Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland V

"Bad book never read it it is only for girls"


"Unlike most sixteen year olds, I enjoy a good old novel written back when books were truly forms of art ... However, this book was a total waste of my weekend. Alice, to no end, annoyed me the second she opened her mouth. All she does in Wonderland is complain and whine and talk about her God-forsaken cat.

On a side note, what the heck kind of a name for a cat is Dinah? Did people wait until the 2000s to start using names like Boots or Fluffy?
...
Also, the characters are hard to follow. I know it's near impossible to relate to a talking rabbit, but I was hoping for some grounding point, some plot to follow. There was absolutely none. I found myself relieved when I finished the book and could move onto something else more entertaining. Honestly, if anyone reading this review is thinking about reading the book, don't. Take my word for it, there are books more worthy of your time than this one."


"I understand this is literature, and I appreciate for that. But seriously-wth?"


"It's a 'classic' so I read it. Doesn't mean I actually enjoyed it, maybe if I'd read it as a child with that child mindset I may have liked it but not so much as an adult.

It's haphazard and directionless and I don't believe that even my childhood dreams where so incohesive.

Nope, I didn't enjoy it."


"As an English teacher, this might come as a rather surprising view. I could not find a deeper layer of meaning to the novel & really my impressions sum up to this: CS Lewis was on drugs when he wrote it, CS Lewis had a fascination with narcotics (the constant shrinking, growing, sniffing, references to mushrooms), CS Lewis could be interpreted as a peodophile (controversial I know but there's room for interpretation), the plot & characters lack depth neither do they make sense :(.

I'm baffled as to why this is a classic. I even went in sparknotes to see what analysis was written and interpretations made; for me they are rather far-fetched & personally applied poorly. But hey, maybe you need to be stoned to appreciate this or a different kind of 'intellectual'."


"I've never taken illegal drugs, but I imagine that if I did, and wrote a book while under the influence, it would read like this one. Somehow, we made it through, my kids and I, reading this every morning for a loooooong series of weeks."

Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland IV

"Let's teach kids about eating everything in sight (so long as it doesn't have a label with 'poison' on it!), beheading anyone that isn't liked, and trespassing on anybody's territory."


"Alice's journey is definitely influenced by some sort of drug, but because this is a children's novel, the hint is subtle ... Sometimes, I think Lewis Carroll was high when he wrote this."


"The story is timeless, I must admit. And some of the characters are really interesting. However, the dialogue and plot make absolutely no sense at all. And in the end it's all just a dream! Isn't that the worst way to end pretty much any story."


"I think this would make a great book to read to an absurdly minded 6 or 7 year old, as the humor and situations work well as short vignettes. And if my vague grasp on it's history is correct, that's what it was written as.

For an adult, it's not terribly coherent and I had to force myself to finish it."


"It was awful. Not fun, funny, entertaining, or educational.

The book didn't make any sense. The characters were annoying. Alice was a brat. She was rude and obnoxious. She kept interrupting everyone and disagreeing with them, even after promising not to do so. She just got on my nerves.

Perhaps there is some hidden symbolism or message that I had overlooked.

The only good thing about it was that it was short. Therefore I didn't waste too much time on it.

I know that there are others who feel the way that I do. If only they had the courage to speak up..."


"I don't know what Carroll was on when he wrote this but it must have been some good stuff."


"youve got to consider how far back this is. and the knowledge of shrooms back then probably wasnt even known. so if anything hed have to accidentely take shrooms which he probably didnt. if anything there was alot of opium poppy seed plants around were he lived that is some what speculated to be the source of alice in wonderland"


"It didn't have the effect I was hoping for, I just... I didn't get it. And the characters (or the writing?) annoyed me most of the times. I didn't even bother to read the poems. The only characters I liked were the Queen and the Cat, the others were... queer. Too queer for my taste."


"I have wanted to read this book for a long time and must confess that in my opinion..... Lewis Caroll was partaking in serious drugs when writing this drival, which is complete and utter rubbish and nonsense. Highly over rated by most and truly not worth the time to read."

Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland III

"Ok, so everyone says that Alice in Wonderland was such a wonderful book, yes,yes, I am aware. But, I thought it was very confusing and all the characters were very stupid. I mean, it's not even a book about anything. Sure, it's trying to say that shes is growing up in the process of the dumb dream world but who cares?It was a bad way to write a story, or better yet it was a bad story to write about in the 1st place."


"Throughout this whole book, I couldn't help but think to myself that there was something extremely wrong, so to speak, with Lewis Carroll."


"everyone loves Alice in Wonderland (the 2010 kind) movie... Wonder land is awesome but the book eww..."


"Terrible!
Didn't really like how there were no pictures for the different characters. Most of the stuff in the story didn't go along with the movie."


"I dont get why old books like these are called 'classics'. I've seen the cartoon as a kid and wanted to read the original book to see what made it so special. Now I know that its not special. Its a lot of nonsense, thats a little creative, but nothing that really takes you away from reality. A lot of the characters are unique, but only appear for a brief period and aren't fully developed (or even partialy).
Usually I'm a bad critic because its easy for me to enjoy anything, but I've had a tough time getting through this one, I dont even think its a good childrens book, they'll say the same thing I do. BORING. Save the $3 and buy yourself a cup of coffee, you'll find yourself more entertained with measuring out the sugar and cream and more satisfied to sip on that than to power through this."


"How unoriginal is it to end books by saying it was all a dream? Okay, so maybe it wasn't so cliche back in the days of Lewis Carroll. But it's still not a great ending."


"Have you ever read the book Alice in Wonderland? Well if you haven't, 'Don't'. Overall it wasn't that bad of a book, but it was extremely confusing. In my opinion this book could have been written a lot better. For example, it could have been alot less confusing and more realistic. The main reason I didn't exactly enjoy Alice in Wonderland was because it needed to be more happy,then unhappy. Here are some more reasons why you should not read this boring book. Alice in Wonderland could have been written a lot better. The author's language usage was a bit hard to comprehend,like when the caterpillar was talking to Alice about a crocodile and when the cat was giving Alice directions. Also, the scenes were short and they jumped right into each other too quickly. Most of the animals were rude and mean to Alice. The flowers shooed her away, the queen tried to cut off her head and the cat was always making her angry by lying. Another part that didn't make any sense was the tea party,there's no such thing aa a 'Very Merry Unbirthday'. Also the Mad Hatter and the Hare wouldn't listen to Alice when she was trying to tell her story. All the creatures and animals kept Alice from what she was trying to do which was to follow the white rabbit. Alice met many,many creatures such as Tweedle Dee,Tweedle Dum,Do Do,Bill, Rabbit,Cat,Queen of Hearts,Caterpillar,Playing cards,Mad Hatter,Hare,Flowers,Pig and the Door Knob. This book made me just as frustrated and upset as it made Alice.I felt like I was in the book and I could feel all the confusion and nonsense going on. If I had to give my overall opinion of how good the book was I would give it 2 stars.So, in conclusion I would like to let everyone know that Alice in Wonderland was not worth reading, so don't waste your time! Go get yourself an interesting book to read!"


"I'm sorry, but this book was really weird. It also put me to sleep. Maybe there's something I missed to make this an American classic."


"Since one Star is the highest star (in other words, 1st Place vs. 5 stars being LAST place...I would never want to be in 5th place except a cow dung Frisbee throwing contest but I digress) I want to give this book one star! In fact once I click on the submit button you will see that me and five other people have voted that this book is in FIRST Place, not 4th or 5th place like most of the other mor ons rated the book. They just don't understand how to rate books. Anyway, I loved the book and recommend it to everyone in the world."


"I truly feel sorry for any child forced to read this book in school. Reading it as an adult was no better. It was possibly the most warped and perverse story I have ever read in my life. Most passages were pure nonsense while others lead the reader to wonder if Lewis Carroll had possibly tasted some of the mushrooms Alice came upon in her adventure."


"Gee, why on earth did anyone ever suspect Lewis Carroll used mind-altering substances?"


"I know it makes me shallow, but I suspect Carroll was just playing about with words and perhaps slightly stoned."


"pretty sure this guy was on crack when he wrote it..."


