I can't believe I have never read this book, neither could anyone else as it turns out.
Earlier this week, My father and I ventured out into Rural NSW to play courier again. KNowing that there was a good chance I would be bored out of my mind, I took my Kobo eReader along on the trip. I have been going through the Kobo in Alphabetical order so having read the adventures of Tom Sawyer which resulted in me electing to skip over the adventures of Huckelberry Finn and deciding that I really wouldn't stand much chance of getting through the 100+ chapters of Aesop's fables I opened Alice's adventures in wonderland.
This book is so well written. Lewis Carol writes in such an engaging and expressive way that the events and characters of the book leap off the page in HD colour and carry the reader away in the same way that Alice has been carried away. I was expecting this story to be far darker from what I had known of it before and was, quite honestly, pleasantly surprised at how bright it was while still being intelligent and odd. I think references people have read into the text are highly exaggerated and have come from people who are of the belief that anything that is out of the ordinary and beyond this world must need revolve around chemical enhancement. Yes, The girl eats mushrooms that make her taller and shorter and sees talking white rabbits etc, but this text pre dates the stories and songs (such as 'White Rabbit') that used the visuals of Wonderland to represent the intoxified state.
I would recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read it (even though I think I might be the only one) as it is fun and innocent as well as being inightful and clever with multiple layers that are presented in a way that is not as self indulgent and forcefully cliched as some other anti-children's fiction (I am looking at you, Snicket). Fun for all ages
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