Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Macmillan Classics)

Worth a read. There is so much cleverness missing from the Disney version. An easy, quick read for a short flight.

Multiplicity of editions can be frustrating if you want to spend correctly just once. The AmazonClassics edition is a very good edition, almost perfect, it has X-Ray, the original illustrations in a good size, modern typography and a very polished formatting; except one part: there is a beautiful poem/tale, "The Mouse's Tale", in which a mishearing makes Alice to blend tail with tale and the story appears typographically in a quite beautiful shape of a tail, sinuously getting narrower til being as thick as an individual letter. Unfortunately in the AmazonClassics Edition the shape is rather like a sinuous river, it losses its meaning. I checked other kindle edition I have, "Alice in Wonderland: The Complete Collection" edition by Maplewood Books, the illustrations are a bit less clear (at least that was I felt), the formatting, although good, it's not as exemplar as the AmazonClassics Edition but to my tranquility "The Mouse's Tale" is formatted faithful to the original, so I will stick to that complete edition and I won't get the second book, "Through the Looking-Glass," in the AmazonClassics Edition, for fear that it will not express the intentions of the author. Peculiar book. Although built of meaningful blocks of events, as a group they are surreal; if there exists a meaning, is meant for only an initiated in the reasons of the story. For what I read it could be for the amusement of a little girl friend of Lewis Carroll. I love it very much. Weird and all, inscrutable and unfathomable as it is to me at the same time it is exciting and mind blowing. Alice falls into another world, one that changes like a dream but whereas we as actors of our dreams change along them. Instead Alice lives them quite consciously, as one of those old memories of strange events or creatures you saw, in which you are not that sure if it actually happened or, being that fantastic, it was a reverie feed by being in an unfamiliar place.

So, what's a 47 year old doing reviewing a classic children's book? Well, it occurred to me as I was looking through the available books on my Kindle, that many of the free ones (yes I'm quite open to free as an option) that there were many books that I assumed I knew because I had seen movies, seen summarized in some other form or simply because they were cultural icons and "everybody" knows these books. Many I have indeed read and did read as I was younger. However, now with a Kindle and a commute, it seemed a perfect opportunity to address some of those elements lacking in my basic reading. It was in this spirit that I down loaded Alice's adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and read through it is a remarkably short period of time. Many of these free books on the Kindle, are in the public domain and have been available in text or PDF files for quite some time. A simple conversion in format is all that is required to make it available. The question I asked as I read the book, is does the experience of reading it in this format take away anything from the experience. Children's Literature in particular is often about more than just the words on a page. Of course there are often illustrations, the physical book itself takes on dimensions that are bigger than usual. This adds to the experience of a child reading the book by themselves but in particular it adds to the experience of a child being read to who can then sit in a lap or look as the book as presented and share in the experience by learning to read or reinforcing reading skills. So, for a aging kid who needs something to read to round out his cultural iconic missing links this worked just fine. However, for those seeking to have an experience with their kids in reading a classic piece of literature, I'd not recommend it in that venue. As to the story itself, there's little I can say. In some ways, it's like reading a familiar story but in others it's amazing how much can be lost or glossed over in the pop-cultural offerings that sprang from it. Reading this piece of classic literature gives you some insight not only into the time it came from, but also into the heart of childhood that is timeless and can be recaptured at least in part, if we'll pause and exercise our imagination. 4 stars. Absolutely 5 stars as far as the story goes. Because this specifically addresses the Kindle edition, a drop of a star so that any considering reading this to their children from a kindle, consider what might be lost by not obtaining a more traditional copy complete with illustrations and the opportunity to share at a level one notch above what the Kindle offers in this context. Perhaps something like this Alice's Adventures in Wonderland . Take some time and look for what will work best for you and your intended audience. bart breen

Okay, I admit to reading this after playing Alice: Madness Returns. I was in the mood for some classic literature too! Having never read this, I didn't know what to expect. Rather than having a cohesive story with a beginning, middle and end, like the nature of the writing, things are a little bit...bizarre. We have a collection of scenes which Alive stumbles her way through with (let's face it) atrocious intro and conclusion tacked on. These are so brief (a few paragraphs) that do nothing. In fact, I know this is an older story, but the ending is awful. Maybe it hadn't been done to death in Carroll's day? Despite my contemporary complaints, I actually feel the story would be better off without the intro and conclusion, and be left as a collection of very strange conversations. Okay, there are dialogue heavy with some great images and everything is twisted and fired back and forth, but even this gets a bit...repetitive. It's easy to see why the tea party scene is so famous however, as the writing and humour here is superb. Though I have problems with this, I can recommend the book for this scene alone! In summary, it was good to read something a bit different and the language is approachable and it's all very, very silly. Good to dip into. Just ignore the after-thought ending.

Great read. In perfect condition. Thanks.

This design is gorgeous and comes same as pictured. I loved it so much I got one for a friend too!

