Alice's Adventures under Ground [Hardcover]

Lewis Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Previously only available in facsimile form this edition of Lewis Carroll's predecessor to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the very first to be set in type as a single volume and the first to be published with drawings other than those by Carroll himself.

All new artwork by noted illustrator and former underground cartoonist, Kim Deitch, perfectly matches the spontaniety of Carroll's original. Using the image of the real Alice Liddell as a model is just one of the ingenious innovations Dietch brings to this lively edition of Alice's Adventure's under Ground.

Mark Burstein, vice-president to the Lewis Carroll Society of North America and curator of one of the largest collections of Carroll books and memorabilia in the world, relates the historic importance of this books revolutionary impact in expanding the horizons of children's literature.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 88 pages
• Publisher: Word Play Inc (August 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892847000
• ISBN-13: 978-1892847003
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,547,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alice's Adventures, May 8, 2003

By 

"allenkwest" (MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alice's Adventures Under Ground (Paperback)

The editor's discription of this product is all wrong. This is a play based of from Caroll's works.

In this one-act fantasy play Alice's Adventure Under Ground by Christopher Hampton, has a style of surrealism playing with the imagination of a child. This play is based off and is adopted from the writings of Lewis Carroll. This leads it to have a logic all of its own, and presented towards the nonrealistic side of life.

This takes place in a fireside room in Christ Church where Lewis Carroll sits in loneliness to his thoughts. He looks up to a mirror where he sees Alice inside of it for a second before she disappears and he sets up tea. A moment or so later there is a knock and Alice enters the room. He proceeds to tell her stories that draw her into some of tales of Wonderland and as this happens, he and three others become all of the characters Alice would encounter in that strange land of logic. There is no costume change, just physical performances transform them from classy 1860s people to the bizarre people of unique logic.

Although the stories are presented from Alice's adventures of both books, the setting remains inside the room and it is though the imagination the transports us beyond the logic. The room seems be made up slightly abstractly, but it should have a sense that view comes from the eyes of a child. They would turn structure into a twisted surreal image of itself, trying to make it into a not unfriendly place of plain innocence.

Lewis Carroll in this play has that same kind of purity we can see in several conversations with Alice. Like when Alice is trying to convince Carroll the she isn't someone named Mabel, because she knows more things than her. Carroll tests her out.
Carroll: What's four times six?
Alice: Thirteen.
Carroll: Is London the capital of Paris?
Alice: Yes.

The logic from the books play nicely in all of the childlike scenes, always it creates wonder in common sense and tearing apart the ideas of what adults may think a proper. It reminds me of the purity of the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where what may seem true to life is not a constant everywhere. Only through our imaginations, can we let ourselves free from structure and see things with new eyes. Everything real will be surreal and that will become the normal

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I was very disappointed. No illustrations., February 24, 2010

By 

Laurie A. Stockman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alice's Adventures Underground (Paperback)

I was under the impression that this would include the original illustrations. . but unless there's a magic way to see them, there are none. There are 16 pages of blanks but not one illustration.
I fell ripped off.