Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis CarrollMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
After just having finished a theory class, I could see more significance in Alice's uncertainty of who she was. She realizes that she is not the same as she was before, and doesn't quite know who she is now. I loved that the entire book was a dream. Her encounters with the characters were very reminiscent of what would occur in dreams, too: the characters are familiar, but odd, and most of the dialogue was nonsensical. Throughout the book Alice is asked to recall verses that she is supposed to know, but when she recites them they are not quite right, yet she doesn't know how they're supposed to go. Like a dream, the scenes she finds herself in change rapidly with no seeming reason (as when the hall with doors disappears even though she hasn't moved). The ending was weak. Instead of ending with Alice waking, it goes on to focus on her sister musing about Alice and how she would be a wonderful grown up, telling stories to children that would entertain and delight them. I felt it was really odd to switch to the point of view of the sister at the very end.
If the purpose of the book was to be an entertaining story for children, I believe Carroll succeeded. If it was to be an attempt at describing dreamlike thought, I think it was also a success. All in all, it was an interesting story, though I probably won't choose to read it again for purely enjoyment. I'll probably read it to my children, though.
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