Posted: July 18, 2017
Listening to records and cassettes was luckily part of my
childhood. I remember raiding my
mother’s collection occasionally, to find something good to listen to and one
of those times I found a tape that changed my life.
It was called, “Lewis Carroll Soundshow, Through the
Looking-Glass and Alice in Wonderland,” featuring Joan Greenwood as Alice.
Immediately the talented voice acting attracted my
attention, but the words themselves opened my heart to a world I never knew
before. With the simple plot of a young
girl named Alice steadily moving through an extraordinary place meeting off the
wall characters, Lewis Carroll has been able to capture audiences of all ages
for generations. Listening to these
tapes let me see that it could be fun to write, fun to read, and fun to
imagine.
After I memorized most of the poems and conversations I
heard from the tapes, I declared myself an expert in all things Carroll. I received a beautiful pop-up book for a
birthday present, purchased any TV/movie version I could find, and bought a
complete collection of Lewis Carroll’s works.
I wouldn’t say I know every little personal detail about
Carroll’s life, but I know enough to understand why he wrote the way he did. He was socially awkward with people his own
age and controversially at ease with young children, mostly girls. He would often write whimsical letters back
and forth to children that were friends of the family. Critics today judge him harshly for odd
photographs he took of them which he considered art. His mind was unlike others of his time and
this gave us the classics we know and love today.
I highly suggest everyone to pick up any one of Carroll’s
books and dive right in. (Everyone is
different so one might enjoy Sylvie and Bruno.
I did not because since the author loved math, he used this work to
display his abilities and frankly I found it boring compared to all the other
wild adventures he wrote.)
Highly Suggested Poems to Read:
The Hunting of a Snark
The Pig Tale
Beautiful Soup
Father William
The Walrus and the Carpenter
Jabberwocky
To fully understand Carroll’s most famous works about Alice
one must understand that two books were written just for her: Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-glass. The biggest shame, as a fan of the books, is
watching giant movie makers, like DISNEY, butcher the entire story from start
to finish. The first book, Alice in Wonderland is all about playing
cards and the second, Through the
Looking-glass, is all about chess. I
recently had to explain to a friend that there were in fact four queens
mentioned in the books. The Queen of
Hearts (a “playing card” character) is the most memorable, but the most
pleasant is the White Queen (a “chess piece” character) who later turns into a
sheep that sells merchandise at odd prices.
Favorite Characters from the Alice Books:
The White Knight
Humpty Dumpty
Cheshire Cat
Tweedle Dum
Tweedle Dee
I will briefly touch on the Disney cartoon version from
1951. Yes, the movie is a classic and
children will be able to remember it the rest of their lives, but it was a disappointment. Most viewers agree that it was very fun to
watch, but in the end when Alice loses her way and she starts to meet a group
of very strange birds and creatures the movie takes a weird turn. I am proud to announce that in fact that part
of the movie is not ever once mentioned in the books. Alice never complains about losing her way
and feeling lost. She never meets any
birds like the ones that Disney took the liberty to create. Very brash on the cartoonist’s part to try
and create creatures of their own when the books are filled with so many to
pick from. It’s like trying to make a
beautiful bouquet of real flowers and deciding to throw in a few fake
ones. It doesn’t make sense. Yes, I did enjoy the 1951 version, but also
wished Disney would have stayed truer to the books.
As for the 2010 and 2016 versions that recently have been
released starring Johnny Depp, I cringe in despair. I did enjoy the second one a little bit
better, mainly because I became use to the creative liberties they took.
The main problem I had with the movies is how they lumped
all the characters together. In the
books Alice meets them all one by one and none of them meet each other nor ever
mention another. The only character that
sort of knows what is going on and has an omniscient awareness is the Cheshire
Cat. I will give credit to the artists
that developed the smiling feline in the newer movies. They nailed it. The smile was perfect and his transitions
from visible and invisible states was astounding.
I do understand that the movies meant for Alice to be grown
up and that she misunderstood what she saw as a child, so that gave them free
reign to change things the way they pleased.
Watching a big-headed Queen of Hearts storm around the screen was
enjoyable, but watching a silly idea about a prophecy needing to be fulfilled
by a slain Jabberwocky was annoying. It
is sad that to fill a theatre for a classic tale, the movie makers felt they
had to include a battle scene including flames and chaos.
In conclusion, if you want a quick look into Carroll’s works
and don’t want to get to know the amazing characters he created, then consider the
new movies. If you instead want to
debate an egg, talk with flowers, and become a queen at the end, READ the books. You won’t regret it!
-Beck
(Maybe you can decide which book
is better, for I believe Through the
Looking-glass is the best!)
