the boy chimney-sweep, Tom, who goes beneath the water and becomes a ‘water-baby’.

In many ways the tale of a child slipping underwater into an alternate world of fantasy, where the Victorian world is curiously inverted, foreshadows Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland , although Carroll came up with his story independently, before Kingsley’s novel was published. (Curiously, the phrases ‘mad as a March-hare’ and ‘grinning like a Cheshire cat’, by the by, both appear in The Water-Babies .)

But for all of their passing similarities, the chief difference between Carroll’s novel and Kingsley’s – and, indeed, between Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and 99% of the children’s fiction produced at the time – is that Carroll refused to use his story to offer his young readers a moral.

You can see the moral message of a Victorian children’s story coming a mile off, but Carroll not only avoids such heavy-handed moralising, but actively criticises the very idea:

She had quite forgotten the Duchess by this time, and was a little startled when she heard her voice close to her ear. ‘You’re thinking about something, my dear, and that makes you forget to talk. I can’t tell you just now what the moral of that is, but I shall remember it in a bit.’

‘Perhaps it hasn’t one,’ Alice ventured to remark.

‘Tut, tut, child!’ said the Duchess. ‘Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it.’ And she squeezed herself up closer to Alice’s side as she spoke.

This exchange, from ‘The Mock Turtle’s Story’ (Chapter 9), pit the mainstream Victorian attitude held by adults against the rebellious innocence of the child, with the censorious morality of the adult (‘Tut, tut, child!’) immediately closing down the child’s instinct to speculate, question, and retain an open mind (‘Perhaps it hasn’t one’).

So much for the moral meaning of Carroll’s novel. But does that mean that the glorious nonsense of the book, the subversion and inversion of the reality of the world, the fantastical creatures and episodes, are just that: ‘nonsense’, not meant to mean anything beyond themselves?

Critics have been tempted to analyse the novel through a Freudian or psychoanalytic lens: the novel is about a child’s awareness of itself in the world, discovering its own body and its place in that world.

In finding herself in a completely mad world – full of tyrannical queens and mad hatters – Alice must learn to assert herself (something she does decisively at the end, when confronting the Queen of Hearts) and also, quite literally, keep her head about her while all about her are losing theirs (and often blaming it on her).

Or, even if we drop the Freudian label, we might view the novel as an exploration of a child’s journey through the world, making sense of everything and realising that sometimes grown-ups – those authority figures the child is told to obey because they are older and wiser than she is – are the stupidest people in the room.

For all that, should we analyse Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland as a scathing satire on radical new ideas in nineteenth-century mathematics, ideas for which Carroll/Dodgson had little time? Melanie Bayley thinks so, and published an article in the New Scientist in 2009 in which she set out her thesis. You can read Bayley’s article here .

If you enjoyed this analysis of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland , you might also like our summary and analysis of the book’s sequel, Through the Looking-Glass .

Discover more from Interesting Literature

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

Type your email…

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Caroll | Book Review

Book Review of  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland The Children’s Book Review

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Written by Lewis Carroll

Illustrated by Anna Bond

Ages: 10+ | 192 Pages

Publisher: Puffin Books | ISBN-13: 9780147515872

What to Expect: Adventure, Fantasy, and Classics

When it comes to beloved works of literature, few can compare to Lewis Carroll’s  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland . This enchanting tale, considered a timeless classic, has captivated and delighted readers for generations for very good reason—if ever there was a tall tale, this might be the tallest.

At its heart,  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland  is a story full of wonder and whimsy, centered around a young girl named Alice who longs for something more than her mundane existence. When she unexpectedly tumbles down a rabbit hole into an entirely new world known as Wonderland, readers are whisked away on a magical journey beyond their wildest imaginings.

Here, in Wonderland, Alice encounters all manner of curious characters, from the endlessly tardy White Rabbit (always rushing about with his pocket watch) to the puzzling Cheshire Cat (who becomes invisible except for his big grin) to the Hatter (who is completely mad) to the Queen of Hearts (who is very difficult to please) and beyond. There are riddles to solve, quirky poems, and a tea party Alice can’t wait to leave.

In the midst of all of the absurd happenings, Carroll weaves in a series of mind-bending riddles that keep readers guessing until the very end. But beyond the exquisite story, we cannot forget Anna Bond’s stunning and evocative illustrations in this Puffin in Bloom edition of the story, which bring the magical world of Wonderland to life in vivid, floral detail. 

Readers, young and old alike, will undoubtedly be spellbound by the allure of Alice in Wonderland. As sure as ferrets are ferrets, readers will be charmed by the words and fascinated by the illustrations.  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland  is dreamy—you would be completely mad not to read this book!

Buy the Book

About the author.

Lewis Carroll is the pen name for Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Queen Victoria was one of the first well-known fans of his book  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.  With royalty loving the book, it’s no wonder that the story has been adapted into multiple movies, live performances, and comic books.

What to Read Next If You Love Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

• Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There , by Lewis Carroll
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , by L. Frank Baum
• The Looking Glass Wars , by Frank Beddor
• Peter Pan , by J.M. Barrie

Bianca Schulze reviewed  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Discover more books like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by reading our reviews and articles tagged with Adventure , Fantasy , and Classics .

• X (Twitter)

Bianca Schulze is the founder of The Children’s Book Review. She is a reader, reviewer, mother and children’s book lover. She also has a decade’s worth of experience working with children in the great outdoors. Combined with her love of books and experience as a children’s specialist bookseller, the goal is to share her passion for children’s literature to grow readers. Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, she now lives with her husband and three children near Boulder, Colorado.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

Dusty Reviews

Pressured to prove his theories or lose funding, Dusty prematurely stepped into the blogosphere and vanished.

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland (Book Review)

My book reviews include full spoilers. To see other books I’ve reviewed, please click  HERE .

Title: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Author: Lewis Carroll Publication Date: 1865 Producer: Audible, Inc. (2015) Narrated by: Scarlett Johansson Recording Time: 2 hours, 44 minutes

Alice is sitting on a riverbank in the summertime, with her sisten, when she sees a White Rabbit in a coat running by. The White Rabbit pulls out a pocket watch, says that he is late, and then jumps down a rabbit hole. Alice, as one does, follows the White Rabbit down the hole. After a long fall, she finds herself in a large hallway lined with doors. She finds a key on a small table and then tries it on various doors until she finds the one that works. The door, she sees a beautiful garden through the door, but Alice is too large to fit through it. She cries. She subsequently finds a bottle marked “DRINK ME” and does as the label says. She shrinks down to the right size to fit through the door, however, she cannot enter because she left the key on the tabletop above her head. She is now too small to reach it. Just then, Alice finds a cake marked “EAT ME.” Again she does as the label says and she grows very tall. Now she can reach the key but she is once again unable to pass through the door to enter the garden. Alice cries again. This time her giant tears create a large pool around her. While she cries, she shrinks and falls into the pool of tears. Now that she is smaller, the pool of tears seems as large as a sea. She swims and treads water until she meets a Mouse. The Mouse and Alice make it to the shore where several animals are gathered. After a “Caucus Race,” Alice accidentally scares all of the animals by telling stories about her cat, Dinah.

Alice sees the White Rabbit again. The White Rabbit thinks that she is a servant and sends her to his home to get his gloves. Inside the White Rabbit’s house, Alice drinks an unmarked bottle of liquid because she expects something to happen. She grows so large that she more than fills up the room. The White Rabbit returns to his house, wondering what is keeping her, and he is angry about seeing her arm sticking out of his window. She uses her giant hand to scare the White Rabbit and his helpers away. The animals outside throw rocks at her. The rocks turn into cakes when they land in the house. Alice eats one of the cakes and shrinks to a smaller size.

She leaves the house and enters the forest. There she meets a Caterpillar on a mushroom who is smoking a hookah. The Caterpillar and Alice get argue and the Caterpillar leaves. Before he goes, he tells her that different parts of the mushroom will make her either grow or shrink. Alice decides to taste a part of the mushroom. This causes her neck stretch above the tree tops. A pigeon sees her and accuses her of being a snake who wants to eat her eggs.

Alice eats another part of the mushroom and returns to her normal height. From there, she walks around until she finds the house of the Duchess. She enters the house and finds the Duchess nursing a squealing baby. Inside, she also finds a Cheshire Cat who is grinning and a Cook who is putting too much pepper into a cauldron of soup. The Duchess is not nice to Alice. She then leaves to go play croquet with the Queen. As the Duchess leaves, she gives Alice the baby. Alice then realizes that the baby is actually a pig. She lets the pig go and returns to the forest. In the forest, she sees the grinning Cheshire Cat again. The Cheshire Cat tells Alice that everyone in Wonderland is mad, including Alice herself. The Cheshire Cat tells Alice how to get to the March Hare’s house. After doing this, it disappears except for its floating grin.