"Well firstly, I haven't read it yet but im so upset because it's not Audiobook 'cause I don't wamt to read it..... What im saying is that i want it to read for me.............. I'm not saying that it is bad it's just if you have a headache and the book you're reading isn't Audiobook, then your head will be more achy-pachy..... Well im gonna give this only 2 stars so yeah..."


"A few times, I had to read a sentence more than once to fully grasp its meaning."


"Too kiddy for me."

Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland II

"Tripping much?"


"I don't know what Carroll was smoking when he wrote this book, but it was a little too trippy for me."


"Um.....yeah....I never knew how weird this book was!!! Thank goodness I had seen the cartoon so that I could make some sense of it all! Overall, very confusing...was Lewis Caroll high when he wrote this??"


"I have the sneaking suspicion that Lewis Carroll wrote this book while intoxicated by illegal substances."


"Most of the characters in the great 'wonderland' were either cruel, mean or contrary (or didn't make any sense). I would not have a child read this either. It's probably written for ages 5-7, but the dialogue doesn't make much sense, and with the constant threats of 'beheading' and other such scenes, I recommend that no child read it!"


"The things that I liked about this book were that there was so much imagery, even though the plot of the book is pointless. I always wondered what the actual book was like because I had never read the book but I realized I wasn't missing much."


"Having only seen the Disney film as a child I decided to read this through the 'Classics' app on my iPhone. It's pure nonsense, of course, and one wonders what Carroll was smoking when he sat down to write this."


"Maybe the argument is that it's pure whimsy (shouldn't whimsy be more fun?). Or that it's Lewis Carroll on a drug trip (this gets my vote)."


"I finally decided to read this classic tale after seeing the recent Tim Burton movie version. I've always been familiar with the names and characters, with the 'tea party' and the Queen of Hearts, but I'd never really known the story... Was it really about a girl hero who kills the jabberwoky yet has never been acknowledged as such in contemporary feminism?"


"I had to skim most of the poetry and stories within the story."


"I found this one on the shelf at a B&N and was really intrigued by the gothic fantasy art style so I figured it's about time I found our who this Alice chick was and how many drugs did she take. I feel better having read it but, for the life of me, I have no idea why this story is such a classic. Didn't enjoy it all.

The story boils down to Alice falling into some tripped out LSD world and going from random character to character and having a prissy English conversation that makes no sense. Alot much of the dialogue was tongue in cheek banter and never really roped me in. Also, this is probably a result of me reading so much YA, but I felt like her reactions to the events as they unfolded were just too unrealistic."


"I read this book to my kids. It was an illustrated classics version. Even with the pictures I was HIGHLY bored! ... What is the deal? I guess Carroll just had a fabulous imagination for his day. His poetry is admirable, but again, not my favorite. I'm pretty sure he would be a fun guy to hang out with, but also fairly certain that the rumors of Carroll having been involved in heavy drug use were probably correct. It's in the same category as Sponge Bob for me. My kids love it, I don't. Enough said :)"


"After I finished reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, I honestly was surprised that the book was actually subjected to children. For me, the book was somehow a tad confusing. It is like the book was written in English words that speak no English. I also failed to bond emotionally with the book as it is too random and contains too much nonsense that doesn’t click with my senses (I am 99 percent sure that Dodgson was high on weed when he wrote this)."


"I didn't know this book was supposed to be a 'nonsense' story until I was about halfway through it and decided on a whim to look up facts about it on the internet, so when I heard a few months ago that Lewis Carroll had supposedly made up this story 'on the spot' to entertain a group of little kids, I thought it had to be a total BS urban legend type of thing. How could somebody make up a creative and complicated classic without sitting down to think about it all? By the time I reached the halfway point, all of my doubts on this 'legend' completely disappeared. This book is so random and weird and purposeless that it would actually be pretty sad if the author had sat down Rowling-style to come up with the stuff inside it."


"I read this one with my two kids--ages 4 and 7--a couple of chapters in I remembered how much I hated this book when I read it on my own several years ago. Sorry, people, it's confusing and a complete mess. Kids will barely get what's going on. I'm not exactly sure how this one has lasted so long as something held up as classic literature. Not my thing."


"This book is definitely *not* my cup of tea. I enjoyed the wikipedia entry about the book more than the book itself. It noted that the book is classified as 'nonsense literature,' and I cannot agree more. The book is utter nonsense."


