Through the Looking Glass (And What Alice Found There)

By Lewis Carroll

Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) is a work of children's literature by Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson), generally categorized as literary nonsense. It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). Although it makes no reference to the events in the earlier book, the themes and settings of Through the Looking-Glass make it a kind of mirror image of Wonderland: the first book begins outdoors, in the warm month of May, on Alice's birthday (May 4), uses frequent changes in size as a plot device, and draws on the imagery of playing cards; the second opens indoors on a snowy, wintry night exactly six months later, on November 4 (the day before Guy Fawkes Night), uses frequent changes in time and spatial directions as a plot device, and draws on the imagery of chess. In it, there are many mirror themes, including opposites, time running backwards, and so on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Booklassic
• Release date: Jun 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9789635231539

Lewis Carroll

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll (1832–1898), was an English writer, mathematician, logician, deacon and photographer. He is most famous for his timeless classics, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. His work falls within the genre of ‘literary nonsense’, and he is renowned for his use of word play and imagination. Carroll’s work has been enjoyed by many generations across the globe.

Book preview

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Reviews for Through the Looking Glass (And What Alice Found There)

[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.

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

Also a fun romp through a nonsensical land, but Alice is a bit annoying in this book and the characters a bit less fun. The book skates between organized and complete nonsense, when it should stick with one or the other. Overall a wonderful book but not for readers who like order and a straight plot line!

[cayenneellis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I just wrote a big review and accidentally deleted it. Sigh.This was a good book. I definitely enjoyed it! But I don't think it really stood up to the first Alice. This nonsense book seemed a little more nonsensical, with less rhyme or reason behind it. The sense that I think I was supposed make out of it came to me later than it should have; the kittens = the queens? Whoops! I did really enjoy the inclusion of all the poetry in this volume, however, and I was also surprised at the inclusion of so much iconic Alice canon such as Tweedledum and Tweedledee as well as The Jabberwocky. I would recommend this book if for no other reason than what an easy read it was, even if you're worried you might not like it - I read it start to finish cover to cover. It was definitely cute and worth reading.

[bereneezypie · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Although I like this book, I didn't find it nearly as entertaining as Alice in Wonderland. In Wonderland, it seemed as if the silliness came natural, whereas this book seemed to be forcing it a little (at the times it was silly).

[vwhitt_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The second installment of Alice’s adventure happens when she travels through the looking glass on the mantelpiece. In this looking glass house she finds a room not unlike her own. While there, she is introduced to new creatures such as live chess pieces, talking flowers, insects, and an egg (which can be seen in the original cartoon of Alice in Wonderland). This looking glass world is just as interesting as Wonderland was. Here, Alice meets both the Red and White queen (from the chess board). They tell her she can become a queen too. In order to do that, she must move through the various levels of the looking glass world like one would a chess game. At the celebration, things went haywire and Alice awoke in her drawing room. Just like in Wonderland, she was left wondering if she dreamt it all. I really like both this tale and the tale of Wonderland for children because it allows them to imagine and dream. These are traits every child should harvest. They are also traits parents should encourage rather than suppress like many today are. Details: This novel was writtent o interest children in grades 3-6 and is on a 5.9 reading level

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this sequel less entertaining than Wonderland. The basic idea of a topsy turvy world within a mirror and the Red and White Queens being Alice's kittens is good, but I found a lot of this a bit flat. The Jabberwocky is a great nonsense poem, though. 3.5/5

[tiffanyak_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The version I actually read was an online edition with all the same illustrations and such. I found it to be just as much fun as the original, with more fun twists and turns with the language used especially. It's certainly not just for children, as there is much there for adults as well. If you liked the original, you'll like the sequel as well.

[ombwarrior47 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I honestly didn't care much for this book. I enjoyed the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum but the queens just annoyed me half the time and I thought that it could have been better developed overall.

[ccookie_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

First line:~ One thing was certain, that the white kitten had had nothing to do with it: — it was the black kitten’s fault entirely ~I found my reaction to this book pretty much the same as my reaction to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. I enjoyed some of it but mostly found it tedious and boring. Just not enough in there for me. Or else I am not seeing what is in there?I did, however really get a kick out of the Jabberwocky and The Walrus and the Carpenter. They alone are worth the read! (Poems 4.0 stars)

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

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

[andyray_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

this is an in expensive hardback American reprint from Burt & Co., 1915, but complete with Teneille's etchings. I was surprised to find the poem "Father Williams" not in this volume. Now I wonder where I have read it. The only poem I remember well from my first reading (circa 1952) is "The Carpenter and the Walrus" and their feasting on the little oysters. Somehow it doesn't seem so terrible as it did back then. Possibly my senses have been jaded by reams of King and Koontz and Freddy Kruger.This, along with "Alice in Wonderland" which are often published together, remains Thomas Dodgson's most enduring works.

[hippielunatic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was not thoroughly impressed with this book, at least with the prose portions of it. I will have to give Carroll credit, though. His poetry is able to calm the fiercest roars of my infant.Perhaps it would have helped my view of the book had I read Alice in Wonderland first.

[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.

[lilibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this sequel to Alice in Wonderland, Alice goes through a mirror, meets the red and white queens, and becomes part of a life-sized chess game with very interesting and unusual characters.

[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.

[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".

[jaguar897 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Audio. This never picked up for me. I found the narrator boring and I think he is the same guy that narrated The Secret Benedict Society which I also never finished. I absolutely hate his voice. The story itself made no sense and jumped from one scene to the next. Tweedledee and Tweedledum were annoying and the narrator’s voice didn’t help matters either. I won’t be picking this one back up.

[rollchan_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Alice was through the looking-glass.She become chess piece abd move on the looking-glass world as a piece.She meet many strange characters there.In the end,you will notice whose dream is it!I like Hampty Dumpty best of all characters.When he uses a word,he decides the means what he choose it to mean,for example an unbirthday-present which means a present we are gave except an our birthday,364days in a year.In this story,many poems appear

[msnikki · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The follow-up to Alice in Wonderland. I simply could not ignore the sequel, if I dare call it that.

[jcamilo_720582 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a sequel of Alice in Wonderlands, but rather than a continuity, it tells a different, yet similar story. Again Carroll explores the paradoxes of life and build a masterwork of fantasy and literature.

[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.

[jensenc_6 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Much better than Alice in wonderland, but still just ok.

[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.

[she_climber · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This has to top my list as the worst book ever. I wouldn't have even finished it other than it was so short. It is nothing but endless blather following utter nonesense in between dialouge so circular that it gave me motion sickness. How is this a classic??