Through the Looking Glass: Classic Tales Edition

Written by Lewis Carroll

Narrated by B. J. Harrison

Alice sees the other side of the Looking Glass, and enters another world of whimsical enchantment. She encounters argumentative chessmen, Jabberwocky monsters, Tweedledum and Tweedledee and some very insolent flowers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: B.J. Harrison
• Release date: Mar 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781937091354

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, published Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, in 1871. Considered a master of the genre of literary nonsense, he is renowned for his ingenious wordplay and sense of logic, and his highly original vision.

Reviews for Through the Looking Glass

[jrissman_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Through the Looking-Glass (1871) by Lewis Carroll is a funny, relatively short romp through an amusing phantasmagoric countryside. Based on a movie that I saw when I was little, I half-expected this novel to be darker than "Alice in Wonderland," but it's not the case.The story follows Alice as she encounters odd people and creatures, transitioning from one scene to another with the swiftness and inexplicability of a dream. The vast majority of the book is dialogue- Alice only occasionally does anything other than travel or converse. Carroll aims to be funny, and he sometimes succeeds. Overwhelmingly, the humor comes from clever wordplay (words with double meanings, expressions taken literally, etc.), along with the randomness and silliness of some of the non-sequitur comments made by various characters. Alice herself is quite accepting and mostly plays a "straight man" to play off of the Wonderland denizens' eccentricities.One of the highlights of the book is its poetry. Roughly five or six times, Alice encounters someone who sings or recites rhyming verses, which seldom fail to be humorous and enjoyable. The most famous, and probably best, of these is the poem Jabberwocky, but it is not the only good one. I rather liked the one sung by the White Knight shortly before he took his leave of Alice.Despite the book's short length, I did start to tire of it by the end. There is only some much clever wordplay and zany dialogue one can take before it starts to lose its impact. In some ways, the story feels incomplete. It has lots of characters and scenes, but it seems to be in need of a plot. Randomly wandering or transitioning from scene to scene, with only a vague goal (progress on a metaphorical chessboard), is not very satisfying. I think Through the Looking Glass could have been a genuinely great novel if Carroll had figured out how to put more direction and meaning in the story without losing Wonderland's silly charm.

[shanaqui_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Nope, nope, nope, don't like it, can't like it, don't want to like it.Well, actually, probably if I had a really good annotated edition and an in-depth class on it, I could learn to appreciate it. But Lewis Carroll's nonsense just drives me bonkers, and how I'm going to write my essay on this, I don't know. The books are very well done, considering the idea is that they're Alice's dreams (spoiler!) and they definitely manage dream logic very well, but that's not something I'm interested in reading.I mean, my own dreams are annoying enough. I woke up from light sleep last night with these words in my head: 'Are you going to take this seriously, or are you a doughnut?' WHAT. Brain, you make no sense.

[kassilem · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I’ve heard that a lot of people liked this book more than the first, Alice in Wonderland. I found I did myself as well. Perhaps because you get use to the way Carroll writes. Or perhaps because there is more of a goal to the plot here. Alice is working her way to become a queen and the nonsense comes about as she journeys. I’m not entirely sure why this second book caught me more than the first one did, but it did. I liked most everything Alice came across, especially the knights that continued to fall over. It looks as if the Disney movie took from both books to make their classic movie. I also loved the narrator for this book. She did a fantastic job at putting just a touch of incredulity in her voice at the right moments. It was a lovely book to listen to.

[judygibson-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not nearly as good as Alice in Wonderland, this one's rather confusing and gloomy. Maybe at least this is in part due to the marginal commentary in this particular edition. The woodcuts are wonderful, though!

[foof2you · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Another tale of Alice, this time going through the looking glass. Did not find this interesting or entertaining just a bunch of words that meant nothing. Maybe if I was 10 and reading this it might be more interesting or funny.

[jamiem12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So sadly i did an audio book and it was very poorly narrated by different people each chapter. Kinda bad.... Ruined it for me but i know its a good story so i leave 4 stars

[bdgamer-669415 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I knew the Alice books were charmingly weird and random, but I wasn't prepared for such a high level of anarchy. This time around the characters are stranger and even more chaotic than the original. But there's a certain level of fun in them, although it does get rather played out by the end of the story.

I enjoyed the story, but the original was better when it came to memorable characters. Despite being a short read, it'll leave you wondering philosophically about dreams and existence.

[littlerob · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love all things Alice. This edition has beautiful illustrations by Bessie Pease Gutmann.

[etxgardener · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Alice and her cat Dinah step through the looking glass and enter a kingdom of strange creatures and have many adventures. Every once in a while you must re-read these classics.

[readandfindout · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

4.5 stars. Going into it, I expected that I was only going to enjoy select parts of this book. I'm pleased to say that I was wrong! Though the majority of this book is nonsensical, the word play throughout is so fun and endearing. I really loved the whimsy.

[nx74defiant · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

My favorite. I love this book. The Jaberwarky, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and every thing else. I prefer this book to Alice in Wonderland.

