Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Reviewer: Suchitra Kumar

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is a book written primarily for children, yet it appeals, like Asterix and Harry Potter do, to the adult audience. The ideas in it are at once both simple and complex; it is a book that can be read at many levels.

The book details the wonderful escapades of Alice in a place where things are not always what they seem. There is a dreamlike quality to the myriad incidents, with people and scenes frequently merging into one another.

Rereading this book as an adult, there are many things that strike you.

The first of course is the innovative use of language with puns and synonyms thrown in at random. To an adult, these are amusing and original. To a child, this can serve as an excellent introduction to a humorous style of writing, perhaps a sort of preparatory book for appreciating Wodehouse.

The second remarkable feat of Lewis Carroll is to use fantasy that is tied to the ordinary things of life. He also uses animals as characters, so much so that you come to identify certain traits with certain animals. The characterisation of Alice as an intelligent and inquisitive child is also charming and is sure to strike a chord with all children.

The third and most critically-acclaimed aspect of the book is the use of poetry and parody. In Alice's alternate world, everything from nursery rhymes to famous poetry is parodied exotically and humorously. Original poems like the inimitable "Jabberwocky" also deserve a mention.

I would recommend that those who read this book, also read the sequel Through the Looking Glass, and fully discover what wonderland holds for us all.