Judging from a quick Google, Marilyn probably had the 1924 edition of this collection, with the full title Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through The Looking Glass & The Hunting Of The Snark. My volume contains those three stories, plus Sylvie and Bruno and Phantasmagoria. I haven't read either of those less popular collections, but I can't say they're high on my to-do list.
First, let's talk Alice, my favorite story (or diptych) by Carroll.
I'm not too old to enjoy a good children's story. And unlike The Wizard of Oz, I feel quite certain that Alice was written specifically for children, and was not meant as an allegory or parable. Wizard was not on Marilyn's shelf, and in fact her collection of children's books was quite limited, given the size of the collection on the whole.
I wonder whether Disney's Alice got Marilyn interested in Carroll's works, or whether this was a beloved book from her childhood. She was 25 when Alice debuted in 1951, the same age as I am now, and I certainly haven't outgrown seeing animated movies in the theater.
What can be said about Alice that hasn't been said by millions of other readers? I'm going to echo many of them and say that I appreciate it much more as an adult. Yes, it's a children's story. But it's also a beautiful narrative of escapism, growth, learning, and triumph.
The Hunting of the Snark is not my favorite story by Carroll.
As a pre-teen, I loved nonsense verse. You know what I didn't love as a pre-teen? Sailing narratives. As a jaded adult, I am really not a fan of nonsense verse nor sailing narratives. Snark can be described as both. If that's not enough to forewarn you, think of it as a poor Jabberwocky retcon. Tempted as I am to call it "fan fiction", it's obviously not.
I wonder how many people who buy this volume, or similar volumes, end up reading Lewis's "other classic works". Truthfully, I love the Alice stories (and illustrations), and this was one of the nicest-looking volumes I've seen. I imagine that it would be a good gift for a voracious reader aged 8-14, but I've developed a distaste for nonsense stories. At a cursory inspection, Sylvie and Bruno is a fairly nonsense-heavy fantasy novel, and it (and its sequel) make up a large portion of this volume. I probably should have gone for that 1924 edition.
Up next: Probably not a children's story. Possibly another book I already have on my shelf. Definitely not a sea shanty.
*More on the non-Alice books later. Except for the one on the far right. Not The Disaster Artist, the far right. We don't talk about that one.
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