Fiction writers usually ask their readers to suspend belief and just enjoy their stories. Mr. Carroll does not really ask--he insists. I was, of course, familiar with the story before I read it, so I was at least prepared, but readers of Alice’s Adventures really must be willing to let go or be let down. I personally found it easy accept the ever changing realities of Wonderland, but believe that not every reader would be able to do the same.
Those unable or unwilling to suspend belief could still enjoy Alice’s Adventures as a book of nonsense, full of puns and poetry that easily roll off the tongue--an inspiration for books such as The Phantom Tollbooth. As Mr. Marcus points out in his introduction, some see Alice’s Adventures as a satire mocking the value of traditional childhood education, as when the Dodo attempts to dry his friends and Alice, who were soaked in a flood of Alice’s tears, by reciting a “dry” lesson in history. Still others see the tale as an elaborate metaphor for the awkwardness of the growth spurts and other changes to the body that occur during adolescence. I understand all that, but, for me, Wonderland will always be exactly what the word implies--a land of wonder.
I just cracked open Neil Gaiman's collection of short stories, Smoke and Mirrors. He begins with a quote from none other than Lewis Carroll. An eerie coincidence...
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