[glennbell_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is even worse than Alice in Wonderland due to the lack of sense. Although the story is supposed to be a dream, one would hope for some value from the story. There are some bright spots in that some humor can be found. I do not see the value in reading this story.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Far more intriguing than the original. I enjoyed the chessboard theme.

[thedivineoomba · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've been staying away from this book, I think it was because there was a made for TV movie based on this book that I saw as a kid, and it was rather scary....However, this book is not scary at all, I was expecting more Jabberwocky, and outside of a poem, there was no mention of it all. Generally, this book is nonsensical, with flashes of logic. There is no rhyme or reason to what Alice does, its just nonsensical encounter after nonsensical encounter. This book doesn't have much of relation to the Alice in Wonderland, being set in a different game entirely.I think I preffered the first book better than the second. In this book, Alice has no real reason for doing what she does, just that it happens.Overall, its a fast read and rather enjoyable.

[breton07 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I liked this edition so much. I enjoyed re-reading the book since my childhood. However, being able to see how Lewis Carroll's own illustrations influenced Sir John Tenniel's was inspiring! Their collaboration really worked!I've always felt this book was a second home for me. I had a chance to read about the world as its crazy self. It is a coming of age story about a girl who is curious, outspoken, and opinionated. A great fantasy novel reflects who we are-sometimes hugely important, sometimes small and inconsequential. One of my favorite poems,"Jabberwocky", is in this book.-Breton W Kaiser Taylor

[marsap_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Through the Looking Glass is the sequel to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Set about 6 months, Alice again enters a fantastical world, but this time climbing through a mirror into the world that she can see beyond it. The looking-glass world she enters takes the form of a giant chessboard, the squares divided by hedges and brooks. Nothing is quite what it seems. Carroll explores concepts of mirror imagery, time running backward, and strategies of chess, through stories and characters of the Red and White Queens, the White Knight (who is my favorite character), Tweedledee and Tweedledum, Humpty Dumpty and more. The book is full of full of humor, word play, puzzles and rhymes and well as two poems that have taken on a life of their own "Jabberwocky" and "The Walrus and the Carpenter." Though I enjoyed Alice’s Adventure—this sequel was a nice treat—perfect for the whole family. 4 out of 5 stars.

[bookson23rd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lewis Carroll’s ‘Through The Looking Glass’ was first published over one hundred years ago and is a classic in children’s literature. In essence, it is about the struggle of childhood.
In Alice’s dream there are symbolisms of the constraints on childhood and what one must go through in order to become an adult. Along the way there is practically nothing that she herself does in order to move the story along – everything is presented to her without much option, just like in childhood. She touches a goat’s beard and finds herself sitting under a tree. A fawn will only tell her something if she walks farther into the woods with it. Alice wonders which fingerpost to follow, yet there is only one road.
Near the beginning of the story, she is trying to leave her ‘house’ and get to the top of a ‘hill’, representing the initial struggle.
“So young a child,’ said the gentleman… (he was dressed in white paper), ‘ought to know which way she’s going…” is an example that signifies that the innocence of childhood precedes the decision of goals one must choose for their adult livelihood.
When Alice decides she wants to be Queen, the White Knight, representing purity and goodness, says “I’ll see you safe to the end of the wood…” meaning that if she is pure and good, she will make it through childhood. He also gives her the wise counsel, “The great art of riding…is to keep your balance properly,” meaning that if she continues with moderation in life she will be successful.
At the end, she stands before an arched doorway over which the words ‘Queen Alice’ are written, the arch representing the graduation from child to adult. As an adult she finds her voice and challenges the Red Queen (authority) by demanding that pudding be brought back to the table. Then she “conquered her shyness by a great effort and cut a slice…” and hands it to the Queen. By doing this, Alice is showing that she has become her own person.
This is one of the few older children's classics that I would actually read to a child because it does have good moral lessons in an entertaining environment. The original illustrations are really great. Highly recommended!

[cyderry · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First, I never realized that there were separate adventures for Alice and I was startled to find that one of them included Humpty Dumpty. This was a fun few hours reliving a story from childhood.

[lucybrown_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Alice is (exactly) six months older then when she fell down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. This perhaps is the reason for what I found to be the greatest difference in Alice's adventures in Wonderland and those she had in the Looking-Glass world. Wonderland borders on the nightmarish. Alice is often quite frightened and totally flummoxed by her situations. So distraught is she at one point she ends up swimming in a pool of her own tears. Of course, those tears had been shed when she was much bigger, and, woe, she has shrunk again. In Looking Glass, Alice sometimes becomes irritated with the seeming lack of rationality possessed by the citizens of this backwards world, but rarely to the point of tears or anger. Through her greater maturity at times she is able to remember she is in a mirror land, and her knowledge of the game of chess allows some glimmer of understanding as well. Still some of the word play is a source of perplexity, especially in the case of the words "jam" (iam),the Latin word for a now meaning at that previous time, not meaning at this time, and the rowing terms "feather" and "crab." Besides in Looking-Glass world Alice as a more definite and positive goal - becoming Queen. The "adults" while sometimes vexing or demanding are never as threatening as those of Wonderland. No one is threatening "off with her head." Poor little hedgehogs are not being knocked about by poor flamingos at the Queen's Croquet game. In fact of the inhabitants such as the White Queen and White Knight are endearing in their eccentricity drawing from Alice a bemused sympathy and affection. Yes, Alice faces frustration but as a now older child she takes it in stride. Frequently she thinks about how it would be best not to get into an argument. She has become more disciplined, diplomatic and acquiescent since Wonderland.

