You might find this NPR podcast with Melanie Benjamin, where she talks about Lewis Carroll, interesting. There's also a photo of 7-year-old Alice Liddell.
Fascinating. I must buy the book, though the photo which she makes so much of is well-known, indeed the most well-known of all the photos of Alice, and some of her "facts" are disputable.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
Incidentally I've seen that picture hundreds of times and never once considered it to be worldly, frank, womanly or - as the podcast suggests - sultry. I think these value judgements show more about the mind of the author than anything else.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
To me. she looks bored. That's not really surprising, given the long exposure times necessary then. It always seems like purgatory to a 7-year-old to have to stay still for any length of time.
The excerpt from the book was interesting, but it's not about the 'real' Alice. The book is a novel, and cannot depended on in any way for insights into her personality. As Bob says about the impression on her made by the photograph, the book might tell us something about the author, though.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I'll be posting I've posted my review on my blog very shortly as I saw the movie a couple of hours ago. It's quite possible you may want to see the film before reading it.This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
