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.

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.

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.

I was going to say "distracted" but "bored" seems to cover it.

(And no, by "distracted", I don't mean that someone has taken away her books.)

quote:

(And no, by "distracted", I don't mean that someone has taken away her books.)

That should be in the "dis- game" thread in Word Games (if it isn't already).

Actually Alice would only be distracted if she lost some real estate.

Agreed about the photo, Bob. I have often seen it, even though I am not necessarily an Alice afficionado.

I will read the book, though.

The new Alice movie is out now, and here are a couple of articles about it: link and link.

We're definitely going to see it.

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, I want to read it. I'm going to your Blog now.

I've gone and commented. Excellent analysis!

Could you repost the comment, I've accidentally lost it.

Sure thing. BTW, how did you get 14 followers? I am so jealous...with my mere 2.

Most are my friends.
A couple are people whose blogs I follow.
One is, sadly, jerry - I left him there as a kind of silent tribute.