Alternative Alices: Visions and Revisions of Lewis Carroll's Alice Books [Paperback]

Carolyn Sigler (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 1997

" Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1871) are among the most enduring works in the English language. In the decades following their publication, writers on both sides of the Atlantic produced no fewer than two hundred imitations, revisions, and parodies of Carroll's fantasies for children. Carolyn Sigler has gathered the most interesting and original of these responses to the Alice books, many of them long out of print. Produced between 1869 and 1930, these works trace the extraordinarily creative, and often critical, response of diverse writers. These writers -- male and female, radical and conservative -- appropriated Carroll's structures, motifs, and themes in their Alice-inspired works in order to engage in larger cultural debates. Their stories range from Christina Rossetti's angry subversion of Alice's adventures, Speaking Likenesses (1874), to G.E. Farrow's witty fantasy adventure, The Wallypug of Why (1895), to Edward Hope's hilarious parody of social and political foibles, Alice in the Delighted States (1928). Anyone who has ever followed Alice down the rabbit hole will enjoy the adventures of her literary siblings in the wide Wonderland of the human imagination.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Editor Sigler (English, Kansas State Univ.) has collected a group of stories and excerpts that use the Alice books of Lewis Carroll as a starting point. Some are imitations, some are parodies, some are satires, but all follow the basic "Alice" model of the fantasy-dream, episodic structure, nonsense language, sudden shifts in "identity, appearance, and location," anthropomorphic fantasy characters, and a return or reawakening to the conscious world. Some of the authors represented include Christina Rosetti, Frances Hodgson Burnett, E. Nesbit, and Saki, as well as others less well known today. All the works reprinted here were published between the 1860s and 1920s, the period of Carroll's greatest influence. Some of the excerpts have little background information and may be difficult to follow, but this is an interesting collection of pieces to have within the covers of one book. Recommended for all libraries where interest and/or curriculum indicate usefulness.?Katherine K. Koenig, Ellis Sch., Pittsburgh
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A peculiar and intriguing assembly of material that demonstrates the diversity of responses to Lewis Carroll's books." -- AB Bookman's Weekly

"Sigler collects some jewels of literature by writers as diverse as Christina Rossetti, Frances Hodgson Burnett, E. Nesbit, Saki, and Edward Hope. Some of the pieces smack of Carrollian fantasy more than others, but all belong in this long-needed gathering of rare and sometimes difficult to locate texts." -- Choice

"A must for all Carrollians who like to have everything and for those of us who do not have all the continuations. This book could be used to start a good debate on Alice imitations." -- Lewis Carroll Review

"Sigler has collected a group of stories and excerpts that use the ALICE books of Lewis Carroll as a starting point. Some are imitations, some are parodies, some are satires, but all follow the basic 'Alice' model of the fantasy-dream, episodic structure, nonsense language, sudden shifts in identity, appearance and location... this is an interesting collection of pieces to have within the covers of one book." -- Library Journal

"Visions and revisions of Lewis Carroll's Alice books are presented in a study which is recommended for any college-level student of Carroll's influences" -- Midwest Book Review

"This well-conceived anthology reprints generous extracts from notable revisions of Carroll's 'Alice' stories, together with the illustrations accompanying these works." -- Nineteenth-Century Literature

"Among the 20 selections, written between 1869 and 1930, Sigler finds several gems: delightful homages, determined imitations and devotional sequels to Carroll's works." -- Publishers Weekly

"This collection demonstrates the chord that Alice struck for Victorian and later writers and the symbolic place it has assumed in popular culture." -- Studies in English Literature

Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: The University Press of Kentucky (October 9, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813109329
• ISBN-13: 978-0813109329
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #867,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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2 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FROM THE GARDENS WHERE WE FEEL SECURE, April 19, 2002

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THE FAMILY CAT (Blackpool England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alternative Alices: Visions and Revisions of Lewis Carroll's Alice Books (Paperback)

Virginia Astley.Cult singer songwriter from the early 80s whose family lived in Moulsford Oxfordshire.The village close to Alice Country which inspired her first album,the perfect soundtrack to Alice in Wonderland.An instrumental album with added SFX such as birdsong and church bells. Titles like A Summer Long Since Past and Summer Of Their Dreams.
Virginia Astley is,in fact,a reincarnation of Alice and not just because that's her middle name.
Her late father was born in Warrington and moved to Grappenhall in the late 40s which is the next village to Daresbury.
Since that first album Virginia was to become known as a singer and many of her songs have uncanny similarities with Wonderland and even the real life Alice. In "Tree Top Club" comes the line "I bought you sweets and comics from the grocery shop" which is paralleled in the early life of Alice Liddell.
So many others:I Live In Dreams,Nothing Is What It Seems,Over The Edge Of The World.
And another parallel in the fact that Virginia Astley was morally sound,and a reminder that "Alice was the most sensible person in a land of freaks" against a description of Virginia Astley as "unaffected by operating in a business not known for many normal people".
Virginia long ago found her own turf and stayed in it
So this is another Alternate Alice