"I fail to understand how it gained in popularity with anyone other than those on hallucinogens."


"I did appreciate the allusions to drugs and other not so good things. But really, 'and then she woke up' right when there was conflict that needed to be resolved? Cheap, very cheap. Did Carroll run out of LSD and that's what he came up with sober? I read something saying he wasn't actually on drugs and that the story is an intricate weaving of logic puzzles and puns. He may have been brilliant but that doesn't make the story any more enjoyable, I daresay it makes it less so."


"Surprisingly I've never read 'Alice in Wonderland' as a child. I'm glad I hadn't. I felt like the story was written for adults. The language was very mature and none of the characters likable. In fact I would say that the majority of them were written rather rudely. Reading it I felt like I was going through a bad trip; the author must have been high when he'd written it! On the plus side, the drawings were done well. But they're scary too, and not for kids."

HEY IDIOTS. DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE NOTICED THIS BUT KIDS FUCKING LOVE BEING SCARED. HAVE YOU EVER TOLD A KID A SCARY STORY? THEY LIVE FOR THAT SHIT. HAVE YOU EVER GIVEN A KID SOME BOOK OF SCARY OLD-TIMEY ILLUSTRATIONS? THEY WILL NEVER, EVER IN THEIR LIVES FORGET THEM. HAVE YOU EVER BROKEN INTO A CHILD'S ROOM AND HID IN THE CLOSET UNTIL THE PARENTS ARE ASLEEP AND THEN MADE A SORT OF VERY QUIET GUTTURAL HISSING NOISE SO THAT THEY WAIT WHAT

Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

"This was the absolute second worst book I've ever read (the worst being Hotel For Dogs)."


"I think Lewis Carroll was high when he wrote this story."


"This book is so drugged out and wackadoo. It doesn't make sense."


"I'm 23, and I had never read this book or seen the Disney movie. But I've always heard references to the book, like 'follow the white rabbit', 'going down the rabbit hole', the Cheshire Cat and Cheshire grins, and the Mad Hatter. Now that Tim Burton is working on a movie, even more people will talk about it. So, I finally read it.

This book must consist of Carroll's drug-induced fantasies, or his ridiculous dreams, because this book is nonsense. There's no plot, and the dialogue is foolish, other than a few puns and plays on words. I can't imagine that any sane kid would enjoy reading or being read this story. I hoped that just maybe it would all make sense at the end; that maybe there would be some explanation that would make all the insanity forgivable. But no, it was all a waste. Good thing it only took 3 days to read, or I'd regret having wasted too much of my life on it."


"I think you either have to be really young or on lots of drugs to enjoy this book."


"This book was pure ridiculousness. 'But, ah…', you say, '…it is a nonsense work. It was intended to be this way.' I understand that this is a nonsense work. I understand that the book was therefore intended to be nonsensical, but this does not sway my opinion because… it is still nonsense."


"Creepy. Someone was on stupid pills when writing this."


"We'll say this book's status is 'skimmed.' I didn't read the entire book. I gave up pretty quickly. Carroll writes about nothing in way too many words."


"This is by far the worst family book that we have read. We were left dazed and confused. Collin was left miserable. Why is this a classic? However, whenever I am confused I will now be able to say I feel like Alice and my kids will understand my meaning.
Don't read this. Don't waste hours reading."


"Maybe you need to be a pre-adolescent girl to enjoy it. Or maybe I'm just a Philistine."


"The book is so crazy, makes you see why the popular movie isn't so kid friendly! And then there are the rumors the book was written under the influences of drugs...... it's all weird!"


"Too fantasy filled for me, discombobulated, and annoying. Sorry Lewis but this one was a dud."


"I had seriously attempted reading this at least three times previously and failed."


"Seriously, Lewis Carroll was on something... :-)"


"Utter pointless nonsense. This book has neither plot nor character. As a lover of stories, this was almost painful to force myself to finish."


"I can stand the Disney movie, but this book is indeed one of the biggest desilusions I had. Lewis Carroll was probably on acid when writting this, it's the only explanation I find..."


"Well that was boring and pointless."

YOU'RE TELLING ME, ASSHOLE