By: Lewis Carroll
Genre: Children's Fantasy
Since this popular novel about a girl falling through a rabbit hole is a classic and I'm an English major, I thought it was high time for me to venture into Wonderland and see what all the fuss is about myself.
And it's about bizarre. There's no other good word for this book. I expected it to be weird, due to my faint memories of the movie, and it didn't disappoint. Alice encounters creatures of all kinds, from an unhelpful blue caterpillar, to a fish footman, to a mock turtle (still figuring out what that is).
I can handle odd creatures; I love me some sci-fi and fantasy. What bothered me most in this book was Alice herself. Yes, she's seeing some very odd things, but she does not deal with them at all well. She always wants to be right, and seemed quite prideful, even though she kept talking about being polite. If she truly wanted to be polite, she could have refrained from speaking at all. The illustrations also didn't help, often portraying her as an angry little girl (at least in my version of the book). They were good for a laugh, though.
I also didn't much like that there's no plot in the story besides encountering odd things. The ending felt superficial, but I won't ruin it if you've never seen the movie or read the book.
Thankfully it was a short read and entertaining with all of the bizarre creatures. However, I probably won't peruse it again. Due to all of the above reasons, I give Alice's lovely (or not so lovely) adventures a 2 out of 5. This book could be read by 12 year olds and up.
What I learned: It's not always prudent to be right or logical (at least out loud). Sometimes the most polite thing one can do is to not talk at all.
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