There are the obvious differences, one story features characters which are cards, the other chess pieces which explains the oddness of their movements, or in the case of the sleeping king, non-movement. Through the Looking Glass begins the night before Guy Fawkes with Alice indoors watching snow fall on the fields of Oxford. The summer garden where Alice followed the rabbit is covered with snow. Not surprisingly in her new dream she goes into a lush, garden world.

While there are more songs and poems, though Alice rather wishes there weren't, there is less political satire. There have been attempts to interpret the Walrus and the Carpenter as combination portrayal as Buddha/Ganesha and the Carpenter as Christ, the interpretation falls apart when one finds it was John Tenniel who chose the Carpenter from three choices offered by author.

Through the Looking Glass is an amusing book though for me, it lacked Wonderland's psychological and satirical punch. I also miss the fiery, contentious Alice of Wonderland. Alice has grown up quite nicely-perhaps too nicely to be as much fun. However, it is easy to get caught up in Looking-Glass's whimsy. One can't help loving the White Knight who for all of his inventiveness never manages to stay on his horse. What's to be done; that is just the nature of a knight in chess, always confined to their hurky-gurky movement. Never a straight path for them. So it seems with most of us.

My cat, Lucia, would like to point out that Kitty is an offensive name for a cat. She says one should no more name a cat Kitty, than name a baby Baby. Though pleasant enough has a term of endearment, it is no name at all for a cat. She would happily lend her own name in any future revisions of the book. She also says the name Snowdrop is beneath comment.

[joeydag · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

High school. There was a time when I tried to read everything I could find by Carroll

[trilliams · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Less of a commentary than the first book, more of a child-sized acid trip (if that's a thing). Also, Humpty Dumpty is an ass, but you knew that.

[santhony_35 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

For Christmas, I ordered an mp3 player (Library of Classics) that was pre-loaded with 100 works of classic literature in an audio format. Each work is in the public domain and is read by amateurs, so the quality of the presentation is hit or miss. Through the Looking Glass is Louis Carroll’s sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. It introduces us to characters such as Tweedledum and Twedledee, Humpty Dumpty and the Red and White Queens as Alice makes her way across a virtual chess board in an effort to be crowned Queen. The story is too irredeemably silly to appeal to most adults and at the same time too witty and complex for children, raising the question of target audience. Certainly, there are several very amusing and intelligent interactions, with excellent dialogue, but these are few and far between, buried in pages of absurdity. This is a very short work, hard to recommend.

[something_-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I didn't love this one as much as I loved the first one, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which immediately became one of my favourite books. The translation of the poems left a lot to be desired, though that is always a difficult thing to make sound right in a translation. On the other hand, all the word plays one could probably find in english were much harder to come across in portuguese. Also, I dare say the world on the other side of the mirror came across as perhaps a bit too scattered. I plan on giving the english version a go as soon as I get my hands into a copy though.

[librarycatnip · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Much better than Alice in Wonderland.

[behemothing-2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"The shop seemed to be full of all manner of curious things-- but the oddest part of it all was, that whenever she looked hard at any shelf, to make out exactly what it had on it, that particular shelf was always quite empty: though the others round it were crowded as full as they could hold."

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not nearly so good as "Wonderland." Wonderland used more of a central theme. The theme of this one, crossing a very wacky chessboard on the way to becoming a queen, is easily forgotten and the adventures seem choppier. But all in all, some wonderful writing for children. Carroll was extremely creative!

[raselyem7 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Much better than Alice in Wonderland.

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Instead of a rabbit-hole, this time Alice falls through a mirror in her parlor into the fantastical realm of Wonderland. She encounters Humpty Dumpty, a variety of monarchs, and has the chance to become a queen if she can venture through a countryside arranged as a chessboard. Similar to the previous novel in its nonsensical happenings, Through the Looking-Glass nevertheless dives further into questions about life, knowledge, and perception than Alice in Wonderland.

[sbloom42 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While this book is chock full of puns and wordplay, I didn't like it as much as "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". The structure of the story is setup so that Alice moves from square to square across a chessboard in her dream, and I found the linerality of that movement much less enjoyable to read than the circularity of "Wonderland". Lewis Carroll also breaks into the story multiple times to tell the reader how Alice interpreted her dream upon waking, and I found that to be intrusive. I'd much rather have the author leave me guessing about whether or not the story is a dream, as he does through most of "Wonderland". But I did enjoy the wordplay and how most of the characters in Alice's dream interpret words and phrases literally and how that leads to miscommunications. I think this is a good story for children who are slightly older than ones who would enjoy "Wonderland".

[thatotter-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.