At the March Hare’s house, Alice meets the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse. They are having tea. None of them are nice to her. She learns that they did something wrong to Time itself and are thus trapped in perpetual tea-time. Alice leaves and travels through the forest yet again. She finds a tree with a door in its side. Alice goes through the door and finds herself back in the great hall. She takes the key, uses the mushroom to shrink her body, and finally enters through the door and into the garden.

Alice finds the Queen of Hearts and plays croquet with her. The ground is hilly, the mallets and balls are live flamingos and hedgehogs, and the Queen repeatedly makes calls to execute the other players. In the middle of the game, Alice meets the Cheshire Cat again. He asks her how she is doing. The King of Hearts interrupts their conversation and gets into an argument with The Cheshire Cat. The King gets angry and calls for the Cheshire Cat’s beheading. However, the Cheshire Cat is now only a head floating in midair so no one can agree on how to behead it.

The Duchess sees Alice and is friendly. However, Alice is not comfortable with her. The Queen of Hearts makes the Duchess leave. She then tells Alice to visit the Mock Turtle. The Queen of Hearts sends the Gryphon to go with Alice to meet the Mock Turtle. Alice talks about her adventures with the Mock Turtle and the Gryphon. Alice listens to the Mock Turtle’s story and then they all hear an announcement that a trial is about to begin. The Gryphon takes Alice back to the croquet match.

The Knave of Hearts is now on trial for stealing the Queen’s tarts. Alice is proud of herself for understanding what is happening in the proceedings. The Mad Hatter and the Cook give testimony but it does not make sense. The White Rabbit calls Alice to the witness stand. The King asks her questions. The White Rabbit then provides new evidence, a letter written by the Knave. The letter is a poem. The King interprets the poem as an admission of guilt from the Knave. Alice says that the note is nonsense and she protests to the King. Alice’s protests infuriate The Queen who then orders that Alice be beheaded. Before this can happen, Alice grows to a giant size. She then knocks down the Queen’s army of playing cards.

Then Alice is awake on her sister’s lap, back at the riverbank. She tells her sister about her dream and then goes inside for tea. Her sister thinks about Alice’s adventures.

I was inspired to listen to this book after watching the recent Matrix movie trailer. The Alice franchise has had a prolonged cultural impact for a century and a half – leading to movies, songs, and conspiracy theories which rely on imagery from the book. I have never read the book so I wanted to familiarize myself with an important cultural touchstone

My expectations for Scarlett Johansson’s performance were not high enough going into this listen. She gives a terrific performance including fun and unique voices for each of the characters mentioned. Through her performance, she comes across as a fan of the book and I really enjoyed her narration.

That is probably the extent of my positive reaction to this story. I know that a lot of people have a great fondness for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland . If you feel that way, obviously you are not alone. But for me, I just could not get into this or even find the hook that reels other people in. The story is one random event leading into another and then leading into another before finally the novel is over. The novel is creative but I found it to be more frustrating than immersive. I was never emotionally invested in any part of this story and it required quite a bit of effort on my part just to finish. Perhaps I just simply needed to read this for the first time as a kid.

What is this book supposed to be about? We get some clues about that at the very end.

• The trauma of growing out of childhood. * Alice is constantly changing sizes throughout the book, each time it seems to bring about distress, and I assume this is intended to reflect the struggles of puberty when a girl might no longer be a girl, and yet she is also not a woman, either.
• Life is inexplainable and puzzling. * Throughout the novel, Alice is constantly encountering situations wherein logic does not apply. We maybe see that most clearly when Alice is told that everyone is mad, including her.
• Death is a constant possibility. * Alice is constantly facing down situations that could kill her. Initially she seems not to notice. By the end of the book, she is very much aware of the danger she is in. This emerging awareness of death is something that accompanies everyone’s journey from childhood innocence to adulthood.

The book is filled with great quotes. A few of my favorites are below.

“In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.”

“If you drink much from a bottle marked ‘poison’ it is certain to disagree with you sooner or later.”

“Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, “What road do I take?” The cat asked, “Where do you want to go?” “I don’t know,” Alice answered. “Then,” said the cat, “it really doesn’t matter, does it?”

“How long is forever? Sometimes just one second”

Share this:

5 thoughts on “ alice’s adventures in wonderland (book review) ”.

And we thought there were no good drugs until the sixties! Fine read, my man, fine read.

Thanks. And for whatever it’s worth I believe White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane is explicitly about drugs.

Yes and a favorite of mine though as a gendarme I did not get to participate recreationally. I admired the artistry, the craftsmanship, and presentation – Go Ask Alice… And AiW, a conceptual fave, lets me understand why a lot of what I myself write is not fully understood (appreciated?) by the general population.

this is a beatiful review fr f

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Published by Dusty

I'm just a guy writing about some things. View all posts by Dusty

Discover more from Dusty Reviews

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

The most comprehensive and authoritative history site on the Internet.

Alice in Wonderland (Book Review)

Reviewed by Bruce Heydt By Lewis Carroll Available in many editions, both soft and hardcover

Within the pages of Lewis Carroll’s signature novel, Alice in Wonderland, the worlds above and below the famous rabbit hole nowhere intersect. Above the hole the reader finds calm and order, bright sunlight and the gently flowing Thames. Down below, the laws of nature and logic have been turned on their heads. Seemingly, never the twain shall meet.

Things are not always as they first appear, however. For a century and more, children have enjoyed the sheer silliness of Wonderland’s residents, but to the initiated they are a wry reflection of Carroll’s Victorian-era England, or at least Victorian England as Carroll himself perceived it.

The reign of Britain’s very own aboveground Queen of Hearts was a time of rapid change, exemplified by advances in science and by the Industrial Revolution—as well as by an increasing subservience to schedules and timetables that created a manic, rabbitlike response to the dread of running late. (The white rabbit is, in fact, a dead-ringer for every railway conductor I’ve ever met.) Even while industrialization transformed Britain, 18th-century social customs—most notably a rigid class structure in which every card had its proper place in the deck—lingered on.

Carroll himself was something of a square peg in Victorian Britain’s round hole, and he viewed the world into which he had fallen, through no fault of his own, as a Wonderland in many ways no more strange than Alice’s. A mathematician himself, Carroll had a keen sense of logic and order. He also had a sense of the absurd, and saw many of the intellectual trends of his day in the latter light. In contrast to the mock intellectualism of adults, Carroll seems to prefer the innocent common sense of children, who therefore became, like Alice, the heroines of most of his stories. Alice’s greatest challenge in Wonderland often seems not to be how to return to the aboveground world, as might be expected, but in remaining uninfected by the dangerous and surreal logic of the “adult” Wonderlanders she encounters—an ultimately futile endeavor, since Alice, along with every other little girl, is on an inevitable progress toward adulthood herself. The journey, however, often proceeds in fits and starts and takes many false turns, as Alice discovers to her ongoing frustration when she alternately shrinks and grows at the mere sip of drink or bite of cake. That alone would be frightening enough even without the possibility—a very real one, as Alice learns—that any child may grow up to become a “pig.”

Despite its unpredictability, Wonder land is seductive and almost preferable to the real (but bland by comparison) contemporary world. Readers can safely give in to its enticements by joining Alice as she tumbles down the rabbit hole. The creatures and situations that visitors to Wonderland will encounter include, famously, a grinning Cheshire cat, a maddeningly absurd tea party, a sagacious caterpillar, a mind-bending croquet match, a thieving knave and a queen with an attitude who seems more than capable of bringing the entire world under her dominion. (Presumably, the real monarch would not have been amused by any suggestion of a simi larity.) So well-known are these creations that Carroll’s imagery is said to be more frequently alluded to than is any other literary source, save only the Bible and Shakespeare.

Today’s readers have an abundance of editions to choose from when settling down with this classic, perhaps with a child or grandchild on their knee. Do select one that contains the original illustrations by John Tenniel, which have become classics in their own right, or perhaps the edgier color images of Arthur Rackham.

Related stories

Portfolio: Images of War as Landscape

Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, […]

Jerrie Mock: Record-Breaking American Female Pilot

In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earhart’s disappearance.

10 Pivotal Events in the Life of Buffalo Bill

William Frederick Cody (1846-1917) led a signal life, from his youthful exploits with the Pony Express and in service as a U.S. Army scout to his globetrotting days as a showman and international icon Buffalo Bill.

The One and Only ‘Booger’ Was Among History’s Best Rodeo Performers

Texan Sam Privett, the colorfully nicknamed proprietor of Booger Red’s Wild West, backed up his boast he could ride anything on four legs.

