Through the Looking GlassLewis Carroll
Various Editions
Though this book is not much better than Alice's Adventures, the chess motif and theme does make the book much more interesting. With the bossy, dominant Red Queen and the quiet, kind, messy white queen, the book is a study in contrasts.
The interweaving of the Nursery Rhyme Characters and the frequent fish poetry references does provide more continuity and a sense of sequential events than Alice's first adventure. I also appreciated the linking of the cat at the beginning and end of the story.
It does still feel like Carroll did way too many opium pipes in his time.
(First written as Journal Reading Notes in 1999.)
I agree with the review, but check out the essay by Taylor in the "64 Square Looking Glass" anthology of chess literature. I reviewed it earlier this month on my blog and on Amazon US. Taylor explains what's going on in the Red Queen's match ingeniously.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great blog of your own, and Merry Christmas to you and your family.