Complete Alice in Wonderland - L. Carroll [165]
And took them clean away.
The King of Hearts
Called for the tarts,
And beat the Knave full sore;
The Knave of Hearts
Brought back the tarts,
And vowed he’d steal no more.
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
(Mother Goose)
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.
Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.
Suggested Further Reading
ONE OF my frustrations as a Carrollian devotee is that most of the works concerning Alice are highly erudite, deep to the point of absolute thickness and gravely all-too-serious. While such works are informative, I believe the intelligent and pleasure-seeking reader is too often overwhelmed by the grim nature of a steady diet of such works. I recommend a few of the best of them below, but I also offer some of the best visual books, most entertaining story compilations, and flat-out funny books available. I believe Mr. Carroll would agree with me when I insist that humorous stories should not become such a drudgery to read! Please enjoy my admittedly eccentric list, which I believe exemplifies the finest books on Carroll out there (both academic and otherwise).
Alice’s Adventures in Oxford: A rare and diminutive book that provides a gorgeous array of photographs and some brilliant insights into Alice’s real-world Oxfordian environment. Highly recommended, but frustrating to find.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, illustrated by Robert Ingpen: This beautiful edition is my favorite Alice for children, due to its lavish, touching and imaginative illustrations.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Hunting of the Snark and Through the Looking-Glass, illustrated by Mervyn Peake: An acquired taste, Peake’s illustrations are some of the most brilliant, heart-felt and personal portraits of Alice’s world in existence.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, illustrated by Peter Weevers: This edition has some of the very finest illustrations of the classic story (outside of Tenniel, of course!).
The Alice Companion, by Jo Elwyn Jones and J. Francis Gladstone: An extremely helpful “encyclopedia” of real-world Alice connections.
Alice in Sunderland, by Bryan Talbot: A bold, headstrong and wonderfully eccentric graphic novel, focusing on one man’s obsession with Alice, Carroll and the Sunderland region. This one is all over the place, in a good way!
Alice in Wonderland: The Visual Guide, by Jo Casey and Laura Gilbert: The beautiful companion book to the recent hit movie. Gorgeous and inspiring.
Alternative Alices, edited by Carolyn Sigler: An excellent collection of Alice-themed stories and essays.
The Annotated Alice, by Martin Gardner: By far the best “classic” print edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.
The Annotated Hunting of the Snark, by Martin Gardner: The finest print edition of Carroll’s nonsensical epic.
Aspects of Alice, edited by Robert Phillips: A brilliant collection of Alice-oriented reflections and research essays.
Beyond the Looking-Glass: Reflections of Alice and Her Family, by Colin Gordon: A masterfully researched, sympathetic and moving portrait of Alice Liddell and her family.
The Illustrators of Alice in Wonderland, by Graham Ovenden and John Davis: This difficult-to-find, tiny book features a spectacular array of the various illustrations created for Alice over the past 150 years.
Jabberwocky, illustrated by Graeme Base: Arguably the finest illustrated version of Carroll’s classic poem. Very fun for children and the young at heart.
Lewis Carroll: A Biography, by Morton N. Cohen: The most helpful and in-depth Carroll biography, in my opinion. (There are many more excellent biographies, but they become drear and repetitive after awhile!)
Lewis Carroll: An Illustrated Biography, by Derek Hudson: Other biographies are far more studious and authoritative, but I recommend this one for the casual reader due to its wonderful collection