Book Review: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll, is a rather peculiar adventure tale filled with all sorts of oddities and misfits. The story begins with the main protagonist, Alice, as she follows the White Rabbit into the infamous rabbit hole. In Wonderland, or so it seems, she meets several creatures all with the strangest backstories and personalities. The story is carefully crafted so that much of the book confuses the casual reader. A great concern for detail is needed to understand the novel and its full meaning. The book shares the complexities and hardships of growing up, in which the Lewis Carroll absolutely nailed. He also shares his negative opinions about the British government through the main antagonist, the Queen of Hearts, who is meant to be a high and powerful monarch, but never does anything. Overall, the book is a great read and it is certainly entertaining to spend some time to pick out the many small details hidden in the book. 8th Grade.

Lost in Storyland

July 19, 2014 · 2 Comments

Review: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Uncategorized

On a golden afternoon, young Alice follows a White Rabbit, who disappears down a nearby rabbit hole. Quickly following him, she tumbles into the burrow – and enters the merry, topsy-turvy world of Wonderland. A series of whimsical escapades and nonsensical obstacles dictate Alice’s journey, which culminates in a madcap encounter with the Queen of Hearts – and her army of playing cards! Is it all a dream, or just an alternate reality…?

So, I think we all know the basic story, especially if you saw the Disney film growing up. A little girl follows a White Rabbit down a rabbit hole and has this strange adventure in a place called Wonderland, all for her to wake up at the end and find out it was just a dream. However, there’s more to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland than that.

One of the best things about this story is the imagery. The various creatures Alice encounters in Wonderland, though seen briefly, are fun to meet and you are often left wondering who Alice will run into next. Since the chapter titles usually feature the names of whichever characters Alice meets, this gives the chapters the feel of being interconnected short stories, Alice being the thread that brings these stories all together.

What I really admire about Carroll’s storytelling is his ability to blur when reality ends and the dream of Wonderland starts. In the opening pages of the book, Alice is feeling sleepy when she sees the White Rabbit; it really seems as if she is following an actual rabbit, granted that it’s a rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a pocket watch. At the end when she wakes from the dream, the transition from Wonderland to reality is done so seamlessly that you can’t exactly pinpoint when it is that Alice wakes up.

Something that leaves me feeling a touch divided about the book are the characterizations. The residents of Wonderland were all either very rude or easily offended. While we don’t get thorough descriptions of each character, their interactions with Alice are the most memorable. As bland as she may be at some points, Alice is perhaps the best character. While she mainly serves as an anchor in an unusual world, she is rather level-headed considering her situation. She is pretty proper for a child of her age and tries to apply the lessons she has learned to what she goes through in Wonderland, but finds that the logic from the real world doesn’t work there. Additionally, she stands up against threats in Wonderland instead of just running away from them as she does in the movie.

I can’t talk about a plot with this book because there isn’t exactly one. The closest thing we could label as a plot is Alice’s desire to get through a tiny door and into the beautiful garden she sees through the keyhole, which turns out to be the realm of the cards, ruled over by the King and Queen of Hearts. Ultimately, though, there is a moral in the story, which comes out in the final chapter as a realization made by Alice’s older sister. Because of this incredibly vivid dream, Alice is revealed to have an incredible sense of wonder and imagination, something her sister wishes she still had herself.

If you haven’t done so in a while, I recommend you check out the film adaptation, preferably the Disney version. While the idea about maintaining your imagination and sense of wonder isn’t presented as strongly as it is in the book, the film is absolute eye candy and features great songs. Additionally, it incorporates elements of the following Alice story, Through the Looking Glass , pretty successfully (For this review, I actually read an edition of Wonderland that had both stories. If you would like to check it out, click here ). Check out the film more for the visuals and music, though the ending isn’t quite as satisfying as the one in the book.

Share this:

• Related Posts

Don’t miss out!

July 22, 2014 at 8:46 PM

It really is fun, and I think it's one of the things I enjoyed most about the book, though I'm not sure if we could really say the emphasis is so much on Wonderland as a play as it is on the characters themselves. And come to think of it, I actually liked the portrayal of some of the characters better in the book than in the movie.

July 20, 2014 at 5:08 AM

One of my favorites, I love getting lost in the settings of Wonderland.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Keep up with all the latest!

Books of Brilliance

The latest book reviews and book news, alice’s adventures in wonderland: book review.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland book review

Nobody really knows what makes a children’s books popular and why some don’t catch on. A book that has stayed relevant for over a century is Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Find out why that is so as well as reading a short summary of the novel!

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland Summary

Alice is sitting by a riverbank and is bored out of her mind when out of nowhere she sees a white rabbit with a pocket watch pass her by commenting that he is late. Curiosity gets the best of Alice and she follows the rabbit down a rabbit hole. 

That leads her to a room where she is encounters a tiny door and a tiny key. In the room, Alive finds a bottle that says drink me and she shrinks as a result. Now she is able to open the small door and follow the white rabbit.

But the effects of the potion does not stop and Alice keeps shrinking as a result. This makes Alice cry and she gets mistaken for a maidservant and tells her to go to the house where she finds another potion and she drinks that also. This one makes her bigger but like the first potion, she keeps growing.

Other creatures Alice meets include a caterpillar smoking a hookah that makes her face her current identity crisis. She also meets the Duchess and the Chesire Cat. Alice gets imprisoned and is put on trial. Will Alice be freed and return home or will the Duchess keep her locked up?

First published in 1865 , the novel has remained in the mainstream ever since. There are numerous movies and adaptations of the popular children’s book. The idea for the book came when Lewis went on a boat ride with three little girls and told them the story of Alice in 1862.

The novel has been translated into 174 languages and has never been out of print. Those two facts are ridiculous and beyond impressive. You can find this story on many forms such as screen, radio, art, ballet, opera, musicals, theme parks, board games, and video games. At this point, it is safe to say this story is almost universal. 

What makes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland great is that it is conceived for a child’s mind but told by an adult so it also appeals to them. It is a wonderful book about wild adventures that children daydream about and adults can remember when they also used to do as a kid.

Reading this book makes you remember what it felt like to be a kid when the world was limitless. Maybe that’s why adults keep coming back to this book throughout the years. There’s a reason why The Chronicles of Narnia and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland have become classics and something most children end up reading at least once.

Follow us on  Instagram  and  Facebook  

Share this:, 3 thoughts on “ alice’s adventures in wonderland: book review ”.

Add Comment

• Pingback: Book Review - Book Review: Treasure Island - Books of Brilliance
• Pingback: YA is Not Just a Genre - Books of Brilliance
• Pingback: 14 Children’s Books For 2024 - Books of Brilliance

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Best Fredrik Backman Books To Read & Understand Life! 📚

Best Monster Books To Read And Get Thrilled! 📚

Best Hercule Poirot Books To Start Reading First! 🕵️‍♂️ 📚

Best Agatha Christie Audiobooks You Should Listen! 🕵️ 🎧

Best Book Depository Alternatives – 12 Affordable Sites! 📚

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Children’s Storybook or a World of Violence?

• ⏳ [read_meter]

“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll is probably the most popular children’s fantasy novel of the nineteenth century. The book gave way to a brand new era of children’s English literature: books that did not intend to impart lessons and morals to the children. These books just inaugurated imaginative worlds where the ‘mind is without fear’ and can wander off to places. This led to the emergence of a writing style that simultaneously embraced logic and nonsense.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Review)

While books like Tom Brown’s Schooldays offered rules for the right way of life, these other books, on the other hand, just gave a free space to live. Children’s literature owes its elements of fantasy, silliness, and curiosity to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and its sequel “Through the Looking-Glass.” These two stand apart from the typical cautionary tales for children. Without these texts, literature would not have branched out and flourished in the world of imagination.

While the Alice books insinuate that the primary intention is to gain the children’s attention as the audience, the main themes are contrary to the readers’ expectations. As one scrolls through the pages of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, it becomes crystal clear that the violent themes are undermining the societal moral codes that we typically believe that children should adopt. Throughout these texts, there is a constant feeling of fright of being in a strange place occupied by strange creatures. It is quite terrifying to find out how adult human figures in Alice in Wonderland behave.

Recommended Reading For You! 📖 📚

Alice exists in a violent, aggressive world that is different from the world of Maggie Tulliver and Jane Eyre. Images of Alice that we come across are often melancholic and sinister. Interestingly, Wonderland is devoid of certain threats that Alice introduces. These would include death, sickness, and rationality. In a world devoid of logic, there is neither any real threat nor the fear of death. William Empson even points out the death jokes present in the text. Alice, while mentioning the burnt candle, muses about death.

