source: Wikipedia (link)

Introductory passage

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, ‘and what is the use of a book,’ thought Alice ‘without pictures or conversation?’

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I never read Alice in Wonderland when I was young. Perhaps because it is not such a well known childrens’ story in my home country. Therefore, this read was quite interesting – and heavily biased – upon the Walt Disney animation of Lewis Carrolls’ classic childrens’ story.

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I can easily say that it was not as I expected. I found the book quite different, and, surprisingly, more psychologically undertoned. To me, the following passage says very much of how I felt about the books’ focus:

[...] for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people. ‘But it’s no use now,’ thought poor Alice, ‘to pretend to be two people! Why, there’s hardly enough of me left to make ONE respectable person!’

Subtle notions like this, throughout the book, to me, made it less a childrens’ book and more a book of contemplation of the mind… and perception of imagination. Sometimes I felt as if she was arguing with herself as if she really had two personalities… All in all though, I found it, at times, difficult to follow – and at places, extremely surreal. I have no idea how I would have thought about it at a younger age, but I’m not sure I like it very much at this moment in time.

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Notable passages

  • She took down a jar from one of the shelves as she passed; it was labelled ‘ORANGE MARMALADE’, but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar for fear of killing somebody, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.
  • Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is–oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!