Flip-back: ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’

“Off with their heads!”

From this iconic line, you can probably guess which book I have selected as my favourite childhood story. Of course, it is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. It is a story that has cemented itself in my childhood as one I will never forget.

As someone who sped through multiple stories with ease, it was always hard to find books that challenged me. Most trivialised their subject matter to suit young adult readers or to conform to a non-fiction genre. There were many contenders such as The Cat in the Hat or Fantastic Mr Fox, but Carroll’s novel stood out above them all.

In a nutshell, the story is absolutely bonkers. It is a wild page-turner of events that don’t quite match up together. Although there may not be a deeply concerning, harrowing element of reality or a profound message behind them, it doesn’t take away from their very real value to childhood. The story is there to amuse and incite wonder in the reader, something that I think should always be appreciated when achieved by a book. 

I couldn’t quite put my finger on why such a confusing novel was so intriguing to read, and I believe that is the true beauty of Carroll’s story

The story is a seemingly simple one at first. A naive girl, Alice, is seeking an adventure and falls down a magical hole that brings her into a completely new world. One of talking rabbits that can tell the time, tea drinking mice, and a mad man donned in an odd hat who speaks only in riddles. Not to mention an all-knowing caterpillar and a cat that can disappear into the sky as well. 

It is here Alice discovers there is more to her life than prim dresses, which are incredibly hard to breathe in. She experiences one simple hour of fever-dream fuelled madness and transports the reader along her riveting adventures. The countless rendition of films and paintings, including John Tenniel’s illustrations, are perfect companions to the imaginative, surrealist writing of Carroll. 

As a small child, in between the dry spells of Harry Potter releases, I always returned to this puzzling work of fiction. I read it so many times that multiple pages fell out of my beaten copy. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why such a confusing novel was so intriguing to read, and I believe that is the true beauty of Carroll’s story.

Unlike Through the Looking Glass, the original story has an unrelenting curiosity and charm to it. The world is unexplored and the Red Queen actually scared me, in all her card-themed glory. All of the characters are uniquely endearing and fascinating to read. The Hatter’s rhetorical soliloquies made me stumble over my words and scrunch my eyes as I scanned over them again and again, desperate to crack whether he was asking trick questions or not. 

The tale of Alice and her misguided adventures through the bizarre place that is Wonderland has captivated me and many children for generations

At the same time, the story also grapples with thought-provoking topics in a lighthearted and comic way. For example when Alice is asked the very daunting question of “who are you” by the caterpillar. It has even been cited for its creative approach to the subject of memory and the human brain. The myriad of references to the human psyche are tackled by Carroll in a peculiar way. 

Subjects include the Alice in Wonderland syndrome, named after the popular tale and attributed to the feeling of warped spatial awareness. Also, ‘Jabberwocky sentences’ are used by neuroscientists in brain scans to understand how the brain processes them. Free-association and childlike thinking run rampant throughout the story, which often brings the “it’s about drugs” topic of conversation up for discussion. However, I do think this is a criticism that undermines the message at the heart of the story.

The tale of Alice and her misguided adventures through the bizarre place that is Wonderland has captivated me and many children for generations. I am glad I continue to find references to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland alongside interesting adaptations and revamps.