The text is loaded with morbid jokes and, at times, wanders through the possibilities of death. Conflict, battle, and even warfare are seen as inevitable but pointless. The violent moments of Wonderland stand in sharp contrast to the lighthearted fantastical moments. People are shown to be bloodthirsty and irrational, resorting to violence, even when it is clearly unnecessary. There is no attempt to make sense of violent or brutal behavior, although it is deplored and resisted. Violence and pain do not illustrate any moral point about the world; they are simply something to be noticed and avoided.

Carroll uses ineffectual and diluted violence to entertain his young readers. For something to be truly violent, there has to be a physical force that results in damage or injury. However, the violent acts projected in Wonderland lack the aspect of damage and injuries, making the violence fizzle out and turn ineffective. Through this kind of ineffectual violence, the author attempts to preserve Wonderland’s unrealistic appearance, where the pains and injuries of the harsh reality are kept at bay.

One of the most distinct examples of such ineffectual violence is the instance of the cook and the Duchess. The actions of the cook toward the Duchess, at first glance, appear to be very violent. The author describes her actions, “at once [the cook] set to work throwing everything within her reach at the duchess and the baby. The fire-iron came first; then followed a shower of saucepans, plates, and dishes.” The lullaby that the Duchess sings for her baby also has violent lyrics like “And beat him (baby) when he sneezes.” Even while singing, the Duchess keeps tossing the baby up and down while he kept howling.

You must be picturizing a very violent scene by reading this. However, Carroll does not let real violence take place as it would crumble apart his magical sanctuary for children from reality. “Pain is one of the most powerful sensations in real life, and by showing the pain of any kind, the author would have brought a strong sense of unwanted reality into the stories.” Carroll designed his stories in a way that they acted as a passage to escape for the kids from the big bad world and its hardships.

Therefore, for preventing his wonderful world from shattering, he added, “The Duchess took no notice of them even when they hit her.” By telling the reader that the cook’s violent actions did not cause any pain or discomfort, the author can preserve his fanciful universe. Also, by implementing ineffectual violence instead of real violence, the author was able to both use violent actions while preserving its surreal appearance.

In the chapter ‘A Mad-Tea Party,’ we see the Hatter, March Hare, and the Dormouse being rude, ill-mannered, and snappy at each other. While moving out, Alice saw the Dormouse being forced into the teapot by Hatter and March Hare. Sounds bizarre, right? Well, that’s Wonderland for you! Savage matriarchs dominate Wonderland. The Queen is in direct contrast with Alice.

Comments such as “chop her head off” and “you deserve to be beheaded” are very common commands that frequently come from the Queen. Even in the croquet game, the Queen kept shouting “Off with his head” or “Off with her head” every now and then. The inhabitants of Wonderland were apparently obsessed with the idea of beheading people. Yet, surprisingly, everyone was always left unharmed. Even the Gryphon states that “It’s all her (Queen) fancy, that: they never execute anybody…”

In one of the weirdest instances, the cheering guinea pigs at the court were “suppressed” by the court officers. And by “suppressed,” they literally mean SUPPRESS! They stuffed the guinea pigs in a huge canvas bag, tied its string, and then sat on it! Later, the Queen, as usual, keeps screaming to get the Dormouse beheaded, pinched, or his whiskers to be chopped off! Throughout the text, we come across numerous instances where violence is shown as a casual matter, orders of killing and beheading people are passed just randomly, and yet, there are no lives lost.

That is what makes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland such an intriguing and fascinating text. The creatures talk of violence all the time, they even indulged in fights, but there is no grave violence that actually takes place. This text, with all its interesting elements, makes for a delightful read for people across ages. You can get the book here! 📖

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll is probably the most popular children's fantasy novel of the nineteenth century. The book gave way to a brand new era of children's English literature: books that did not intend to impart lessons and morals to the children. These books just inaugurated imaginative worlds where the 'mind is without fear' and can wander off to places. This led to the emergence of a writing style that simultaneously embraced logic and nonsense.

URL: https://bookwritten.com/alices-adventures-in-wonderland-by-lewis-carroll-review/1972/

Author: Lewis Carroll

This article contains affiliate links. BookWritten may earn a commission when you buy using these links.

BookWritten Newsletter 📧 📖

Join 10,000 plus subscribers. Get updates about the best books to read, special content, and exclusive offers online! 📚

You might also like these!

The american prometheus: the story behind oppenheimer.

Who Will Cry When You Die? – Live Your Life To The Fullest!

A minimalist traveler who derives peace from art, books, journals, handwritten letters, and the simple joys of life.

Follow author

Let's discuss here - Share your thoughts and queries!

• Do You Have Any Questions or Thoughts? 💬

1 thought on “ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Children’s Storybook or a World of Violence? ”

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a story about Alice who falls down a rabbit hole and lands into a fantasy world that is full of weird, wonderful people and animals. It is classic children’s book that is also popular with adults. Personally, at 16, I found the book strange and uninteresting. However if I was 8-14 I would have loved the fantastic fantasy world Carroll creates. I never expected the events that happened because they were bizarre and unpredictable. I loved the Cheshire cat’s wit and intelligence. I also love the hatter because his eccentric personality reminded me of the eccentric people I know. My favourite part was when Alice met the caterpillar, this was because of his ambiguous conversation with Alice.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Kid’s Book Review: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

By Sarah Tyson

About the Book and Illustrator

First published by Macmillan more than 150 years ago, Lewis Carroll’s iconic story has been loved and enjoyed by generations of children.

This edition presents Lewis Carroll’s complete text, with illustrations from Costa Award- and Kate Greenaway Medal-winner Chris Riddell. Published 200 years after the birth of Alice’s first illustrator, Sir John Tenniel, also the political cartoonist of his time, Chris Riddell’s illustrations set a new bar in terms of excellence with his unique, rich and evocative interpretation of Carroll’s world.

With the curious, quick-witted Alice at its heart, readers will not only rediscover characters such as the charming White Rabbit, the formidable Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter and the grinning Cheshire Cat but will find fresh and wonderful creations of these characters by a true master of his art,; images that will live in our hearts and minds for generations to come.

Chris Riddell, the 2015-2017 UK Children’s Laureate, is an accomplished artist and the political cartoonist for the Observer. He deservedly enjoys great acclaim for his books for children. His books have won a number of major prizes, including the 2001, 2004 and 2016 CILIP Kate Greenaway Medals. Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse won the Costa Children’s Book Award 2013.

His work for Macmillan also includes the bestselling Ottoline books, The Emperor of Absurdia , and, with Paul Stewart, the Muddle Earth books, the Scavenger series and the Blobheads series. Chris has been honoured with an OBE in recognition of his illustration and charity work.

Book Review

The pictures really make the book come alive

I thought this book was very beautiful. The pictures really made the book come alive. I loved how the illustrator was clever with the pictures so that one-minute Alice was in one place and the next minute she was in a completely different one!

I also appreciated the map of wonderland at the start of the book. I liked how the pictures where sometimes black and white and others where in colour. Overall, I recommend it to people that like adventure books and that have a lot of imagination.

Page Preview

If you would would like to buy a copy of the book we invite you to order it from an independent book shop. If you don’t know where your closest shop is you can search here

Find Bookshop

You won’t need persuading that indie bookshops are unique, integral to your community and refuges for readers to browse and enjoy making new discoveries inside. Please support your high street and shop local.

Alternatively, we suggest that you visit your local library and request to borrow a copy from a friendly librarian, if you cannot find the book on its shelves.

Either way, we hope you enjoy being part of your unique community – happy reading everyone !

Reviewer Profile

• Name: Daisy
• Age: 10 years
• Likes: writing stories, reading and drama
• Dislikes: maths and mushrooms
• Favourite Book: Ruby Redfort series by Lauren Child
• Favourite Film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Favourite Song: Youngblood by Five Seconds of Summer

If you are aged 2-17 years and enjoy reading books or listening to stories why not  apply to join the junior review panel by contacting Books Up North by email or via social media? *You will receive a FREE copy of the book!

If you enjoyed this book review please share it on social media

Tags: children's books , illustration , kids reviews , picture books , reading for pleasure

Related Posts

Kid’s Book Review: Poo Through the Ages

Kid’s Book Review: The Voyage of Sam Singh

Kid’s Book Review: Jack Splash

Kid’s Book Review: North and the Only One

Kid’s Book Review: Kwame’s Magic Quest

Kid’s Book Review: How To Be Free

Kid’s Book Review: Turtle Rescue

Kid’s Book Review: Reek

Kid’s Book Review: The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Kid’s Book Review: Big Bad Wolf Investigates Fairytales

Kid’s Book Review: Bigg School – Double Drama

Kid’s Book Review: How to Win the Gruesome Games

• Literature & Fiction
• History & Criticism

Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime Try Prime and start saving today with fast, free delivery

Amazon Prime includes:

Fast, FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button.

• Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
• Unlimited Free Two-Day Delivery
• Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
• A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
• Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
• Unlimited photo storage with anywhere access

Important:  Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Illustrated): The 1865 Classic Edition with Original Illustrations Paperback – May 9, 2024

Purchase options and add-ons, discover lewis carroll’s beautiful original edition, featuring over 40 high-quality illustrations and a fun quiz about alice and her unforgettable adventures..

Originally published in 1865 as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland the beloved Victorian classic novel has captured the hearts and imaginations of readers of all ages for generations. In this enchanting book, the curious and adventurous Alice falls down a rabbit hole and discovers a whimsical and surreal world filled with talking animals, bizarre creatures, and fantastical landscapes.

With its clever wordplay, vivid imagery, and playful storytelling, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland remains timeless classics that continue to inspire and delight readers of all ages. This book is a must-read for anyone who loves original storytelling, endless adventures, and the power of imagination.

This beautiful edition includes:

• 40+ original, first-edition, high-quality illustrations by the legendary artist John Tenniel.
• A fun quiz about the story of Alice and the main characters to complete at the end of the book.
• A beautifully designed cover to adorn your collection.
• Easy-to-read typesetting for the perfect reading experience for both children and adults.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, one of the best classic novels for young boys and girls of all time, will be the perfect gift for young book lovers and an unmissable part of your collection!

• Print length 106 pages
• Language English
• Publication date May 9, 2024
• Dimensions 6 x 0.24 x 9 inches
• ISBN-10 991673268X
• ISBN-13 978-9916732687
• See all details

Similar items that may deliver to you quickly

From the Publisher

Discover Lewis Carroll’s beautiful original edition, featuring over 40 high-quality illustrations and a fun quiz about Alice and her adventures.

Product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Sky Publishing (May 9, 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 106 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 991673268X
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-9916732687
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.5 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.24 x 9 inches
• #4 in Surrealist Literary Criticism
• #601 in Children's Classics
• #1,014 in Classic Literature & Fiction

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass (Deluxe Edition)

Age range 9 to 12

Down the rabbit-hole and through the looking-glass!

Lewis Carroll's novels  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  and  Through the Looking-Glass  (first published in 1865 and 1871, respectively) have entertained readers young and old for more than a century. Their magical worlds, amusing characters, clever dialogue, and playfully logical illogic epitomise the wit and whimsy of Carroll's writing.  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland  transports you down the rabbit-hole into a wondrous realm that is home to a White Rabbit, a March Hare, a Mad Hatter, a tea-drinking Dormouse, a grinning Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts and her playing-card retainers, and all manner of marvellous creatures.  Through the Looking-Glass  is your passport to a topsy-turvy world on the other side of the mirror, where you have to run fast just to stay in place, memory works backwards, and it is possible to believe as many as six impossible things before breakfast.  Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass  is the first in a new collection of Children’s Deluxe editions. These volumes will feature foil-stamped binding and distinctive gilt edging and an attractive ribbon bookmark. Additionally, this new deluxe leather-bound edition features coloured illustrations of John Tenniel.

More books by author

10 Great Fantasy Books That Became Terrible Movies

• Great fantasy books often struggle to translate into successful movies due to the collaborative nature of filmmaking and the challenges of visualizing the reader's imagination.
• Many of the worst book-to-movie adaptations are in the fantasy genre, which is further complicated by the need for visual interpretation and mainstream appeal.
• Poor adaptations like "Alice in Wonderland," "Eragon," and "The Dark Tower" often rely too heavily on CGI, lack faithfulness to the source material, and fail to capture the essence of the original stories.

Great fantasy books that became terrible movies reveal the inherent strengths and weaknesses of both mediums. These films serve as a warning to audiences and filmmakers alike: turning any great piece of literary fantasy into a full feature film is never an easy task. Even when beloved fantasy books, novellas, short stories, or comics are seemingly paired with the perfect filmmaker to tackle the material, a lot of things can still go wrong. After all, while writing literature is typically a solitary endeavor, filmmaking is deeply collaborative, the limitations of which can sometimes offset the advantages of movies over the written word.

Unfortunately, many of the worst book-to-movie adaptations are in the genre of fantasy, which isn't surprising. The difficulties of adapting written stories to film are further exacerbated by the very things that make fantasy books worth adapting. Indeed, fantasy books typically leave all visualization to the reader's imagination - a logistical nightmare when various creatives and studio executives working on the same adaptation have different interpretations in mind. In their efforts to improve the story or make it fit for mainstream consumption, filmmakers also sometimes stray heavily from the source material. For viewers curious about which adaptations to avoid, here are 10 great fantasy books that became terrible movies.

Related: 10 Books Being Adapted Into Upcoming Movies & TV Shows

Alice In Wonderland (2010)

On paper, author Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and the darkly whimsical style of director Tim Burton are a match made in heaven. In fact, Alice in Wonderland made over $1 billion at the box office. However, while Burton's grim, gray, and post-apocalyptic Underland is a promising interpretation of Carroll's color-saturated world, Alice in Wonderland ultimately misses the mark. A common mistake among great fantasy books that became terrible movies, Alice in Wonderland relied too much on CGI, lacking the lived-in charm of Burton's previous films. Burton's dark sequel to the original story was a valiant attempt at reinventing a classic, but for many, it looked and felt lifeless.

The Giver (2014)

In the bleak future of Lois Lowry's The Giver, society has abolished strife and preserves order through Sameness - the erasure of all emotion. Only the Receiver of Memory remembers emotions and history before Sameness - a role that the young boy Jonas prepares to receive in The Giver, which was awarded the Newbery Medal for children's literature. A terrible novel adaptation that should have been good , The Giver movie instead eschewed the source material's philosophical inquiries just to jump on the young adult dystopian blockbuster wagon. That said, the inclusion of actors like Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges at least saved The Giver from being a flop.

Eragon (2006)

Christopher Paolini began writing Eragon, the first book in The Inheritance Cycle, when he was just 15 years old. With its story of a farm boy learning to embrace his destiny as a Dragon Rider, Eragon is possibly the best Star Wars- inspired young adult fantasy novel, with the succeeding books in The Inheritance Cycle providing tons of space for a movie franchise to bloom. Unfortunately, there are but two things worth watching in the Eragon film adaptation: Jeremy Irons' veteran Dragon Rider Brom, and the movie's stunning visuals. Between the rest of the cast's mediocre acting to the many changes from the book, Eragon became a generic fantasy B-movie.

Related: Disney's Eragon Reboot Can Only Fix The 2000s' Most Frustrating Fantasy Flop On 1 Condition

Gulliver's Travels (2010)

The 18th-century novel by Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels, was a proto-science fiction satire of developing societies that was way ahead of its time. It questioned the very advances that have led to the concept of the nation - through a fantastical adventure setting that made its heavy sociopolitical undertones palatable to adults and children alike. Meanwhile, the movie adaptation of Gulliver's Travels is a mildly funny adventure fantasy film. In yet another case of excessive CGI towering over plot and character development, Gulliver's Travels didn't even really try to capture what made the source material so iconic, and instead relied on computer-generated mayhem and archetypal characters.

The Dark Tower (2017)

Many terrible movies inspired by great fantasy books are the results of filmmakers giving little thought to the source material. In contrast, the reason why The Dark Tower movie failed is that it took inspiration not just from the eponymous novel, but from every book in author Stephen King's repertoire. The result is a surprisingly quick film that catastrophically fails to leverage the rich world, plot, and characters of King's sprawling Western sci-fi epic. Even casting Idris Elba in the lead role of Roland Deschain couldn't distract from the adaptation's incomprehensible narrative. Hopefully, the Dark Tower series that's in the works can focus on adapting just the novel.

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Much like he did with Watchmen, author Alan Moore envisioned the comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as a transgressive and groundbreaking superhero story. This is why Moore assembled Victorian-era literary figures and interpreted their dark origin stories with gritty and modern realism. However, like many great fantasy books that became terrible movies, the film adaptation oversimplified the original author's visionary ideas. The visuals are great, but the movie essentially reduced the premise into typical superhero fare - the complete opposite of Moore's intent. While renowned actors Sean Connery and Naseeruddin Shah are perfectly cast respectively as Alan Quatermain and Nemo, LXG doesn't have much else to offer.

