This is another of those books that I would have sworn I read years ago. As it turns out, I had never read the actual book. The characters and title are so widely used throughout our culture, it is hard to know what is the real deal and what is just borrowed.
A lot of what I thought I knew about Alice and Wonderland is made up. The actual Alice in Wonderland is both more and less than the added mythology. The plot is less than the myth, but the characters are deeper. Alice is much more like a real little girl. She is precocious and rude and impatient, but tries very hard to be nice. Her struggles to make sense of the craziness reminded me of how hard it can be to figure out real life.
The rest of Wonderland is just as well drawn as Alice. It is a masterful piece of literature and a masterful children's story.
I played the Cheshire Cat when we performed it at the Hovey Players in Waltham. Spent many an evening with the cast and crew analyzing the original book. Amazing story.
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