Alice's Journey Beyond The Moon
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Lenny's description:
This book is presented as a long lost story, recently discovered behind a shelf in Christ Church’s library. It is rumored that Lewis Carroll wrote it as a wedding gift to Alice Liddell, however, for some reason never presented it to her.
R.J. Carter (listed as the annotator and editor, but who is in fact the actual author) added annotations to the margins, trying to explain all the obscure references Carroll is supposed to have added to the story.
The illustrations are from Lucy Wright’s hand. I must say they are quite good, even though they aren’t really to my personal taste.
The book is about Alice, using her father’s telescope to watch the eclipse. Suddenly she finds herself shutting up like a telescope, and she ends up on the moon, where she meets several interesting characters, like the Man on the Moon, the Queen, and Hayah and Hattah.
The story by itself is nice, but lacks creativeness. Several characters from the previous books are recycled, and it contains only very few clever new puns in Carrollian style. Instead, often some lines from the other books are rephrased in a slightly different way. Carter does succeed in having Alice act in her familiar, unemotional but curious way.
Luckily, the annotations add a lot to the story. Just like in Martin Gardner’s ‘Annotated Alice’, they help us determine the date on which the story takes place, link the story to events in Carroll’s life, and explain the parodies on existing works. It is obvious that Carter put a lot of work into researching them. Some ‘hidden meanings’, however, are quite far-fetched, like the doublets, although I thought well of the anagrams.
It may be a good thing that ‘Carroll’ eventually decided not to give the book as a wedding gift to Alice. Although the author obviously went through a lot of trouble to recreate the layers of meaning found in ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the Looking Glass’, it just cannot rival with the originals. But then, which story can?
Seller's description:
"They say that the moon is made of green cheese," said Alice, stroking the lazy cat's belly. "Do you believe that, Snowball? Father says it's nothing more than a great white stone, and I suppose I ought to believe him; but really, how can one be sure without ever having been there?" So begins a truly extraordinary tale as Alice finds herself meeting all manner of strange creatures as she sets off on new adventures. This is a completely new story by R J Carter, but has been presented as if it were a lost Lewis Carroll manuscript, complete with annotations and original illustrations. This book is guaranteed to delight both children and adults.
Product details:
Item number (ASIN): 1903889766
Author: R J Carter
Creator: Lucy Wright, Illustrator
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.8
Edition: 1
ISBN: 1903889766
Manufacturer: Telos Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 98
Package Dimensions: 30 x 580 x 810 (hundredths-inches)
Publication Date: August 25, 2004
Publisher: Telos Publishing
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Release Date: August 25, 2004
Binding: Paperback
Add your own review!
The Third "Alice" indeed
R J Carter misleadingly tells us that this is an original Carroll text, saying that the unfinished story was lost behind a bookshelf in Oxford all this time. While this may not be true, Carter certainly has discovered the Carrollian charm that the story would have contained. It's written with as much love and playfulness as the "Alice" books are, not to mention the astounding puns on par with Carroll himself! A great addition to the "Alice" collector's library.
Four and a half stars
- by Holly "hoshi" Jackso on September 29, 2009
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- terrific addition to the great Alice tales While renovating the library of the Christ Church, Oxford, a series of letters, doodles and a manuscript by Reverend Charles Dodgson is found. Everyone on the project is excited because a new Alice tale, ALICE'S JOURNEY BEYOND THE MOON, has been uncovered amongst the treasure. Since there is no reference to this tale amongst the Dodgson's notes, scholars debate the find, but believe it is an authentic Lewis Carroll Alice story. ALICE'S JOURNEY BEYOND THE MOON as related by Lewis Carroll follows Alice and her cat Snowball debating what makes up the moon with an eclipse on the horizon. Alice wonders could it be made of green cheese and how tasty that would be. Or could it be stone like her father insists? Of course, Snowball mostly purrs in response. Still not sure, Alice feels a visit is in order. She ponders how far the moon can be from her home as she knows the moon is closer than say Russia as she sees the moon, but not Russia. So Alice begins her latest adventure less than a year from her return from the Looking Glass. Lewis Carroll would be proud to include this terrific homage to the great Alice tales as ALICE'S JOURNEY BEYOND THE MOON will entertain children while also providing satire and wit to feed the head of adults as her earlier adventures do. The story line is fun to follow while the footnotes enhance the "discovery" and the fabulous illustrations highlight and enrich the delightful text. R. J. Carter provides a winning Alice adventure that all ages will appreciate while floating along with the heroine. Harriet Klausner
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