Related: Everything We Know About Disney's League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen

The Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones (2013)

The first book in author Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series, City of Bones is an ambitious urban fantasy teen drama focused on a secret supernatural war - fought between Shadowhunters and demons menacing the mortal world. While Clare's novels have been criticized for being predictable, they were unique enough to stand out from other young adult fantasy book series. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. While the story of City of Bones could have become a franchise, the blatantly derivative execution made the film look just like another Hollywood teen fantasy romance, which ultimately didn't garner enough interest to continue.

The Hobbit Trilogy (2012-2014)

Similar to many great fantasy books that became terrible movies, the reason why The Hobbit trilogy failed is that it essentially turned a single book into a film trilogy. While Peter Jackson made a movie from each of the three volumes in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings - resulting in the greatest movie trilogy in classic western fantasy - the director practically took the exact opposite approach in The Hobbit. Although The Hobbit movies collectively made nearly $3 billion at the box office, their meandering plot and sheer disrespect for the source material have resulted in arguably the worst-ever adaptation of Tolkien's foundational work.

The Cat In The Hat (2003)

One of the most famous books by author Theodor Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss, The Cat in the Hat was designed to be a better version of the traditional primers used for teaching children how to read. The Cat in the Hat has garnered a reputation for being one of the best educational children's picture books of all time, which is why it was a strange decision to turn it into a feature-length comedy sprinkled with dirty humor. As with most Hollywood adaptations of Seuss' books, the set design is fantastic. However, apart from its unnecessary sub-plots, the movie also features arguably the worst performance of Mike Myers' career.

Related: Every Dr. Seuss Movie Ranked

Inkheart (2008)

Cornelia Funke's Inkheart is about Mo, a man who has the power to pull fiction into reality by reading aloud from books. The trouble begins when Mo gives life to a villain in the book Inkheart, which eventually puts the real world in danger. As is the case with many great fantasy books that became terrible movies, the problem with the screen adaptation of Inkheart lies with the sprawling story being unjustly compressed to fit the length of a feature film. Following Funke's wishes, Brendan Fraser was perfectly cast as Mo. However, not even the performances of actors like Fraser, Paul Bettany, Andy Serkis, and Helen Mirren could save Inkheart.

Alice Munro’s stories had a depth most novelists only dream of

A fellow short-story writer recalls some favorites by Munro and wonders at the way they leaped through time.

It surprises me that I can’t remember the first time that I read Alice Munro, who died on Monday at 92 . As a writer who let 13 years lapse between his two novels and who still (to the patient dismay of his publisher) prefers the short story to all other forms, I have vivid memories of most of my first encounters with the masters and mavericks of the story, the ones who did it better than anyone while also radically expanding the parameters of what “it” could be: Denis Johnson, Raymond Carver, Donald Barthelme, Flannery O’Connor, James Alan McPherson, William Trevor, Joy Williams, Lorrie Moore. I can tell you where I was, which story it was and whom I have to thank for bringing each of them into my life. But Munro felt like she’d just always been there. It’s like how on a clear day in Portland, Ore., where I live, you can see Mount Hood from downtown. You never notice the moment that it appears; you just look up and there it is, and has been all along, even when you can’t see it.

The body of Munro’s work is expansive, almost overwhelming. This is a quality she shares with her fellow Nobel laureate Bob Dylan. There are enough hits to fill two volumes of “Selected Stories” that together run to nearly 1,500 pages, and enough left out of those to justify seeking out the 14 collections published between 1968 and 2012. (One or two have been billed at times as novels, but come on.) Some of these books are stronger than others, but there is no minor work. (And with apologies, Bob, she’s got you there.) Ask 10 Munro devotees to list their top 10 stories, and you won’t read the same list twice. If you’re looking for a place to start, you could do worse than to pick up “The Progress of Love” (1986) or “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage” (2001), both of which boast a disproportionate number of her greatest hits, alongside deep cuts that may leave you wondering why they weren’t hits themselves.

Upon the announcement of Munro’s passing, tweets poured in from across the literary world. Laura van den Berg, a novelist and story writer, wrote: “I’ve learned an endless amount from Munro’s refusal of clean resolution and her embrace of unfurling possibility. The quiet art of wrestling with the big questions.” Novelist Rumaan Alam wrote, “The truth is that Alice Munro is immortal, an absolute genius.” Curtis Sittenfeld, a best-selling author several times over, and Elliott Holt, a story writer and an editor at the Yale Review, both described Munro as “my favorite writer.” A young writer named Sterling HolyWhiteMountain, whose fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, wrote, “Her work has an off the charts emotional IQ — no one comes close.” HolyWhiteMountain, who lives in rural Montana, also described Munro as “secretly the great defender of rural people and small town life. The writer who pushes back on urbanity and the city but never stupidly.”

Upon the announcement of Munro’s Nobel win in 2013, critic James Wood, who had long despaired of her chances of winning, wrote in the New Yorker: “Everyone gets called ‘our Chekhov.’ All you have to do nowadays is write a few half-decent stories and you are ‘our Chekhov.’ But Alice Munro really is our Chekhov — which is to say, the English language’s Chekhov.” I think that’s right, but it may not go far enough. Like Chekhov, Munro found the deep meaning in the small moments that might define or derail a life. But her stories, despite their dogged realism and homely subject matter, are boldly experimental in their structures and approaches to narrative. A Munro story may run upward of 40 or 50 pages, be as densely plotted as a novel, and cover years or decades, though rarely in linear fashion. The stories are intricately layered marvels of both excess and economy. If she had written Chekhov’s “The Lady With the Dog,” it would still start and end where it does, but it would be narrated by Gurov’s daughter on her deathbed, piecing together the story of her father’s life-altering affair between memories of her own love affairs, her mother’s broken heart and the disturbing ease with which she can imagine it all from Anna’s point of view.

“Time is both her subject and her medium,” Lorrie Moore wrote in a 2002 review of “Hateship, Friendship” for the New York Review of Books . “Her narratives leap and U-turn through time, and the actual subject and emotion of a story may be deferred in such gymnastic travel, or may be multiple or latent.” Emily Adrian, a novelist who has taught classes on Munro, gave me her favorite example of such a leap: “In ‘Miles City, Montana,’ at the end of the first act, the narrator jumps forward in time and reveals that she has not spoken to her then-husband in decades and no longer knows anything about him. The story is otherwise focused on the period of time where the couple are together, but every line is informed by the shock of that revelation and its looming inevitability.”

“Miles City, Montana” (from “The Progress of Love”) is among my own favorite Munro stories. If I had to pick nine more, let’s see: the title story of “Friend of My Youth” (1990) as well as “Meneseteung,” from that same volume; “White Dump,” also from “The Progress of Love”; “Cortes Island” and “Rich as Stink,” from “The Love of a Good Woman” (1998); “Tricks,” from “Runaway” (2004); “Queenie,” from “Hateship, Friendship”; “Walker Brothers Cowboy,” from “Dance of the Happy Shades” (1968); “The Albanian Virgin,” from “Open Secrets” (1994). I’ve listed them in the order that I thought of them. Ask me again another day and I might switch out some or all of the back seven. The first three will never be unseated.

In the introduction to her first “Selected Stories” (1996), Munro wrote: “A story is not like a road to follow … it’s more like a house. You go inside and stay there for a while, wandering back and forth and settling where you like and discovering how the room and corridors relate to each other, how the world outside is altered by being viewed from these windows. … It also has a sturdy sense of itself, of being built out of its own necessity, not just to shelter or beguile you.” You’ll likely see all or part of that quote in many of the richly deserved eulogies, retrospectives and tributes that Munro is going to get over the coming days. It says something fundamental and important about what it means to choose this life, to be — and to keep being — the person who finds self-evident necessity in building bizarre shelters nobody asked for, and then waiting to see if anyone will be tempted to enter them and then beguiled enough to stay.

I’m reminded of the last lines of “Family Furnishings,” a story I didn’t put in my top 10 but now am already regretting — but in place of what? Here’s how the narrator winds up her story, and with her words I wind up mine as well: “I did not think of the story I would make … but of the work I wanted to do, which seemed more like grabbing something out of the air than constructing stories. The cries of the crowd came to me like big heartbeats, full of sorrows. Lovely formal-sounding waves, with their distant, almost inhuman assent and lamentation. This was what I wanted, this was what I thought I had to pay attention to, this was how I wanted my life to be.”

Justin Taylor is a Book World contributing writer and the author, most recently, of the novel “ Reboot .”

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

• United Kingdom

Jack & Alice - Farnham

Make a reservation, order delivery or takeout, additional information.

