Books & Reading : The Annotated Alice: Alice s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass: The Definitive Edition

The Annotated Alice: Alice s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass: The Definitive Edition

EUR 19,21


What is the use of a book, thought Alice, without pictures or conversations! Readers who share Alice s taste in books will be more than satisfied with The Annotated Alice, a volume that includes not only pictures and conversations, but a thorough gloss on the text as well. There may be some, like G.K. Chesterton, who abhor the notion of putting Lewis Carroll s masterpiece under a microscope and analyzing it within an inch of its whimsical life. But as Martin Gardner points out in his introduction, so much of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass is composed of private jokes and details of Victorian manners and mores that modern audiences are not likely to catch. Yes, Alice can be enjoyed on its own merits, but The Annotated Alice appeals to the nosy parker in all of us. Thus we learn, for example, that the source of the mouse s tale may have been Alfred Lord Tennyson who once told Carroll that he had dreamed a lengthy poem about fairies, which began with very long lines, then the lines got shorter and shorter until the poem ended with fifty or sixty lines of two syllables each. And that, contrary to popular belief, the Mad Hatter character was not a parody of then Prime Minister Gladstone, but rather was based on an Oxford furniture dealer named Theophilus Carter. Gardner s annotations run the gamut from the factual and historical to the speculative and are, in their own way, quite as fascinating as the text they refer to. Occasionally, he even comments on himself, as when he quotes a fellow annotator of Alice, James Kincaid: The historical context does not call for a gloss but the passage provides an opportunity to point out the ambivalence that may attend the central figure and her desire to grow up. And then follows with a charming riposte: I thank Mr. Kincaid for supporting my own rambling. There s a lot of information in the margins (indeed, the page is pretty evenly divided between Carroll s text and Gardner s), but the ramblings turn out to be well worth the time. So hand over your old copy of Lewis Carroll s classic to the kids--this Alice in Wonderland is intended entirely for adults. --Alix Wilber

So muss ein Buch aussehen - Alice im schoensten Format - Das hier ist die schoenste Ausgabe der Alice-Erzaehlungen von Lewis Carroll. Es ist der englische Originaltext beider Erzaehlungen (Alice im Wunderland und Alice hinter den Spiegeln), dazu die Originalzeichnungen von Tenniell. Ausserdem ist das Buch grossformatig mit schoenem starken Einband und einer ebenso herrlichen Huelle. Die Seiten sind fest und leicht glaenzend. Der Text ist so gedruckt, dass die Haelfte der Seite vom Text eingenommen wird und die andere Haelfte der Seite fuer Annotations freigegeben ist, die den Text ergaengzen und teilweise ebenso spannend und interessant sind wie der Text selbst. Gerade fuer uns moderne Menschen, die wir uns Carrolls Zeitalter (dem viktorianischen) vielleicht nicht mehr so vertraut fuehlen, sind diese Anmerkungen (Annotations) Gold wert. Erst jetzt versteht man manche Anspielung oder Subtilitaet. Ich empfand die Anmerkungen als Tuer in eine viel weitere Betrachtungsweise.Der schoene Druck, die herrliche Aufmachung, die wunderbare Alice-Geschichte, die Anmerkungen - das alles ist hier vollendet zu einem ansehlichen Buch zusammengearbeitet. Lesenswert.

intelligent überraschend spannend - Für alle Freunde des englischsprachigen Wortwitzes ist dies ein absolutes Muss. Erst nach der Lektüre versteht man Alice und erkennt, dass das durchaus kein seichtes Kinderbuch ist. Martin Gardener führt hinein in die romatische Welt des viktorianischen Englands und die verschrobene Phantasie von Lewis Carroll. In der schön gebundenen Fassung ein ausgezeichnetes Gschenk.

Understanding Alice - Not knowing what you do not know it tells you everything. This book appears to be stand alone logic and fun on the surface. Some may even think it is a children s book. If so why all the courses and scholarly writings on the story?Some things are self evident as being so short that you can touch your toes. Others may take some time as the reason hatters are mad is the process includes mercury so even if it was directed at a particular person or not hatters are mad. Still when was the last time you used a bathing machine? Knowing some of information can enhance the enjoyment of reading the story.You get the original illustrations to boot. So when you are finished perusing this book it can be used as a coffee table conversation book.




The Annotated Alice: Alice s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass: The Definitive Edition