Ya estamos ad portas de la Navidad y es tiempo de decidirse! O traes algo que de verdad quieres o te conformas con lo que encuentras en Chile… no creemos que sea muy difícil elegir.

Pero como uno nunca esta muy seguro de lo que busca te ofrecemos un par de ideas para regalar Literatura… si, libros, porque somos adictos a ellos!

Star Wars Encyclopedia, $61.000.-

Desata el lado ñoño de la fuerza con esta maravilla! La “Star Wars Encyclopedia”. Todo absolutamente TODO lo que debes saber acerca de la saga de ciencia ficción más importante de todos los tiempos en tres tomos de tapa dura que incluyen cientos de ilustraciones y referencias a los más mínimos detalles del universo Star Wars.

Divine Comedy de Dante Alighieri, $20.000.-

Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide Deluxe Edition de Douglas Adams, $20.000.-

The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll, $20.000.-

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, $20.000.-

The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, $20.000.-

Todas estas ediciones vienen en tapa dura cubierta de cuero y con ilustraciones. Son posiblemente las mejores ediciones que podrás encontrar por este precio. Son nuestra mas importante recomendación para quienes estiman las ediciones bien cuidadas de las mas grandes obras de la literatura universal.

Necronomicon I de H.R. Giger, $39.000.-

Necronomicon II de H.R. Giger, $39.000.-

El trabajo de Giger inspirado en la obra de H.P. Lovecraft recopilado en dos tomos extraordinarios, tapa dura.

Children of Hurin Deluxe Edition, J.R.R. Tolkien, tapa dura y cubierta protectora, $45.500.-

"The Lord of the Rings", Edición del 50 Aniversario, tres tomos en uno, tapa dura y cubierta protectora, incluye tambien "The Book of Mazarbul" del cual Gandalf lee un extracto en la tumba de Balin en Moria, un apendice para decifrar los escritos enanos y más, $50.000.-

The Histories of Middle Earth de J.R.R. Tolkien, $25.500.-

Tolkien en todas sus expresiones, ya sea en su obra más importante como en las historias que la rodean. Todo recopilado en las ediciones más codiciadas de la tierra…

Star Wars Box Set, los 6 episodios originales hechos novela, $22.500.-

Star Wars: The Ultimate Visual Guide, la mas completa recopilacion fotografica de la saga de George Lucas, tapa dura, $20.000.-

Más Star Wars, porque el cine simplemente no sería lo mismo sin Darth Vader.

The Treasures of Dali, una coleccion de memorabilia de lujo, incluye fotografias y reproducciones de sus obras, $22.500.-

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, en tres tomos tapa dura, una joyita imperdible, $99.000.-

Estas son sólo sugerencias de lo que puedes encontrar por precios increíbles en internet. Si encuentras algo que desees cotizar envíanos el link a kthulu.shop@gmail.com y te responderemos a la brevedad.

Kthulu Shop, acerca a tus manos lo que está más allá de la pantalla!

Auction for The Real Alice’s 1st Edition

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091124/media_nm/us_books_alice

Si le Lapin Blanc n’avait pas autant bu, il aurait prit conscience de l’inacceptable réalité : il était bel et bien le dernier de son espèce.
Si le Lapin Blanc n’avait pas fini la chope de whisky de Monsieur Dodo, il n’aurait pas tenté de séduire Alice, le chat de Cheshire, la Tortue Fantaisie ni le le Valet de Coeur. Ni une quelconque chenille opiomane. Il n’aurait pas même concrétisé avec le Chapelier Fou.

Lors de nos séances de thé alcoolisé, j’en arrive à me demander ce que serait sa vie s’il avait pu vivre son amour avec la Reine.
S’il n’avait pas dragué Alice, le chat de Cheshire, la Tortue Fantaisie et le Valet de Coeur. Ainsi qu’une chenille pyromane. Puis concrétisé avec le Chapelier Fou.

Aurait-il passé moins de temps couché sur le divan analytique, à fixer ses grandes pattes arrières comme s’il s’agissait d’une horloge poilue ?