• Dining style Casual Dining
• Price £25 and under
• Cuisines International, Breakfast, Tapas / Small Plates
• Hours of operation Mon–Sat 8:30 am–11:00 pm Sun 9:00 am–5:00 pm
• Phone number 01252 957955
• Website https://jackandalice.co.uk/farnham/
• Payment options AMEX, Mastercard, Visa
• Dress code Casual Dress
• Location 4-5 Town Hall Buildings, The Borough, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7ND
• Neighborhood Farnham
• Parking details None
• Additional Bar/Lounge, Beer, Cafe, Cocktails, Counter Seating, Dog Friendly, Full Bar, Gluten-free Options, Happy Hour, High Tea, Outdoor Smoking Area, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Vegan, Weekend Brunch, Wheelchair Access, Wine

Experiences

Afternoon tea.

£17.50 per person

Bottomless Afternoon Tea & Tipples

£35.00 per person

Be the first to review this restaurant

At present, Jack & Alice - Farnham has no reviews. Please add a review after your dining experience to help others make a decision about where to eat.

Does Jack & Alice - Farnham offer delivery through OpenTable or takeout?

Jack & Alice - Farnham offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at 01252 957955.

Is Jack & Alice - Farnham currently accepting reservations?

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

4-5 Town Hall Buildings, The Borough, Farnham, Surrey GU9 7ND

• Dining Rewards
• Private Dining
• Reserve for Others
• Restaurants Near Me
• Delivery Near Me
• Restaurants Open Now
• OpenTable for iOS
• OpenTable for Android
• Affiliate Program
• OpenTable.jp
• OpenTable.de
• OpenTable.es
• OpenTable.ca
• OpenTable.hk
• OpenTable.ie
• OpenTable.sg
• OpenTable.nl
• OpenTable.com.mx
• OpenTable.co.uk
• OpenTable.com.au
• OpenTable.ae
• OpenTable.co.th
• OpenTable.it
• OpenTable.com.tw
• OpenTable.fr
• Restaurant reservation software
• Industry insights
• Hospitality resources
• Marketing resources
• Operation resources
• How to open a restaurant
• For restaurants
• For restaurant groups
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use
• Cookies and Interest-Based Ads
• Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
• Cookie Preferences

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• Auto Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92

FILE - Canadian author Alice Munro poses for a photograph at the Canadian Consulate’s residence in New York on Oct. 28, 2002. Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92. (AP Photo/Paul Hawthorne, File)

FILE - Canadian author Alice Munro is photographed during an interview in Victoria, B.C. Tuesday, Dec.10, 2013. Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Nobel Prize-winning Canadian author Alice Munro attends a ceremony held by the Royal Canadian Mint where they unveiled a 99.99% pure silver five-dollar coin in Victoria, B.C., on March 24, 2014. Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92. (Chad Hipolito/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Writer Alice Munro attends the opening night of the International Festival of Authors in Toronto on Wednesday Oct. 21, 2009. Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

• Copy Link copied

Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history’s most honored short story writers, has died at age 92.

A spokesperson for publisher Penguin Random House Canada said Munro, winner of the Nobel literary prize in 2013, died Monday at home in Port Hope, Ontario. Munro had been in frail health for years and often spoke of retirement, a decision that proved final after the author’s 2012 collection, “Dear Life.”

Often ranked with Anton Chekhov, John Cheever and a handful of other short story writers, Munro achieved stature rare for an art form traditionally placed beneath the novel. She was the first lifelong Canadian to win the Nobel and the first recipient cited exclusively for short fiction. Echoing the judgment of so many before, the Swedish academy pronounced her a “master of the contemporary short story” who could “accommodate the entire epic complexity of the novel in just a few short pages.”

Munro, little known beyond Canada until her late 30s, also became one of the few short story writers to enjoy ongoing commercial success. Sales in North America alone exceeded 1 million copies and the Nobel announcement raised “Dear Life” to the high end of The New York Times’ bestseller list for paperback fiction. Other popular books included “Too Much Happiness,” “The View from Castle Rock” and “The Love of a Good Woman.”

Over a half century of writing, Munro perfected one of the greatest tricks of any art form: illuminating the universal through the particular, creating stories set around Canada that appealed to readers far away. She produced no single definitive work, but dozens of classics that were showcases of wisdom, technique and talent — her inspired plot twists and artful shifts of time and perspective; her subtle, sometimes cutting humor; her summation of lives in broad dimension and fine detail; her insights into people across age or background, her genius for sketching a character, like the adulterous woman introduced as “short, cushiony, dark-eyed, effusive. A stranger to irony.”

Her best known fiction included “The Beggar Maid,” a courtship between an insecure young woman and an officious rich boy who becomes her husband; “Corrie,” in which a wealthy young woman has an affair with an architect “equipped with a wife and young family"; and “The Moons of Jupiter,” about a middle-aged writer who visits her ailing father in a Toronto hospital and shares memories of different parts of their lives.

“I think any life can be interesting,” Munro said during a 2013 post-prize interview for the Nobel Foundation. “I think any surroundings can be interesting.”

Disliking Munro, as a writer or as a person, seemed almost heretical. The wide and welcoming smile captured in her author photographs was complemented by a down-to-earth manner and eyes of acute alertness, fitting for a woman who seemed to pull stories out of the air the way songwriters discovered melodies. She was admired without apparent envy, placed by the likes of Jonathan Franzen, John Updike and Cynthia Ozick at the very top of the pantheon. Munro’s daughter, Sheila Munro, wrote a memoir in which she confided that “so unassailable is the truth of her fiction that sometimes I even feel as though I’m living inside an Alice Munro story.” Fellow Canadian author Margaret Atwood called her a pioneer for women, and for Canadians.

“Back in the 1950s and 60s, when Munro began, there was a feeling that not only female writers but Canadians were thought to be both trespassing and transgressing,” Atwood wrote in a 2013 tribute published in the Guardian after Munro won the Nobel. “The road to the Nobel wasn’t an easy one for Munro: the odds that a literary star would emerge from her time and place would once have been zero.”

Although not overtly political, Munro witnessed and participated in the cultural revolution of the 1960s and ‘70s and permitted her characters to do the same. She was a farmer’s daughter who married young, then left her husband in the 1970s and took to “wearing miniskirts and prancing around,” as she recalled during a 2003 interview with The Associated Press. Many of her stories contrasted the generation of Munro’s parents with the more open-ended lives of their children, departing from the years when housewives daydreamed “between the walls that the husband was paying for.”

Moviegoers would become familiar with “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” the improbably seamless tale of a married woman with memory loss who has an affair with a fellow nursing home patient, a story further complicated by her husband’s many past infidelities. “The Bear” was adapted by Sarah Polley into the 2006 feature film “Away from Her,” which brought an Academy Award nomination for Julie Christie. In 2014, Kristen Wiig starred in “Hateship, Loveship,” an adaptation of the story “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage,” in which a housekeeper leaves her job and travels to a distant rural town to meet up with a man she believes is in love with her — unaware the romantic letters she has received were concocted by his daughter and a friend.

Even before the Nobel, Munro received honors from around the English-language world, including Britain’s Man Booker International Prize and the National Book Critics Circle award in the U.S., where the American Academy of Arts and Letters voted her in as an honorary member. In Canada, she was a three-time winner of the Governor’s General Award and a two-time winner of the Giller Prize.

Munro was a short story writer by choice, and, apparently, by design. Judith Jones, an editor at Alfred A. Knopf who worked with Updike and Anne Tyler, did not want to publish “Lives of Girls & Women,” her only novel, writing in an internal memo that “there’s no question the lady can write but it’s also clear she is primarily a short story writer.”

Munro would acknowledge that she didn’t think like a novelist.

“I have all these disconnected realities in my own life, and I see them in other people’s lives,” she told the AP. “That was one of the problems, why I couldn’t write novels. I never saw things hanging together too well.”

Alice Ann Laidlaw was born in Wingham, Ontario, in 1931, and spent much of her childhood there, a time and place she often used in her fiction, including the four autobiographical pieces that concluded “Dear Life.” Her father was a fox farmer, her mother a teacher and the family’s fortunes shifted between middle class and working poor, giving the future author a special sensitivity to money and class. Young Alice was often absorbed in literature, starting with the first time she was read Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.” She was a compulsive inventor of stories and the “sort of child who reads walking upstairs and props a book in front of her when she does the dishes.”

A top student in high school, she received a scholarship to study at the University of Western Ontario, majoring in journalism as a “cover-up” for her pursuit of literature. She was still an undergraduate when she sold a story about a lonely teacher, “The Dimensions of a Shadow,” to CBC Radio. She was also publishing work in her school’s literary journal.

