The Next Best Book Club discussion

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I picked this one up from the library yesterday...Alice is down the rabbit hole! I'm not reading an annotated version so I look forward to comments from others to fill me in on what I may be missing.

I remember watching the movie when I was a kids, but I think I only watched half of it. I don't remember much of it. So this is kind of like I'm getting the whole story for the first time. I've just started reading...

I couldn't believe I'd never read this book before, given how often I've seen movie adaptations of it. My first impression of the book was: This is psychotic. And I have to say, that impression didn't improve through all of Alice in Wonderland. But then I picked up Through the Looking Glass (figured I might as well while I was at it). I enjoyed TtLG much better, I think because I was less familiar with the storyline and could appreciate the craziness and puns. Don't know that I would ever recommend this set to anyone, but I did enjoy to a point.

I reposting my post from other discussion
I did read Alice in Wonderland last year, and it was already refreshed reading (I read it in deep childhood first time) parallel to my daughter (she was 8). This is one of the books that good to read in childhood and refresh when you older. But with all this cartoons, movies, theater's plays (and all of that in two languages, because it was super popular in Russia too) that I myself and later with daughter visited - it's never faded from my view or memory. Sometimes is so much of Alice what I'm losing feeling from original book reading. And again, in local theatre, there we always going, new play with contemporary "Alice in computer world"

This book was very enjoyable. I liked reading about the exciting adventures Alice went through and how she was always trying to make sense of the peculiar things that were occuring. Some of them made me laugh too. I also liked how curious Alice was (like most children)and her amazement at all that she was observing. I would have liked her time spent in wonderland to not have been a dream, but for it to have actually been real. I think it would have been better because then when she would have left the other world, she would have been wondering whatshe had just stepped into and still marvelling and perplexed at how it was all real, instead of just realizing that it was just a dream and that's why everything was so odd.

I love this book; it's something I could read over and over again and retain and imagine something different from it every time. So imaginative and quirky! It's also a little unnerving knowing Lewis' history and his attractions to little girls and drugs. Regardless he has somehow managed to captivate and perplex me.

I didn't know any of that stuff about Lewis! That just changed my whole view of him. I guess you learn something new everyday.

Gabriella wrote: "I didn't know any of that stuff about Lewis! That just changed my whole view of him. I guess you learn something new everyday."

Haha! Yeah he was a creep but still very interesting.

If you ever become famous for anything, you can be sure 'somebody' will find something creepy about you and play it to the hilt.

Yes, it's funny, but many books we've read as children are re-visited and we think 'holy cow! is that ever a piece of work!'

Meg wrote: "I couldn't believe I'd never read this book before, given how often I've seen movie adaptations of it. My first impression of the book was: This is psychotic. And I have to say, that impression did..."

I'm glad to hear you liked Through The Looking Glass better, I may need to check that out. I found Alice In Wonderland really, really weird.

Allison wrote: "I'm glad to hear you like Through The Looking Glass better..."

Don't get me wrong - Through the Looking Glass was very weird too. I think I liked it better in part because I had already read Alice in Wonderland and was somewhat used to the weirdness and in part because it was a fresh story so I was more accepting of the oddness since it wasn't related to anything I had previous experience with (if that makes sense).

Meg wrote: "Allison wrote: "I'm glad to hear you like Through The Looking Glass better..."

Don't get me wrong - Through the Looking Glass was very weird too. I think I liked it better in part because I had ..."

Yeah, that totally makes sense. :)

I thought the book was clever, imaginative, and interesting, as was "Through the Looking Glass", but I felt like Alice was constantly whining and complaining about everything. I kind of agree with the Queen...."Off with her head!" :-)
I could also be a little biased since a have a toddler in the throes of her terrible two's. The whining drives me crazy, and reading about it is like getting it in stereo! Hahaha!