Review of Alice In Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser And Curiouser Edited by William Irwin

by April (Books&Wine) on March 9, 2010

 Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser And Curiouser (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series) Loading-trans Loading... View a preview of this book online Loading-trans Loading... View the full version of this book online Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser And Curiouser, Book Cover, William Irwin

Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser And Curiouser (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series) Loading-trans Loading... View a preview of this book online Loading-trans Loading... View the full version of this book online Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser And Curiouser

Reading philosophy and literary theory related to books I’ve already read is like being given a key. I feel like I’ve unlocked some secrets within the text and have been given a better view of what deeper meanings Alice In Wonderland may contain.

Alice In Wonderland And Philosophy: Curiouser and Curiouser is comprised of four subject sections. Each section is divided into chapters/essays, all written by different authors, typically a professor. Despite each essay being written by academics, it was easy to read and I did not struggle through this.

My favorite essay in Alice In Wonderland And Philosophy: Curiouser And Curiouser was Unruly Alice: A Feminist View of Some Adventures in Wonderland by Megan S. Lloyd which, obviously was a feminist reading of Alice In Wonderland. My inner-feminist loved the portrayal of Alice as a strong girl who knows what she wants, thinks for herself, is inquistive and who is often not well-behaved.

The topics discussed in Alice In Wonderland And Philosophy run the gamut from procrastination to definitions of reality to time perception to Spice World. This was such a cool and smart way to look at a book. I definitely want to pick up the Harry Potter book of the Blackwell series now as well as the The Simpsons book, since I would love to see these takes on pop culture.

Here’s a few quotes that spoke to me:

“Indeed, Alice eats and drinks what she sees, intrudes, barges in, takes her seat at the tea party uninvited, hears a squeaking pencil from one juror and takes it from him, uses her intellect to solve problems, and frequently speaks her mind–everything young women should do.” pg. 9

Preach it, sista.

“Alice’s sister longs for a similar experience, and muses about how these strange tales relieve us from the boredom and dullness of our everyday existence. They brighten the ordinary with excitement and allow us to transcend the commonplace, at least for a while.”

And isn’t that why we all read books? To transcend the commonplace? I think that will be my new excuse when my nose is in a book.

Disclosure: I received this book for review via FSB Associates.

Other reviews of Alice In Wonderland And Philosophy: Curiouser And Curiouser:

Bookfan
Maria’s Space

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April is 24 years old. She is an educator. In her free time she can be found reading, working out, or eating junk food. She often wears her sunglasses at night.

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{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

brizmus March 9, 2010 at 10:54 am

Love the quotes you picked! I'm very interested in reading this book. I didn't realize that each section was written by a different author.
I studied (mathematical) philosophy (and math) as an undergrad, and I love Alice in Wonderland, so I think this book might be one for me!

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Sarah (Book Reviews from Inside an Igloo) March 9, 2010 at 12:12 pm

hmmm very interesting insight into this book. I think this is interesting because I've heard that the author was on acid, or some type of hallucinogenic when the book was written, I'm sure there's a lot of interesting results because of this too!

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Nymeth March 9, 2010 at 3:59 pm

I love those quotes! I can't believe I hadn't even heard of this before. To the wishlist it goes.

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Pricilla March 9, 2010 at 11:29 pm

Interesting. I have not read Alice in Wonderland. :0

thanks for the insights into this book

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....Petty Witter March 10, 2010 at 8:18 am

Saw you mentioned on Alexia's blog (well done on your award) and thought I'd stop by to say hello. I've read such a lot about this book on various blogs and am still undecided on whether to read it or not, opinions seem so divided. Thank you for your thoughts on the matter, I've enjoyed visiting.

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Amy March 10, 2010 at 2:21 pm

This is going on my TBR list! Thanks for the review!

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Jenn-ay March 11, 2010 at 9:07 am

Cool review. I'm actually interested in reading this…it sounds like I'll learn something from this book.

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Misty March 13, 2010 at 2:34 pm

Good stuff. This one sounds interesting, definitely want to get around to it someday.

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Jennifer March 16, 2010 at 1:24 am

This sounds really great. I have learned to really appreciate theoretical looks at literature. It just opens your mind up to new possibilities within a seemingly simple story. Although with Alice I never ever thought that it was simple. This sounds like a delightfully interesting read. Great review. I loved the quotes you shared.

-Jennifer @ justicejennifer.com

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