One fellow student read “Dimensions” and wrote to the then-Laidlaw, telling her the story reminded him of Chekhov. The student, Gerald Fremlin, would become her second husband. Another fellow student, James Munro, was her first husband. They married in 1951, when she was only 20, and had four children, one of whom died soon after birth.

Settling with her family in British Columbia, Alice Munro wrote between trips to school, housework and helping her husband at the bookstore that they co-owned and would turn up in some of her stories. She wrote one book in the laundry room of her house, her typewriter placed near the washer and dryer. Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers and other writers from the American South inspired her, through their sense of place and their understanding of the strange and absurd.

Isolated from the literary center of Toronto, she did manage to get published in several literary magazines and to attract the attention of an editor at Ryerson Press (later bought out by McGraw Hill). Her debut collection, “Dance of the Happy Shades,” was released in 1968 with a first printing of just under 2,700 copies. A year later it won the Governor’s General Award and made Munro a national celebrity — and curiosity. “Literary Fame Catches City Mother Unprepared,” read one newspaper headline.

“When the book first came they sent me a half dozen copies. I put them in the closet. I didn’t look at them. I didn’t tell my husband they had come, because I couldn’t bear it. I was afraid it was terrible,” Munro told the AP. “And one night, he was away, and I forced myself to sit down and read it all the way through, and I didn’t think it was too bad. And I felt I could acknowledge it and it would be OK.”

By the early ’70s, she had left her husband, later observing that she was not “prepared to be a submissive wife.” Her changing life was best illustrated by her response to the annual Canadian census. For years, she had written down her occupation as “housewife.” In 1971, she switched to “writer.”

Over the next 40 years, her reputation and readership only grew, with many of her stories first appearing in The New Yorker. Her prose style was straightforward, her tone matter of fact, but her plots revealed unending disruption and disappointments: broken marriages, violent deaths, madness and dreams unfulfilled, or never even attempted. “Canadian Gothic” was one way she described the community of her childhood, a world she returned to when, in middle age, she and her second husband relocated to nearby Clinton.

“Shame and embarrassment are driving forces for Munro’s characters,” Atwood wrote, “just as perfectionism in the writing has been a driving force for her: getting it down, getting it right, but also the impossibility of that.”

She had the kind of curiosity that would have made her an ideal companion on a long train ride, imagining the lives of the other passengers. Munro wrote the story “Friend of My Youth,” in which a man has an affair with his fiancee’s sister and ends up living with both women, after an acquaintance told her about some neighbors who belonged to a religion that forbade card games. The author wanted to know more — about the religion, about the neighbors.

Even as a child, Munro had regarded the world as an adventure and mystery and herself as an observer, walking around Wingham and taking in the homes as if she were a tourist. In “The Peace of Utrecht,” an autobiographical story written in the late 1960s, a woman discovers an old high school notebook and remembers a dance she once attended with an intensity that would envelop her whole existence.

“And now an experience which seemed not at all memorable at the time,” Munro wrote, “had been transformed into something curiously meaningful for me, and complete; it took in more than the girls dancing and the single street, it spread over the whole town, its rudimentary pattern of streets and its bare trees and muddy yards just free of the snow, over the dirt roads where the lights of cars appeared, jolting toward the town, under an immense pale wash of sky.”

This story has been updated to correct the title of “The Beggar Maid.”

Advertisement

Supported by

An Appraisal

Alice Munro, a Literary Alchemist Who Made Great Fiction From Humble Lives

The Nobel Prize-winning author specialized in exacting short stories that were novelistic in scope, spanning decades with intimacy and precision.

• Share full article

By Gregory Cowles

Gregory Cowles is a senior editor at the Book Review.

The first story in her first book evoked her father’s life. The last story in her last book evoked her mother’s death. In between, across 14 collections and more than 40 years, Alice Munro showed us in one dazzling short story after another that the humble facts of a single person’s experience, subjected to the alchemy of language and imagination and psychological insight, could provide the raw material for great literature.

Listen to this article with reporter commentary

And not just any person, but a girl from the sticks. It mattered that Munro, who died on Monday night at the age of 92, hailed from rural southwestern Ontario, since so many of her stories, set in small towns on or around Lake Huron, were marked by the ambitions of a bright girl eager to leave, upon whom nothing is lost. There was the narrator of “Boys and Girls,” who tells herself bedtime stories about a world “that presented opportunities for courage, boldness and self-sacrifice, as mine never did.” There was Rose, from “The Beggar Maid,” who wins a college scholarship and leaves her working-class family behind. And there was Del Jordan, from “Lives of Girls and Women” — Munro’s second book, and the closest thing she ever wrote to a novel — who casts a jaundiced eye on her town’s provincial customs as she takes the first fateful steps toward becoming a writer.

Does it seem reductive or limiting to derive a kind of artist’s statement from the title of that early book? It shouldn’t. Munro was hardly a doctrinaire feminist, but with implacable authority and command she demonstrated throughout her career that the lives of girls and women were as rich, as tumultuous, as dramatic and as important as the lives of men and boys. Her plots were rife with incident: the threatened suicide in the barn, the actual murder at the lake, the ambivalent sexual encounter, the power dynamics of desire. For a writer whose book titles gestured repeatedly at love (“The Progress of Love,” “The Love of a Good Woman,” “Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage”), her narratives recoiled from sentimentality. Tucked into the stately columns of The New Yorker, where she was a steady presence for decades, they were far likelier to depict the disruptions and snowballing consequences of petty grudges, careless cruelties and base impulses: the gossip that mattered.

Munro’s stories traveled not as the crow flies but as the mind does. You got the feeling that, if the GPS ever offered her a shorter route, she would decline. Capable of dizzying swerves in a line or a line break, her stories often spanned decades with intimacy and sweep; that’s partly what critics meant when they wrote of the novelistic scope she brought to short fiction.

Her sentences rarely strutted or flaunted or declared themselves; but they also never clanked or stumbled — she was an exacting and precise stylist rather than a showy one, who wrote with steely control and applied her ambitions not to language but to theme and structure. (This was a conscious choice on her part: “In my earlier days I was prone to a lot of flowery prose,” she told an interviewer when she won the Nobel Prize in 2013. “I gradually learned to take a lot of that out.”) In the middle of her career her stories started to grow roomier and more contemplative, even essayistic; they could feel aimless until you approached the final pages and recognized with a jolt that they had in fact been constructed all along as intricately and deviously as a Sudoku puzzle, every piece falling neatly into place.

There was a signature Munro tone: skeptical, ruminative, given to a crucial and artful ambiguity that could feel particularly Midwestern. Consider “The Bear Came Over the Mountain,” which — thanks in part to Sarah Polley’s Oscar-nominated film adaptation, “ Away From Her ” (2006) — may be Munro’s most famous story; it details a woman’s descent into senility and her philandering husband’s attempt to come to terms with her attachment to a male resident at her nursing home. Here the husband is on a visit, confronting the limits of his knowledge and the need to make peace with uncertainty, in a characteristically Munrovian passage:

She treated him with a distracted, social sort of kindness that was successful in holding him back from the most obvious, the most necessary question. He could not demand of her whether she did or did not remember him as her husband of nearly 50 years. He got the impression that she would be embarrassed by such a question — embarrassed not for herself but for him. She would have laughed in a fluttery way and mortified him with her politeness and bewilderment, and somehow she would have ended up not saying either yes or no. Or she would have said either one in a way that gave not the least satisfaction.

Like her contemporary Philip Roth — another realist who was comfortable blurring lines — Munro devised multilayered plots that were explicitly autobiographical and at the same time determined to deflect or undermine that impulse. This tension dovetailed happily with her frequent themes of the unreliability of memory and the gap between art and life. Her stories tracked the details of her lived experience both faithfully and cannily, cagily, so that any attempt at a dispassionate biography (notably, Robert Thacker’s scholarly and substantial “Alice Munro: Writing Her Lives,” from 2005) felt at once invasive and redundant. She had been in front of us all along.

Until, suddenly, she wasn’t. That she went silent after her book “Dear Life” was published in 2012, a year before she won the Nobel, makes her passing now seem all the more startling — a second death, in a way that calls to mind her habit of circling back to recognizable moments and images in her work. At least three times she revisited the death of her mother in fiction, first in “The Peace of Utrecht,” then in “Friend of My Youth” and again in the title story that concludes “Dear Life”: “The person I would really have liked to talk to then was my mother,” the narrator says near the end of that story, in an understated gut punch of an epitaph that now applies equally well to Munro herself, but she “was no longer available.”

Read by Greg Cowles

Audio produced by Sarah Diamond .

Gregory Cowles is the poetry editor of the Book Review and senior editor of the Books desk. More about Gregory Cowles