THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS(Illustrated)

By Lewis Carroll

• Illustrated Edition: Brought to life with 15 enchanting illustrations that complement Carroll’s imaginative landscape.
• Comprehensive Content: Features a detailed summary, in-depth character list, and a well-crafted author biography to enhance the reading experience.
• Timeless Classic: A public domain treasure, allowing readers to delve into this fantastical world without any restrictions.
• Enhanced Reading Experience: Ideal for both Carroll enthusiasts and new readers, offering enriched content for a fuller understanding of this masterpiece.

Step through the looking-glass and tumble into the kaleidoscopic world of Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking-Glass," where imagination paints the sky with whimsy, and words shape the contours of a boundless universe. In this illustrated edition, readers traverse the mirror's other side along with Alice, the embodiment of childhood curiosity, exploring a realm where dreams intertwine with reality, creating a tapestry of vibrant stories and colorful characters.
The journey unfolds in a chessboard world, teeming with living pawns, philosophical insects, and whimsical twins, all knitting the fabric of a land woven with riddles and paradoxes. Carroll's lyrical prose dances with ingenious wit and playful language, crafting a multilayered narrative that explores themes of identity, transformation, and the inexorable passage of time.
In this timeless classic, every chapter unveils a new layer of wonder, resonating with both young readers and adults, inviting all to question the boundaries of their own looking-glasses. Each of the 15 illustrations in this edition breathes life into Carroll’s fantastical creations, enriching the adventurous voyage with visual enchantment and allowing readers to witness the eccentric charm of the looking-glass world.
Beyond the mesmerizing narrative and captivating illustrations, this edition provides a detailed summary, a comprehensive character list, and a meticulously crafted biography of Lewis Carroll, offering readers an enhanced insight into the mind of the literary genius and the creation of this unforgettable odyssey.
"Through the Looking-Glass" stands as a testament to Carroll's unparalleled imagination, a celebration of the extraordinary within the ordinary, and a gateway to exploring the limitless landscapes of our own imaginations. Whether you're revisiting this beloved masterpiece or stepping into Carroll's magical world for the first time, this edition promises a journey filled with wonder, reflection, and endless possibilities.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Micheal Smith
• Release date: Jan 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9791223012680

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) was an English children’s writer. Born in Cheshire to a family of prominent Anglican clergymen, Carroll—the pen name of Charles Dodgson—suffered from a stammer and pulmonary issues from a young age. Confined to his home frequently as a boy, he wrote poems and stories to pass the time, finding publication in local and national magazines by the time he was in his early twenties. After graduating from the University of Oxford in 1854, he took a position as a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church, which he would hold for the next three decades. In 1865, he published Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, masterpiece of children’s literature that earned him a reputation as a leading fantasist of the Victorian era. Followed by Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871), Carroll’s creation has influenced generations of readers, both children and adults alike, and has been adapted countless times for theater, film, and television. Carroll is also known for his nonsense poetry, including The Hunting of the Snark (1876) and “Jabberwocky.”

Book preview

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

BY

LEWIS CARROLL

ABOUT CARROLL

Lewis Carroll (1832-1898), born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was a fascinating figure, an author whose works crossed the whimsical, fanciful, and mathematical. Although he is most known for his literary works Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871), there is much more to learn about this multidimensional character.

Early Life & Education

Carroll was born in Daresbury, Cheshire, England, and was the third of eleven children. He showcased a proclivity for the creative and logical from a young age. Educated at home initially, he revealed a distinct flair for storytelling, often regaling his siblings with bizarre and wondrous tales, a prelude to his later works.

He proceeded to Rugby School and later, Christ Church, Oxford, where he demonstrated an exceptional aptitude for mathematics, earning a First in Mathematics Moderations in 1852. His intellectual pursuits led him to become a lecturer in mathematics at Christ Church, a position he retained until 1881.

The Pseudonym

Lewis Carroll was a clever construction, a play on his real name, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. He translated Charles Lutwidge into Latin as Carolus Lodovicus, then anglicized it to Carroll Lewis and finally reversed it to Lewis Carroll. This pseudonym became the masthead for his literary escapades, allowing him to separate his imaginative creations from his academic work.

Literary Endeavours & Philosophical Inquiries

Beyond the 'Alice' books, Carroll produced works such as The Hunting of the Snark (1876), a symbolic narrative exploring existential themes through a nonsense poem, and Sylvie and Bruno (1889), weaving elements of philosophy and moral allegory.

Carroll’s writings often delved into philosophical inquiries, exploring abstract concepts such as existence, identity, and perception through his enigmatic characters and intricate plots. His approach to intertwining the logical with the illogical blurred the lines between reality and fantasy, creating multi-dimensional worlds replete with philosophical undertones.

The Mathematical Mind

As a mathematician, Carroll focused on the fields of logic, matrix, and geometry. He contributed to the development of mathematical concepts and even devised a method of condensation for evaluating determinants, known as Dodgson’s method. His interest in logical paradoxes and symbolic logic was evident in his work Symbolic Logic (1896).

Photography & Relationships

Carroll also had a passion for photography. He captured poignant images of landscapes, architecture, and individuals, notably creating striking portraits of children, including Alice Liddell, the supposed muse for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Carroll’s relationships with children, often seen through the modern lens, have been subject to much speculation and debate. Nevertheless, his friendships were deemed appropriate by Victorian standards, with his contemporaries describing him as a man of impeccable integrity.

Legacy

Lewis Carroll passed away in 1898, leaving behind a legacy entrenched in both the logical and the fantastical. His explorations of the extraordinary within the ordinary continue to resonate, offering a timeless window into the limitless landscapes of imagination. His innovative approach to storytelling has inspired countless adaptations, renditions, and scholarly interpretations, solidifying his status as a literary luminary and a pivotal figure in the realm of mathematical logic.

