Alice and that wonderland: 150 years of rabbit holes & reality in reverse

The Disney production of Alice Through the Looking Glass

It’s been 150 glorious years of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and everyone still can’t seem to get enough of the story. Till the end of August, London has a fascinating interactive theatre event below Waterloo Station called Alice’s Adventures Underground.

Perhaps there will be an app next.

I well remember my copy. It was a small (about three inches square) hardbound, beautifully illustrated book with a red spine.

My mother had bought it for me and a matching blue book (Robin Hood, I think) for my sister.

I was too little to really be reading on my own but if there was any reason to learn quickly to decode the meaning of letters and words, it seemed to be that enchanting book. It had glorious drawings of a young girl going down a rabbit hole, a large rabbit in a waistcoat consulting a fob, a really rather mad tea party, a chaotic game of croquet, a very ugly duchess and an enigmatic Cheshire Cat.

And so it’s been for children all over the world, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ having been translated and adapted (with Alice acquiring a local name) into dozens and dozens of languages.