The Humorous Verse of Lewis Carroll [Hardcover]

Lewis Carroll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1988

Verse, puzzles, "The Hunting of the Snark," acrostics, poems from larger works — largest collection of Carroll verse in print. 130 illustrations by Tenniel, Carroll, others.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Amereon Ltd (December 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891906878
• ISBN-13: 978-0891906872
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Goblins, and fairies and snarks, oh my!!, March 18, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Humorous Verse of Lewis Carroll (Dover Humor) (Paperback)

For those who think verse is boring and effete, take these Lewis Carroll treasures and discover a true joy of poetry! Magical, innocent, and just plain strange, Carroll brings out the wonder of the imagination through jaunty verse. He also wrote some beautiful and not-widely-known love poems. This is one for the bookshelf in all our hearts

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'Did gyre and gimble in the wabe', May 1, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Humorous Verse of Lewis Carroll (Dover Humor) (Paperback)

This edition contains the complete verse of the author of 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking -Glass.' It contains parodies on the sentimental verse of his day,and verbal inventions such as coin-words and portmanteau, two-words in one inventions( slithy = slim, and lithe). It builds a world of play in words all its own. Just looking at some of the wordplay I see how James Joyce must have ' understand well' what was going on here.

Many of the lines and characters of this work have become part of the ordinary vocabulary of the English language. The rule seems to be that in this internal rhyming world Carroll followed his own advice " Take care of the sounds and the sense will take care of itself"

Here is the first stanza of one of his most well- known examples, "Jabberwocky"

'Twas brillig and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wave:

All mimsy were the borogoves

And the mome roths outgrabe"

But if the nonsense verse is not to the reader's taste there is of course much else more readily understandable 'woetry'

How many times in this life of ours do we for instance return to the insight given in the immortal ' Humpty Dumpty"

"All the kings horses and all the kings men, could not put Humpty Dumpty together again".

In this collection Carroll's work is, however, all together for what will most likely be the delight of the reader ready to ' twaste 'it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is verse you want to learn by heart!, January 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Humorous Verse of Lewis Carroll (Dover Humor) (Paperback)

I don't know why but you really want to learn this stuff by heart so you can recite it to yourself in odd moments. Some of it is incredibly witty and it bounds along in a very good rhythm. The poems are quite different from each other and reflect Lewis Carroll's many moods. He must have been a complex and interesting person, as well as an amusing one.