The Annotated Alice

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'A landmark, bringing together a lifetime's work on Lewis Carroll by writer and mathematician Martin Gardner. He dazzles on Carroll's puzzles and games of logic and entertains on everything from Alice's influence on the Beat poet Jack Kerouac to how mercury in hat linings turned hatters mad...it is unsurpassed' - Jackie Wullschlager, "Financial Times". 'The indispensable guide to a classic of English literature...no one who has ever wondered about the meaning of 'Jabberwocky' should fail to include on their Christmas list' - Robert McCrum, "Observer".

Amazon.com Review:
"What is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations!" Readers who share Alice's taste in books will be more than satisfied with The Annotated Alice, a volume that includes not only pictures and conversations, but a thorough gloss on the text as well. There may be some, like G.K. Chesterton, who abhor the notion of putting Lewis Carroll's masterpiece under a microscope and analyzing it within an inch of its whimsical life. But as Martin Gardner points out in his introduction, so much of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass is composed of private jokes and details of Victorian manners and mores that modern audiences are not likely to catch. Yes, Alice can be enjoyed on its own merits, but The Annotated Alice appeals to the nosy parker in all of us. Thus we learn, for example, that the source of the mouse's tale may have been Alfred Lord Tennyson who "once told Carroll that he had dreamed a lengthy poem about fairies, which began with very long lines, then the lines got shorter and shorter until the poem ended with fifty or sixty lines of two syllables each." And that, contrary to popular belief, the Mad Hatter character was not a parody of then Prime Minister Gladstone, but rather was based on an Oxford furniture dealer named Theophilus Carter. Gardner's annotations run the gamut from the factual and historical to the speculative and are, in their own way, quite as fascinating as the text they refer to. Occasionally, he even comments on himself, as when he quotes a fellow annotator of Alice, James Kincaid: "The historical context does not call for a gloss but the passage provides an opportunity to point out the ambivalence that may attend the central figure and her desire to grow up." And then follows with a charming riposte: "I thank Mr. Kincaid for supporting my own rambling." There's a lot of information in the margins (indeed, the page is pretty evenly divided between Carroll's text and Gardner's), but the ramblings turn out to be well worth the time. So hand over your old copy of Lewis Carroll's classic to the kids--this Alice in Wonderland is intended entirely for adults. --Alix Wilber

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Item number (ASIN): 0452006651
Author: Lewis Carroll
Creator: value: Gardner
Role: Editor
ISBN: 0452006651
Languages:
Manufacturer: Plume
Number Of Items: 1
Package Dimensions: 100 x 530 x 790 (hundredths-inches)
Publication Date: July 1, 1974
Publisher: Plume
Binding: Paperback

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Amazon.com customer reviews:

Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Totally beautiful
the book is beautiful, from the paste to the sheets, the way martin added every anottation. totally love it

Rating:

- Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner
I had known about Gardner's "Annotated Alice" for years but only just purchased my copy. I am pleased that I waited. Aside from the enlarged number of annotations in this most text by Gardner, there are now three "Introductory/Forwards" by Gardner which add greatly to the enjoyment of this Edition. Gardner died earlier this year, so this will be the last update by him. A true Collector's Edition, and well priced, for one of the great books of the 19th Century for adults and children alike. A "must" addition to any serious library. Julian Peabody

Rating:

- Annotated Alice: the definitive edition
I was looking for book of Alice in wonderland that included the original drawings, This does and make for an interesting read with the notes on each pages.

Rating:

- MAGNIFYING GLASS REQUIRED!
This is about the font size, NOT the content. Gardner's comments are about a 5 pt. (i.e., smaller than used by newspapers for legal notices). Had I known, I would have gotten the hard back edition.

Rating:

- A whimsical easy classic read
Not the most impressive author in terms of command of language, but it is a classic, enjoyable "children's" story. Notations are perfect in format and content, to make this dive into the rabbit hole an enjoyable one.