Acalculie.

On this Day of Thanks (here in the U.S. in any case), it behooves one to call out– indeed, to celebrate– those things that bring warm happiness, that nourish the soul.  Your correspondent humbly nominates “The Book of the Month,” a service of the Special Collections Department of the Library of the University of Glasgow.

There’s no “negative option”– so no unwanted deliveries as a result of failing to post the refusal card– just one wonderful book showcased after another.  This month’s featured tome, appropriately to the anniversary celebrated in (R)D two days ago, is Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872).

Man, Terrified

Chimpanzee, Sulking

Visit the Book of the Month archive and enjoy!

As we browse to our heart’s content, we might recall that it was on this date in 1864 that Oxford mathematician and amateur photographer Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson– aka Lewis Carroll– delivered a handwritten and illustrated manuscript called “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground” to 10-year-old Alice Liddell.  The original (on display at the British Library) was the basis of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland…

source

Now that’s something for which to give thanks!

This Saturday, Cinefamily in Los Angeles is showing a rarely screened version of Alice Wonderland featuring stop motion animation by Lou Bunin. It looks fun:

Why “rarely screened,” you ask?  Well, it’s a classic case of Disney co-opting a public domain story to the point that they think they own it.  Somehow Disney lawyers managed to bury this 1949 version in enough legal crap to suppress it and avoid competition with their own animated adaptation in production at the time.  Of course, this is not to say anything of how Lewis Carroll’s trippy tale had already been adapted five times prior.  See kids, Hollywood remakes are nothing new.  And neither is poor regulation of big business and disrespect of the public domain.

Las aventuras de Alicia en el país de las maravillas (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), a menudo abreviado como Alicia en el país de las maravillas, es una obra de literatura creada por el matemático, sacerdote anglicano y escritor británico Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, bajo el más conocido seudónimo de Lewis Carroll. El cuento está lleno de alusiones satíricas a los amigos de Dodgson, la educación inglesa y temas políticos de la época. El país de las maravillas que se describe en la historia es fundamentalmente creado a través de juegos con la lógica, de una forma tan especial, que la obra ha llegado a tener popularidad en los más variados ambientes, desde niños o matemáticos hasta psiconautas.

En esta obra aparecen algunos de los personajes más famosos de Carroll, como el Conejo Blanco, el Sombrerero, el Gato de Cheshire o la Reina de Corazones; quienes han cobrado importancia suficiente para ser reconocidos fuera del mundo de Alicia.

Sólo se conservan 23 copias de la primera edición de 1865, de las cuales 17 pertenecen a distintas bibliotecas, estando las restantes en manos privadas. El libro tiene una segunda parte, menos conocida, llamada A través del espejo y lo que Alicia encontró allí (Through the looking-glass, and what Alice found there, de 1871). Varias adaptaciones cinematográficas combinan elementos de ambos libros.

La obra ha sido traducida a numerosos idiomas, incluido el esperanto. En 1998, un ejemplar de la primera edición del libro fue vendido en subasta por la suma de 1,5 millones de dólares, convirtiéndose así en el libro para niños más caro hasta ese momento.

La historia relatada en el libro tuvo tres fases. La primera y más importante comenzó de manera casual, durante un paseo en barco por el río Támesis el 4 de julio de 1862. En el paseo, Lewis Carroll estaba acompañado por el reverendo Robinson Duckworth, y por las tres hermanas Liddell: Lorina Charlotte, Alice y Edith, de trece, diez y ocho años respectivamente. El viaje por el río había comenzado en el Puente Folly, cerca de Oxford, Inglaterra, y recorrería ocho kilómetros, hasta Godstow, antes de volver a Christ Church, en Oxford. Según el diario de Dodgson y los testimonios que Alice Liddell dio años después; el calor estival era tan intenso, que obligó al grupo a refugiarse en la orilla del río, a la sombra de unos almiares. Para pasar el tiempo, Dodgson contó a las niñas una serie de historias disparatadas, que llamó “Las aventuras subterráneas de Alicia”. Según los relatos del propio Dodgson, de Alice Liddell y de Duckworth, el autor improvisó la narración, que entusiasmó a las niñas, especialmente a Alice.

