Lewis Carroll: A Biography (Part 2)

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This monumental biography was prompted by Morton N. Cohen's belief that the Carroll revealed by the letters, diaries and works was not the same as the Carroll created by his biographers, and it was time to set the record straight. He traces the dual careers of Charles Dodgson, Fellow of Christ Church, Oxford, who made important contributions to mathematics and logic and to the life of the University, as well as being one of the pioneers of photography in Victorian England, and forging strong friendships with children, and of Lewis Carroll, creator of Alice in Wonderland and The Hunting of the Snark, acknowledged masterpieces we still read today and precursors of surrealist writing. No biographer has addressed so judiciously the inner divisions which proved such a creative spur to Carroll's imagination and his genius. The text is enhanced by over 100 of Carroll's photographs and drawings.

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Item number (ASIN): 0736640010
Author: Morton N. Cohen
ISBN: 0736640010
Manufacturer: Books on Tape, Inc.
Publication Date: October 15, 1997
Publisher: Books on Tape, Inc.
Binding: Audio Cassette

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Average Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Comprehensive standard work, now rather outdated
I don't think anyone can fully understand Lewis Carroll without reading Prof. Cohen's book. He is just enormously knowledgable, has edited countless books on Carroll and done a great deal of original research. His approach is painstaking, thorough and methodical. This book has to be the standard work. Having said that, it's rather outdated, most notably in Prof. Cohen's attempts at psychology. He does make several unwarranted assumptions about Carroll's life, and sometimes plays down aspects of it (and of the source material) which do not seem to fit his personal theories. This is particularly notable where it comes to the idea of Carroll as a sort of closet pedophile. Carroll's view of little girls was indeed unusual but nobody saw anything wrong with it in his own cultural context. If he had been born in 1932 or 1982 instead of 1832, every single aspect of his life would have been very different from what it was, and inevitably he would have had a different attitude to the opposite sex, and one which was appropriate for his times (just as the little girls were appropriate in the Victorian age). The secret of a really great biography is to not only give the facts but to reveal the human being behind the cultural trappings, and this is what Prof. Cohen does not quite manage to do. That's why I have given his book four stars instead of the five that in some ways it deserves. Jenny Woolf Author, The Mystery of Lewis Carroll: Discovering the Whimsical, Thoughtful, and Sometimes Lonely Man Who Created "Alice in Wonderland"

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.

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.

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.

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.