Lewis Carroll: A Biography

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Lenny's description:
This book is about the intimate and complex life of Dodgson. Cohen analyzes Dodgson's personality, ideas and work by means of previously unavailable family and personal documents, diaries and letters.

The book contains more than 100 of Carroll's black and white photographs and drawings and deals with a.o. Dodgson's attitude towards children, the Alice books, Dodgson's friendships with little girls, his professional triumphs, his social personality, and many more aspects of his life.

Seller's description:
Under the pen name Lewis Carroll, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson became a legend for his children's books, which broke the constraints of Victorian moralism. Thirty years in the writing and drawn from a voluminous fund of letters and diaries, this exemplary biography conveys both the imaginative fancy and human complexity of the creator of Alice in Wonderland. Photos.


Product details:

Item number (ASIN): 0679745629
Author: Morton N. Cohen
Dewey Decimal Number: 828.809
ISBN: 0679745629
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 608
Package Dimensions: 125 x 524 x 803 (hundredths-inches)
Publication Date: November 26, 1996
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: November 26, 1996
Binding: Paperback

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Rating: - Very comprehensive biography
Everything you ever wanted to know about Charles L. Dodgson, and more. The "more" is Cohen's firm belief that Dodgson was a pedophile, but did not act on his inner desires. He was in all ways a Victorian, a chaste and very gifted genius. The book is extremely well written, well researched, and easy to read. Whether or not one agrees with Cohen's view of Dodgson's inner desires, this book is an outstanding addition for any Lewis Carroll fan, from an author who clearly admires and is sympathetic to his subject.

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Rating: - Cohen's Bio has No Peer
I am not going to review Morton's biography as it has been acclaimed for many years since it's publication. What caused me to comment here is the statements by some readers that Cohen's book should be updated due to "new evidence" by Karoline Leach that Carroll was not in love with Alice, but her governess. She further states that the Carroll was not as attracted to children as one is led to believe and the whole "little girl" thing is a myth! I will not comment in great length about this since I am not reviewing HER book, but I feel I must make a few points. Nothing in the diary page that Ms. Leach quotes from proves anything, and is greatly taken out of context. She totally ignores more obvious evidence to the contrary. While many people in Oxford thought Carroll's attentions to be for the governess, this was understandable because to think of a grown Oxford don in love with the Dean's daughter was more far fetched. However, Mrs. Liddell and Carroll himself didn't think so.... Not only did Carroll in his later diaries admit to a long talk with Alice's' mother after her marriage, where he admits to his "foolish" ways (toward Alice) in the past, his estrangement from the Deanery. During that talk, Mrs. Liddell forgives him. (note: that with Alice's marriage, she didn't view Carroll as the "threat" he once was) Ina, Alice's sister in letters to Alice before her death , mentions that she always thought Dodgson was in love with her sister, and when Alice denies this, Ina points out the many times she had been sitting inappropriately on Dodgson's lap and alludes to other incidents. Then, there is the letter to Carroll's uncle, where he is upset at the news that his brother wants to marry 14 year old Alice Jane Donkin. Carroll alludes to the similar problems he himself had gone through with "AL"..now..who could THAT be?? And why DID Alice's mother burn all of Carroll's letter to her daughter? Because of his love for the governess? I think not. While it is certain that Dodgson was not the shy recluse, and had many adult friends including women, and did remain loyal to his girl friends even after they grew up.... a man who spent his time, money, and most of his life devoted to his child-friends is clearly not using it as a smoke screen to meet adult women. If anyone still has doubts about Carroll's love and devotion to Alice, one just has to re-read the framing poems of the two Alice books again. In Through the Looking Glass, published a few years after his falling out with the Liddell family, he wrote: "Still she haunts me phantom wise, Alice moving under skys..never seen by waking eyes... Yeah, he was in love with the governess all right!!!! Read Morton Cohen's book if you seek the truth, as much as we can know, about Lewis Carroll.

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Rating: - Curiouser and Curiouser
Lewis Carroll: A biography Morton Cohen's biography of Charles Dodson ("Lewis Carroll") is an insightful examination of a complex and flawed man. Dodson (1832-1898) was an English clergyman, mathematician, writer and photographer. He is better known to us as the author of "Alice and Wonderland." A prolific correspondent, Dodson wrote thousands of letters and kept extensive diaries, many of which are included in Cohen's book. But there are several gaps in the narrative: his diaries from 1858-1862 are missing, and many pages have been excised with a razor from the remaining ones. Dodson apparently was a man whose conscience bothered him; his diaries contain countless references to "impure thoughts" and temptations, which might be traced to his inordinate fondness for pre-pubescent girls. Dodson made no secret of his affection for children, spending hours in their company, buying them gifts, and photographing them "au naturel." Cohen writes: "ever in the company of children as he grew, he became accustomed not only to their presence but also to their childish ways. In time, perhaps through a combination of biological, spiritual, and psychological forces, this interest developed into a need, an essential component of his own happiness." But this affection, which in today's world would be ascribed to nascent pedophilia, was apparently chaste and innocent. Whatever its origin, it made for memorable literature. "Alice" stands as a monument to the Victorian idealization of the child and to the imagination of one man.

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Rating: - What now?
This book seems dated now and we need a new edition as another reviewer has said. The commentary on Alice Liddell needs to be updated following Leach's work. Some of the claims he makes have been shown to be based on dubious data or to be mistaken, and he needs to modify his text to take account of that. But in many other ways this book is indispensible.

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Rating: - A 5-star portrait with 4-star information
The only real negative about this beautiful and compassionate portrait is the fact that there is some newer information that conflicts with some of what is present in this book. Another edition of the book to address these issues would be welcome, but that doesn't mean this book is obsolete! It is still a very interesting and well-written account of the life of C. L. Dodgson, the man who would become better known as Lewis Carroll, and this book shouldn't go overlooked. If you are only mildly interested (or perhaps not very much at all) in the subject, you will likely find that this book is capable of holding your attention until the end. An excellent starting point for budding Carrollians, but less an excellent *ending*.

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