This iconic book is probably known to most youth thanks to the Disney interpretation. Honestly, I’ve never watched it, although I’ve always loved the pink and purple image of the cheshire cat (probably because I’ve always like animals).
Alice and the gang have also been imortalised by Tim Burton (also via Disney),
and many people might recognize the black and macabre version by American McGee.
Most people know the story of Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland and there are hundreds if not thousands of webpages that expound upon the topic. I enjoyed the story, but because the world seems so saturated with the story and its characters, it seems to lose something. Although, I’ve always enjoyed the following poem:
“You are old, Father William,” the young man said,
“And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
Do you think, at your age, it is right?”
“In my youth,” Father William replied to his son,
“I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I’m perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.”
“You are old,” said the youth, “As I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door—
Pray, what is the reason of that?”
“In my youth,” said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
“I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment—one shilling the box—
Allow me to sell you a couple?”
“You are old,” said the youth, “And your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak—
Pray, how did you manage to do it?”
“In my youth,” said his father, “I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life.”
“You are old,” said the youth, “one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose—
What made you so awfully clever?”
“I have answered three questions, and that is enough,”
Said his father; “don’t give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I’ll kick you down stairs!”
Also quite fun, if you’ve read the book, Sporcle (a very fun time wasting website) has a quiz where you’re asked to name all the creatures Alice meets during her adventure in Wonderland. I can’t remember my score, but give it a go! It’s good fun. Clickity Click.
