Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) is a work of children's literature by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), generally categorized as literary nonsense. It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Although it makes no reference to the events in the earlier book, the themes and settings of Through the Looking-Glass make it a kind of mirror image of Wonderland: the first book begins outdoors, in the warm month of May, on Alice's birthday (May 4), uses frequent changes in size as a plot device, and draws on the imagery of playing cards; the second opens indoors on a snowy, wintry night exactly six months later, on November 4 (the day before Guy Fawkes Night), uses frequent changes in time and spatial directions as a plot device, and draws on the imagery of chess. In it, there are many mirror themes, including opposites, time running backwards, and so on.

- Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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And I'm glad I did. Lewis Carol was such a wonderful storyteller, full of imagination and creative use of the English language.

This was two stories in one. The first, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, I thought had more imagination and he action seemed to flow faster with more scenes and challenges for Alice to deal with. The characters are fantastic and highly imaginative.

The second story, Through the Looking Glass, also had a lot of imagination, but it didn't seem to have as fast a pace as the first book. Still, I found it fascinating as the story was done as if Alice were a chess piece moving across a chess board to reach the other side as a pawn to become a queen. As she moved up the chess board, she encountered different characters and situations.

Highly recommended, even if it was written as a child's book.


"If You Believe in Me, I'll Believe in You!"   July 11, 2007
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

When Charles Ludwig Dodgson first began to tell the story of Alice's adventures underground to the three Liddell sisters, he had no idea whatsoever the impact that his work would one day have in the cultural history of humanity. Is there a person alive in Western civilization that *doesn't* know of Alice, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat? I seriously doubt it. Writing under the pen name of Lewis Carroll, Dodgson's quirky fairytale soon became a publishing sensation in Victorian England, quite an unusual feat for a dour mathematician who had no interest whatsoever in boys, women or most other human beings, and instead lavishing his attention on little girls - particularly one Alice Liddell, to whom he presented the original manuscript to. The story of Lewis Carroll is just as fascinating as his fictional Alice, so I would suggest following up the "Alice" books with a good Carroll biography.

In a story that is so random (basically made up of one little girl wandering about in a dream) there is plenty of room for all sorts of crazy theories as to exactly what everything means. Does "Alice" have a deep subtext, filled with hidden meaning and messages? Is it Freudian? Elaborate satire? Does it reflect the deep internal frustrations, anxieties and wish-fulfillment of a slightly-disturbed mathematician obsessed with little girls? Or is it simply a series of weird and wonderful events dreamed up for the enjoyment of children? The fact that nobody is really sure *what* to make of this story is probably the reason why it's still published, read and discussed today.

The other reason is its historical value. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" was the first book designed for children that was entirely void of any sort of moral, and instead written solely for pure entertainment purposes. Before "Alice", children were stuck with stories that preached goodliness and virtue, something that Carroll himself pokes fun at during the course of the story, when he refers to "several nice little stories about children who had got burnt, and eaten up by wild beasts, and other unpleasant things, all because they would not remember the simple rules their friends had told them." His stories came like an unexpected breath of fresh air amongst Victorian society, and it was little wonder that adults as well as children helped to make "Alice" a bestseller during its day.

Another crucial feature to the tale is Alice herself, often considered the first realistic representation of a child in literature. She's curious, but sometimes a little shy. She's polite, but manners often give way to frustration and temper tantrums. She's intelligent, but not as intelligent as she would like to think she is (relying heavily on an education that often fails her). She often holds her own against the contradictory natures of the people she meets, but more often than not is baffled and belittled by them. She possesses some degree of common sense, but often does some remarkably stupid things. She's likeable, but she's also a bit of a show-off and a snob. In other words, she's the first (and perhaps the best) example of a three-dimensional child character in literature geared toward either children *or* adults.

"Alice in Wonderland" begins with the infamous sight of a white rabbit with a waistcoat and pocket-watch muttering to himself: "I'm late! I'm late!" Abandoning her sister and the dull book that she's reading, Alice follows the rabbit down a rabbit hole and unexpectedly finds herself drifting deep down underground. What follows is a series of weird and wonderful meetings with the likes of the Queen of Hearts, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare, the Cheshire Cat and the Gryphon and the Mock Turtle, as poor Alice - the only sane person in the madhouse - struggles to make herself heard against this twisted parody of the adult world.

Nearly every page contains a clever pun, nonsensical poem or mathematical puzzle, and there's plenty here to keep you fascinated, whether it be Alice's abrupt shrinking and growing (brought on by eating Wonderland food, and perhaps reflecting Carroll's desire to control the growth of his young protagonist), the beautiful garden that Alice cannot seem to reach (and when she does, she finds it not quite to her liking, perhaps suggesting a reverse-Eden, in which children desiring adulthood soon realize that it's not quite what they expected it to be) or Alice's internal crisis in which she debates whether the surreal circumstances she's found herself in have resulted in her loosing her own identity (I won't even try to open the jar on *that* one!) No wonder scholars can go mad trying to untangle this tale! Even the fact that the story succumbs to the ultimate cliche in fantasy-fiction, the ending that will reward you with an F if you use it in a creative-writing exercise at school (I am of course, referring to the fact that Alice wakes up at the conclusion of the story to find that it was just a dream), doesn't damage the power of Carroll's imaginative force.

"Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There" is a little more structured in terms of its storyline, perhaps because Carroll was not simply making most of it up on the spot, as he had done with its predecessor. This time, when Alice falls asleep, she crawls through the mirror on the top of the mantelpiece and into the room on the other side. There she finds a land organized into the shape of a giant chessboard, in which Alice herself is a little pawn that must journey to the end of the board if she wishes to become a Queen. On the way she meets several chess pieces, including the Red and White Queen, and the White Knight (widely believed to represent Carroll himself), as well as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty, a garden of living flowers, and the Lion and the Unicorn, the latter of whom famously tells Alice: "If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you." My favourite chapter would have to be the one that involves the ludicrously pompous Humpty Dumpty (who is really the one who coined the term "un-birthday", not the Mad Hatter and the March Hare as the Disney version would have you believe), though equally memorable is the intriguing episode when Alice happens upon the sleeping Red King, and is told that he's dreaming of her. Is Alice in the Red King's dream, or is the Red King in Alice's dream? What should happen if one of them should wake up before the other? It's a disturbing metaphysical conundrum, and hints at the depths with which a scholar (or deep-thinking child) could delve into these stories.

Of course, not every child will enjoy the "Alice" stories. What was once vividly imaginative and innovative for a stifled Victorian audience has long since become commonplace in children's fiction, and the randomness with which the adventures take place can often unsettle young listeners (as they certainly did me, as I always felt that Alice was caught inside a nightmare). However, others will delight in the madness that abounds throughout the story, and others still will learn to appreciate the work as they get older. There are hundreds of editions out there, most probably quite as good as the next, but I would encourage buyers to track down an edition with John Tenniel's famous illustrations - you simply cannot read the "Alice" books when they are not accompanied by Tenniel's portrayal of his demure little Alice, with her hooded eyes and large forehead. It would be like reading C. S. Lewis without Pauline Baynes, or Roald Dahl without Quentin Blake. Unthinkable!


Alice in Wonderland- once scared me, now is cool   July 2, 2003
 8 out of 11 found this review helpful

My mom first read this book to me when I was seven years old. Because I was only in first or second grade, Alice in Wonderland scared the heck out of me. I remember parts were pretty horrific and confusing. I kind of hated it. It was like Stephen King for a first grader- which, if you ever go to a website on Lewis Carroll, shouldn't surprise anyone because Carroll had loads of problems and was pretty much tripped out while writing this (I think).
Now that I'm older, I decided to re-read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. While reading it, it's hard to decide whether this is just a load of imaginative creativity, or a metaphor of something deeper that is true in society today, or true in the 1800's. Well, I guess you can read it either way- but there is definitely some deep stuff in here. Many poems will stop and make you think, and as the story progresses you can't help but feel like you are Alice (which is pretty amazing, because this isn't like Lord of the Rings or anything, it's basically a fairy tale on drugs).
Definitely, definitely, definitely do not hesitate to pick this book up and read. Another review said it was disturbing- well, in some ways it really is. But the characters and the plot line (or lack of!) keep you interested and keeps you reading. AIW and TTLG are must-haves in anyone interested in fantasy/sci-fi, along with Chronicles of Narnia and other great classics.


Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Why Disney is Dead To Me   June 12, 2007
 8 out of 9 found this review helpful

How is a raven like a writing desk? Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front. That is an example of the witty offbeat humor in "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland".

Alice is sitting bored when her attention is captured by a talking white rabbit. She follows it down a rabbit hole into a world full of strange creatures, curious happenings, and mysterious pastries. At first she marvels at all the oddities, but soon she wants to get home, only to discover that she doesn't know how.

By far my favorite parts of this book are when Alice encounters the Cheshire Cat. He is very witty, and adds something special to the story. Also his grin is phenomonal.

I think the theme of this book is really about using your imagination and letting your creative side get the best of you once in a while, not letting other things like television and the media do the imagining for you. That's also why the movie is totally hypocritical.

The whole point of the book is using your imagination, and the "Alice in Wonderland" movie did the opposite of that. Despite it being created by the godfather of the animated film industry (Disney) it really sucked. They took out too much of the story just to squeeze it into 1 and a half hours and a G-rating. "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" wasn't made for the big screen, considering its length and semi-annoying characters that if animated and given the life of Disney turn them into monsters that are enough to make even the most devout Catholic contemplate suicide. And the songs! Don't even get me started on those. Disney has to pump every movie it pushes out full of annoying constant 5-minute "songs" that give you ear worms for a month! They ruin everything they get their greasy little fingers on. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland used to be original and interesting and Disney went ahead, squeezed out all the creativity, shoved some songs into it, stamped their trademark on it, and shipped it out. They are sick, sick little people.

Most of this book is quite entertaining, though there are a few parts that just seem stuck in there and were quite dull. "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is a very original and interesting story, and if you've never read the book, do so. It is entirely worth it. If you haven't seen the movie, stay far, far away. For those of you who have, good luck with the nightmares. And those monstrous ear worms.


-carli