I am reading Lewis Caroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. You might well think that I’m out of my mind but if that’s the case, you probably don’t know much about the story.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland has got nothing to do with the Disney cartoon, Alice in Wonderland. Sure, the book is a children’s one and Disney has promptly put it on screen for the kids. But Disney did not carry the ideology of the story in its cartoon. It completely erased all of the witty questions Alice asks herself. It clearly doesn’t give a damn about the characters either, always preferring to portray them as the stupidest things on Earth rather than exploring their grandness.
My favourite part of the book (up till now) is the caterpillar, who is always smoking his hookah.
“What do you mean by that?” said the Caterpillar, sternly. “Explain yourself!”
“I can’t explain myself, I’m afraid, Sir,” said Alice, “because I’m not myself, you see.”
“I don’t see,” said the Caterpillar.
“I’m afraid I can’t put it more clearly,” Alice replied, very politely, “for I can’t understand it myself, to begin with; and being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing.”
“It isn’t,” said the Caterpillar.
Absolutely brilliant. And here’s another excerpt. This one is when Alice attends the mad tea-party with the Hatter, the March Hare and the sleepy Dormouse.
“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
“I’ve had nothing yet,” Alice replied in an offended tone: “so I can’t take more.”
“You mean you can’t take less,” said the Hatter: “it’s very easy to take more than nothing.”
“Nobody asked your opinion,” said Alice.
Exceptional.
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Wait till you discover Nabokov, Asimov, Aleister Crowley, Eliphas Levi and the rest… if you haven’t already done so i.e
I only heard about Asimov from the four authors you mentioned here. I’ll gladly take a look at them though. Actually I’m going to search them on Wikipedia just to know a bit more about them.
However, after I’m done with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, I would just love to read Douglas Adam’s Hitchhikers to the Galaxy. If not, I’m reading Gerald Durrell’s Birds, Beasts and Relatives. The first book from Gerald Durrell I’ve read was the classic, My Family and Other Animals, and damn, I loved it. Exceptional read, which I highly recommend. It actually deserves a blog post of its own.
And then, I’ll dig in Alice’s other adventure: Through the Looking-Glass. Unless I get a book from Nabokov, Asimov, Aleister Crowley or Eliphas Levi. Or Arthur Clarke.
Gosh, I’ve got loads of time after all. HOLIDAYS!
Asimov books are available online if am not mistaken, the works of some of the other above-mentioned authors as well. Imho.
You should check out Project Gutenberg and/or Ibiblio.org.
Anyway, will check out Through The Looking Glass if I get the chance – am still trying to finish the Kojiki!
I know Project Gutenberg. I was actually very “into” it when I first came across it too. I mean, you can get the whole Shakespeare collection! But the only problem is that I just can’t read on screen. It just isn’t the same thing to me.
Believe it or not, I managed to get Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (the first book) as an ebook. Completely free. But there is an unbelievable 250 pages. How am I supposed to read this on screen? I suppose I’ll have to print it if don’t get the book at the British Council Library.
And oh, I’ll check out Ibiblio.org too.
Waste of money and time if should you decide to print it from the online version. Just learn to get accustomed to reading documents online. Takes some practice really.
I get all moody and stuff if I just stare at the screen. I dunno it’s just not the same feeling as paper!
I guess I’ll just have to go buy this book on Amazon. Check it out, it’s like the Bible.