La segunda fase comenzó cuando Dodgson decidió recrear aquellos relatos y escribir una historia con ellos. Esta decisión fue tomada tras la insistencia de las niñas, especialmente Alice, quienes habían quedado entusiasmadas por la historia. Según una carta enviada a Duckworth, pasó la noche en vela, dedicado a recordar la extravagante historia que había relatado a las niñas en el río. Sin embargo, Dodgson no comenzó la escritura inmediatamente. Según una entrada de su diario, fue cuatro meses después, el 13 de noviembre del mismo año, cuando Charles Dodgson comenzó a escribir el manuscrito de Las aventuras subterráneas de Alicia. Dodgson terminó de escribirlo en febrero de 1863, y en seguida procedió a hacer las ilustraciones, las cuales terminó en septiembre de 1864. Como detalle final, el autor incluyó un retrato ovalado de Alice Liddell en la última página. Alice Liddell recibió el manuscrito terminado e ilustrado por el autor, en noviembre de ese año.

La fase final consistió en el desarrollo posterior del manuscrito hasta su versión definitiva. Según el diario de Dodgson, en la entrada del 9 de mayo de 1863, George MacDonald y su esposa le manifestaron su deseo de ver publicado el manuscrito.] A Dodgson le agradó la idea, y comenzó a reescribir el manuscrito para su publicación. En el desarrollo del libro, Dodgson añadió dos capítulos, además de extender considerablemente otros dos.

Las ilustraciones del manuscrito original estaban hechas a mano y con pluma. Esta vez, el autor trató de hacer un trabajo más refinado, intentando hacer los dibujos en madera. Después de varias tentativas, concluyó que este método le llevaría un tiempo superior al que podía dedicar a la tarea, por lo que decidió buscar a un ilustrador profesional. Dodgson procuraba obtener figuras de clara silueta, y pensaba que el ilustrador inglés John Tenniel era el más adecuado para el trabajo. En una carta dirigida al dramaturgo Tom Taylor, fechada el 20 de diciembre de 1863, Dodgson le solicita su intercesión para contactar a Tenniel y convencerlo de ilustrar la obra.

Un mes después, Dodgson y Tenniel entraron en contacto, y, en abril de 1864, este último aceptó hacer treinta y cuatro ilustraciones, que pasarían a ser cuarenta y dos, en octubre de ese año. Dodgson le entregó una fotografía de la niña Mary Hilton Badcock para que la utilizara como modelo para Alicia. No se sabe si Tenniel aceptó la propuesta. Por un lado, por lo que se puede apreciar en las ilustraciones, parece que sí, pues la Alicia que Tenniel dibujó es muy semejante a Badcock. Sin embargo, una entrada en el diario de Dodgson da a entender que Tenniel había rechazado el utilizar un modelo, y creó la imagen del personaje desde cero.

Mientras Tenniel hacía las ilustraciones, Dodgson pensó que el título original sonaba demasiado escolar, como si se tratara de un texto sobre minerales; por lo que se dedicó a barajar otros nombres para la obra. En junio de 1864, nuevamente consultó a Taylor a través de una carta. En esta le sugiere varios títulos, y le pide ayuda para escoger uno. Los títulos que Dodgson concibió eran La hora dorada de Alicia, Alicia entre los elfos, Alicia entre los duendes, y combinaciones de “La hora de Alicia…”, “Acciones de Alicia…”, “Las aventuras de Alicia…” con “…en el país de los elfos” o también “…en el país de las maravillas”.

