Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."

"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”

I think it's safe to say that around 90% of the population knows about Alice and her adventures in Wonderland. Whether it's from the Disney cartoon, the Tim Burton adaptation, or the books themselves, the story of Alice is indeed a well-known and iconic one that has persisted through popular culture for a while now. A young girl falls down a rabbit hole into a mysterious land where things don't quite make sense. A caterpillar is hookah smoking, a cat is fading in and out of existence, and there's a tea party that never seems to end. It feels like a fever dream and a fever dream it is.

I decided to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll one Sunday afternoon where I had nothing better to do than cross off some books off my 'to be read' list. I decided to start with this story of Alice when I saw how short it was. I was pleasantly surprised that such a small book could contain as much fantastical nonsense as it does, but hey, don't judge a book by its size.

Don't get me wrong, this book is fun, and I had a good time, but would I read it again? Most likely no. It is a piece of literature that is worth reading, but do I think it warrants more than one read? No, and I say that in the most respectful way possible. Lewis Carroll, in my opinion, is a good writer who beautifully crafts this mystical world before our very eyes, but it is a world that once you've seen all of it, you don't really need to see it again. Nonetheless, it is a charming world that does have an appeal which I imagine is why the story is so popular.