SUMMARY

Through the looking glass and What Alice Found There, transports readers to a fanciful universe where imagination transcends reality and rationality dances whimsically with the bizarre. This captivating sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland encourages us to fall down the rabbit hole once more and join Alice, a symbol of adolescent curiosity, on another astonishing voyage.

In this enchanting odyssey, Alice steps through the looking-glass—a mirror—into a world filled with backward logic and living chess pieces, where she navigates a captivating landscape brimming with peculiar creatures and paradoxical riddles. The novel unfurls with Alice's quest to become a queen in a colossal chess game, a journey sprinkled with enigmatic encounters with characters like the melancholic Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the poetic Jabberwocky, and the capricious Red and White Queens.

Carroll's lyrical brilliance and ingenious wit weave a tapestry of playful language and symbolic imagery, crafting a multilayered narrative that explores themes of identity, transformation, and the inexorable passage of time. The story intertwines whimsy with profundity, allowing readers of all ages to delve into its depths and uncover the myriad treasures hidden within its pages.

Through the Looking-Glass is more than a tale; it is a reflection on existence through the innocent eyes of a child, questioning the rigid structures of adult logic and the essence of being. It is a captivating dance of imagination and reality, a timeless masterpiece that continues to allure readers with its charm, ingenuity, and endless possibilities of interpretation. In this mirror world, Carroll not only reflects the world we know invertedly but invites us to ponder upon the relative nature of all things, beckoning us to look beyond the apparent and discover the myriad wonders lurking within the looking glass of our own minds.

CHARACTERS LIST

"Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There teems with a host of eclectic and whimsical characters, each bringing a distinctive flavor to the enchanting narrative. Below is a list of the primary characters that Alice encounters in her journey through the looking-glass:

Alice:

The curious and imaginative protagonist of the story who traverses through the looking-glass into a fantastical world, embarking on a quest to become a queen.

Red Queen:

A domineering and authoritative figure, the Red Queen is one of the chess queens that Alice encounters, providing her with insights about the chessboard land.

White Queen:

A benevolent but somewhat absent-minded chess queen with the ability to remember events from the future, she provides contrast to the Red Queen.

Red King:

The slumbering chess king, whom Tweedledum and Tweedledee assert is dreaming the whole world and all its inhabitants, including Alice.

White King:

The other chess king, who sends his horses and men to rescue Humpty Dumpty after his fall.

Tweedledee and Tweedledum:

Rotund twin brothers who tell Alice the narrative of The Walrus and the Carpenter in tandem.

Humpty Dumpty:

An arrogant and condescending egg-shaped character who discusses semantics and meaning with Alice before taking a great fall.

The White Knight:

A kind but eccentric character who rescues Alice from the Red Knight and shares his inventions and poems with her, representing a symbol of creativity and innovation.

The Lion and the Unicorn:

Two creatures embroiled in a perpetual battle for the crown, offering a satirical representation of the eternal conflict between two equally matched forces.

The Jabberwocky:

A mythical creature mentioned in a nonsensical poem that Alice finds and reads, symbolizing the mysterious and the unknown.

The Bandersnatch:

Another mythical creature mentioned in the Jabberwocky poem, it remains unseen but is described as fast and dangerous.

The Walrus and the Carpenter:

Characters from the story recited by Tweedledee and Tweedledum, they represent duality and the tension between authority and subordination.

Haigha and Hatta (March Hare and Hatter):

Characters from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, they appear briefly as the Red King’s messengers.

The Flowers:

Various talking flowers in the garden, including Tiger-lily, Rose, Violet, and others, each with its own personality, reflecting the diverse nature of the world.

The Fawn:

A creature Alice meets in the forest, symbolizing innocence and the fleeting nature of identity.

Contents

Chapter 1. Looking-Glass House

Chapter 2. The Garden Of Live Flowers

Chapter 3. Looking-Glass Insects

Chapter 4. Tweedledum And Tweedledee

Chapter 5. Wool And Water

Chapter 6. Humpty Dumpty

Chapter 7. The Lion And The Unicorn

Chapter 8. 'It's My Own Invention'

Chapter 9. Queen Alice

Chapter 10. Shaking

Chapter 11. Waking

Chapter 12. Which Dreamed It?

Chapter 1. Looking-Glass House

One thing was certain, that the WHITE kitten had had nothing to do with it:—it was the black kitten's fault entirely. For the white kitten had been having its face washed by the old cat for the last quarter of an hour (and bearing it pretty well, considering); so you see that it COULDN'T have had any hand in the mischief.

The way Dinah washed her children's faces was this: first she held the poor thing down by its ear with one paw, and then with the other paw she rubbed its face all over, the wrong way, beginning at the nose: and just now, as I said, she was hard at work on the white kitten, which was lying quite still and trying to purr—no doubt feeling that it was all meant for its good.

But the black kitten had been finished with earlier in the afternoon, and so, while Alice was sitting curled up in a corner of the great arm-chair, half talking to herself and half asleep, the kitten had been having a grand game of romps with the ball of worsted Alice had been trying to wind up, and had been rolling it up and down till it had all come undone again; and there it was, spread over the hearth-rug, all knots and tangles, with the kitten running after its own tail in the middle.

'Oh, you wicked little thing!' cried Alice, catching up the kitten, and giving it a little kiss to make it understand that it was in disgrace. 'Really, Dinah ought to have taught you better manners! You OUGHT, Dinah, you know you ought!' she added, looking reproachfully at the old cat, and