En la misma carta, el autor expresa su preferencia por usar el título “Las aventuras de Alicia en el país de las maravillas”, título que fue finalmente adoptado. John Tenniel entregó las ilustraciones terminadas en mayo de 1865, y el libro fue publicado el 24 de mayo de ese año por Macmillan and Co., con un tiraje de dos mil ejemplares. Dodgson solicitó que le fueran reservados cincuenta ejemplares para sí. Sin embargo, Tenniel se mostró insatisfecho con el resultado de las impresiones, por lo que el libro no fue vendido en Inglaterra. En vez de eso, los ejemplares fueron vendidos al editor neoyorquino Appleton, quien cambió la portada y publicó la primera edición estadounidense.

En Inglaterra, Macmillan preparó una nueva edición que apareció en el otoño de 1865, aunque con la fecha “1866″ impresa. De los nuevos dos mil ejemplares, Dodgson solicitó que uno de ellos recibiera encuadernación especial, en vitela blanca, para obsequiarlo a Alice Liddell. El libro obtuvo gran popularidad en poco tiempo; las traducciones al alemán y al francés fueron publicadas en febrero y agosto de 1869, respectivamente.

Años después, en 1890, Dodgson publicó una nueva versión de Alicia, llamada “Alicia para los pequeños” (“The nursery Alice”), orientada hacia los niños menores de cinco años.

Fuente Wikipedia

For my capstone course (basically a senior thesis class in which we do way more work than should be condensed into a 14-week period) we are to bring a “one page senior gift” to hand out to the class on the day we present. One page of whatever we want to give them – cookie recipes, tips for success in our chosen field, takeaways from our presentation, were just a few of the suggestions. Let me tell you what I think of that: um, lame.

I am not Martha Stewart or in the third grade, so cookies are out. I’m not a professional yet, and don’t feel fully qualified to give my peers tips on being a successful cause marketer. Not to mention the fact that no one else in my class cares about my project anyway.  Which is why a list of takeaways is out, too. We’ve already sat through enough pointless two-minute speeches as a class on what each of us is researching, has learned from interviews and plans to do for our final project. I could not care any less about what other people are doing, and therefore refuse to waste paper by giving my classmates a handout of my main presentation points.

So, that leaves me with…what? Well, I finally decided. I don’t care if my “one page senior gift” makes me appear pretentious or nerdy. I don’t care if my peers read it once and throw it out. I don’t even really care if they understand it. I’m giving them a poem taken from the very end of Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. That’s right.

I’m THAT girl. Oh, and I’m stapling my new business cards to the top so they have my contact information should they choose to call or e-mail me about how obnoxious my “one page senior gift” is. Don’t worry, I chose the poem for a reason.

I just finished reading both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass last week and loved every second of my trip through Carroll’s bizarre world. I felt as mad as a hatter and as confused as the white rabbit. It was great! The reason I loved it so much was because it was just a fun, completely ridiculous, wholly pleasurable read that I think every one should take more time to enjoy. If my peers get anything out of my “one page senior gift” I hope it is the thought “I should read more often” or, at least a thought. That’s the point of the poem – I want my classmates to read it and THINK. Plus, if you read the poem carefully enough, it has an important meaning for college seniors about to enter the real world…or really anyone for that matter.

If Lewis Carroll Had Written Twilight. Aqui.

Foi presente do Matias.

Danny, he said, was certain to have been left “with a lifetime’s worth of emotional scars” after his experiences at the Overlook, where his father was possessed by the hotel, tried to kill him and his mother and eventually died.

I’m going to guess two things.  The first being Stephen King isn’t going to name the sequel to The Shining, The Shining 2: Danny Torrance Boogaloo.   Secondly, I’m guessing he’s not going to get Stanley Kubrick to do the film adaptation.

Lit.

• Gigantic continues their Stories in Three Lines.

• L Magazine talks to Jonathan Lethem.  Lethem calls himself “old.”

• Some Rimbaud on Dennis Coopers blog.

• Ever wonder what it would be like if Lewis Carroll had written Twilight? Well, here is your chance to find out.

• Everybody is getting excited for the release of the San Francisco Panorama.  Even the New York Times.

• Top ten short-story collections of the 00’s.