I knew what I wanted to give a nine-year old for her upcoming birthday, "Alice In Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass", just as an uncle had gifted me the books when I had been that age. I went onto three book-selling websites and searched for "Alice in Wonderland". I was very suprised at the number of options available. They ranged from expensive volumes with the original title, "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", to abridged books with colorful modern illustrations. I didn't have anything against any of them, except they weren't what I was looking for. I wanted child-friendly hardback books with original Tenniel illustrations, and I definitely wanted no abridgement. As novels go, these are not lengthy books anyway. And the puzzles and language are so wonderful, I wanted her to have the full story. These Lewis Carroll books are fantasy, but they are not simple or dumbed down! "Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. "I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take some more." "You mean you can't take LESS", said the Hatter: "it's very easy to take MORE than nothing." I finally selected two companion hardback books from amazon, and I am very pleased with them. Both were published in 2007 by Digital Scanning, Inc. (DSI). They are about 10 high by 7 wide, kind of a cross between a novel and a picture book. The covers have wonderful colorized Tenniel illustrations. The inside pages have the original black & white Tenniel illustrations, described as "from John Tenniel" or "after John Tenniel". Tenniel's original illustrations were highly detailed woodcuts, and modern age mass-produced copies of his woodcuts have lost some of his original detail, but they are still the recognizable and beloved illustrations I remember. Here's the matching book for "Through the Looking-Glass". Through the Looking-Glass All of the inside text pages have an imaginative decorative border around the outside, with images from the book. There are eight border designs in all and they added to my satisfaction with these books. I will say that in going through the pages, I found a couple instances where part of a border was smudged or faded, but they were rare and not enough to bother me. Overall, I highly recommend the two DSI productions of Carroll's books. Introduce a young reader to Lewis Carroll's genius! Happy Reader

This classic children's story is the whimsical tale of Alice, who falls down a rabbit hole and has many odd and humorous adventures. Alice is a rather innocent and naive little girl, sometimes given to a little temper (who isn't?). She has now iconic dealings with the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and her roving pack of cards, and the White Rabbit who leads her into this strange dream world. The story is a bit episodic but has such delightful word play strung throughout. Lots of puns and plays on words are in evidence and made me chuckle. I was caught short a few times as I read this on Kindle, since the text refers to the illustrations (e.g. when the gryphon appears, the text says, "IF you don't know what a Gryphon is, look at the picture") which were not available in the free ebook I downloaded. I do have a physical copy with illustrations by A. E. Jackson, though many different illustrated editions are available. Oddly, the physical copy doesn't have the text referring to its own picture of the gryphon. The book is fairly short and a very quick read. I may pick up a better edition (like the one linked below, which includes all the subsequent Alice tales). It would be fun to reread. Also, as I am writing this (early March 2013), Heather at CraftLit has a recording with commentary of Alice in Wonderland (she does great commentary) on her premium podcast. Check it out! I've listened to the first two episodes and they are very well done. Also she has a video feed that shows a variety of the illustrations, which is excellent.

GREAT BOOK, I don't want to spoil the ending cuz it's just so cool and a fun adventure I recommend for both kids AND adults!

Alice in Wonderland was first published in 1865, a year that saw Charles Dickens survive the Staplehurst rail crash and the foundation of The Christian Mission (later to become the Salvation Army). At the other end of the scale, neither being saved nor salvaged, were the 400 rebels who were executed following an unsuccessful uprising against British rule in Morant Bay, Jamaica. Across the Atlantic Ocean the American Civil War was drawing to a close. Three days after the publication of Alice In Wonderland, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and just before the end of the year, the Klu Klux Klan were formed. Strange times. Harsh times. If ever there was a time for an escape into 'Wonderland' then certainly 1865 was as good a time as any. The first thing I will say is that I am amazed this book has stood the test of time. It is wonderful that it has done, but amazing all the same. Not because it's not good, but purely because it is almost entirely insane! At the height of Victorian stoicism and the dour industrialisation of England, Reverand Charles Dodgson decided to write, under the pseudonum Lewis Caroll, a short novel where the main characters are a talking rabbit, a vanishing cat, a deck of playing cards and a depressed turtle - not to mention a smoking catterpillar and a lizard called Bill. Oh and then there is a tea party that never ends because it is always six o'clock, a game of croquet played with flamingoes for sticks, hedgehogs for balls and soldiers for hoops. And the Caucus Race, well... Although this novel was written by the author for the young daughter of a friend, there is no doubting that it is also for adults. Some of the conversations, particularly involving the Mock Turtle have the same madness about them as do Yossarian's conversations with Clevinger in Catch-22. The puns are superb and the situations entirely Pythonesque. The Mighty Boosh would be a lot less mighty were it not for Alice In Wonderland and you have to wonder at the influence on the likes of Terry Pratchett and Tim Burton. And all done without drugs! But for all the madness there is at its heart a paen to the loss of childhood innocence. The last couple of pages of the novel are almost heartbreaking in their poignancy as Alice's elder sister looks down upon her whilst she sleeps so sweetly. She is almost willing her not to cross that threshold into adolescence and then onto adulthood - a land with more war than wonder. Alice sums it all up when she says: I wonder if I've been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle! Has there ever been a better definition of adolescence than that? Just as one of the characters in Wilkie Collins' Woman in White continually refers to Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe for the answers to life's predicaments so I think I will always keep Alice in Wonderland handy. For these are Strange times. Harsh times. If ever there was a time for an escape into 'Wonderland' then certainly 2012 is as good a time as any.

Excelente libro, una pieza increíble de colección.

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Loved this book and the pictures in it!