Still She Haunts Me, Phantomwise

[poliphilo]

 It's my considered opinion that Alice in Wonderland is the greatest novel of the 19th century.

I've just read the Alice books back to back. I used to prefer Looking-Glass and now I prefer Wonderland.  For all it's melacholy, Wonderland is a sunny book, free-flowing, the work of a creator who isn't having to think too hard about what's coming next, whereas Looking- Glass is choppier, more structured, more philosophical. Of course I still like both of them very much. I think the shift has come about because I'm  a less serious person now than I used to be.

Wonderland  is summer. Looking-glass is winter.

 More precisely, Wonderland is July, Looking-Glass is November. We know it's November because Alice has looked out the window and seen the boys building a bonfire. Rather surprisingly there's snow on the ground. Snow in Oxford in early November- is that still something that could happen?

One thing I'd forgotten is how chatty and teasing the narrator's voice is in Wonderland- as if still interacting with those three children in that boat on the river. This is reined back in Looking-Glass, now that the children have grown up and are less vivdly present to the writer's imagination....

Comments

[bleodswean]

I share your sentiment. And the amount of Influence it has had on Literature and the Arts and Culture is astonishing. I used to use a Barry Moser Alice icon regularly - and all would change to dull reality .

If you don't know Moser's illustrations, you should. Also, Gregory Maguire has written the most most most flawless piece of fanfiction in "After Alice" and I highly recommend it.

[poliphilo]

I didn't know the Moser illustrations- and I've been looking at them. They are magnificent.