Enduring, Endearing Nonsense o
Enduring, Endearing Nonsense oDid you read and enjoy Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books as a
child? Or better still, did you have someone read them to you? Perhaps
you discovered them as an adult or, forbid the thought, maybe you haven't
discovered them at all! Those who have journeyed Through the Looking Glass
generally love (or shun) the tales for their unparalleled sense of nonsense.
Public interest in the books--from the time they were published more
than a century ago--has almost been matched by curiosity about their author.
Many readers are surprised to learn that the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat
and a host of other absurd and captivating creatures sprung from the mind
of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a shy, stammering Oxford mathematics professor.
Dodgson was a deacon in his church, an inventor, and a noted children's
photographer. Wonderland, and thus the seeds of his unanticipated success
as a writer, appeared quite casually one day as he spun an impromptu tale
to amuse the daughters of a colleague during a picnic. One of these girls
was Alice Liddell, who insisted that he write the story down for her, and
who served as the model for the heroine.
Dodgson eventually sought to publish the first book on the advice of
friends who had read and loved the little handwritten manuscript he had
given to Alice Liddell. He expanded the story considerably and engaged the
services of John Tenniel, one of the best known artists in England, to
provide illustrations. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel
Through The Looking Glass were enthusiastically received in their own time,
and have since become landmarks in childrens' literature.
What makes these nonsense tales so durable? Aside from the immediate
appeal of the characters, their colourful language, and the sometimes
hilarious verse ("Twas brillig, and the slithy toves/did gyre and gimble in
the wabe:") the narrative works on many levels. There is logical structure,
in the relationship of Alice's...
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