• Somebody blogged the David Foster Wallace conference. (Thanks The Millions)

Thanksgiving is a warped holiday.

• But here is some classic poetry in celebration of the holiday so you can get in touch with your inner pilgrim.

• So warped that the holiday has become synonymous with Detroit Lions football.

Fucked in Park Slope, literally.

• Some heavy drama going down at my favorite little coffee shop.

Dear WFMU,

• Thanks for all you do.  Especially wanna thank you for this live Grass Widow set you gave us.

Poems by Dr Seuss
Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
Burglar Bill – Janet & Allan Ahlberg
Fantastic Mr Fox – Roald Dahl

Oil on linen, 6″ x 6″. In fond memory of that year when Mom and I were so crazy that we dressed the cat up in baby clothes.

Also vaguely related to thoughts of Lewis Carroll’s Alice.

“I’m sure I’ll take you with pleasure!” the Queen said. “Two pence a week, and jam every other day.”
Alice couldn’t help laughing, as she said, “I don’t want you to hire ME – and I don’t care for jam.”
“It’s very good jam,” said the Queen.

“Well, I don’t want any TO-DAY, at any rate.”
“You couldn’t have it if you DID want it,” the Queen said. “The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day.”
“It MUST come sometimes to “jam to-day,” Alice objected.
“No, it can’t,” said the Queen. “It’s jam every OTHER day: to-day isn’t any OTHER day, you know.”
“I don’t understand you,” said Alice. “It’s dreadfully confusing!”

The following chunks of factoids on Alice, chess, and conspiracy theories all come courtesy of that there ol’ wiki: let it take you for a spin today!

Most main characters met in the story are represented by a chess piece, with Alice herself being a pawn. However, the moves described in the ‘chess problem’ cannot be carried out legally due to a move where white does not move out of check (a list of moves is included – note that a young child might make this error due to inexperience).

Although the chess problem is generally regarded as a nonsense composition because of the story’s ‘faulty link with chess’, the French researchers Christophe LeRoy and Sylvain Ravot have argued that it actually contains a ‘hidden code’ by Carroll to the reader.

The code is supposed to be related to Carroll’s relationship with Alice Liddell, and apparently contains several references to Carroll’s favorite number, 42.

The theory and its implications have been criticized for lack of solid evidence, misrepresenting historical facts about Carroll and Alice, and flirting with numerology and esotericism.

Oh, no, not esotericism. I simply cannot brook such a thing.

Previous Alice anticipation posts can be found here.

I never thought I would recommend a poem first, but I had to after reading the poem “Jabberwocky” while doing a literature unit on Lewis Carroll’s works. Lewis Carroll, born in 1832, was an English author best known for writing Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The poem “Jabberwocky” can be found in his novel Through the Looking-Glass– a follow-up to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

In the poem, Lewis Carroll makes up outlandish, yet catchy, words. He places the main characters in a distorted, unreal world filled with strange, menacing animals and beasts. It’s a poem about the relationship of a father and a son, bravery and conquest, and the joy of victory.

Even though the poem has animals, or beasts, that I have never heard of and many words you’d never find in a dictionary*, there is something very familiar about the beasts and words Carroll dreams up. They match close enough with things that are real making this nonsense, or “no-sense,” whimsical, and silly tale easy to understand.

You can read the poem here.

*[Editor's Note: Lewis Carroll's made-up words are often called portmanteaus, which blend two or more existing words together to form a new one. Newly-created words, in general, are referred to as “neologisms.” ]

Shock! After weeks of listening to my professor drone on about his opinions about things half a world away (trust me, after a while listening to this and getting far behind bookwise, you’d get tired of it too). But in the past few days he’s introduced stuff that I actually enjoyed doing. Some were sorites by Lewis Carroll. Such as:

1. Babies are illogical;
2. Nobody is despised who can manage a crocodile;
3. Illogical persons are despised.

From which we can logically infer that babies cannot manage a crocodile. Fun? Actually, yes. Ironically, my mind often works in this way, and when we moved on to other sorites, I was usually able to pick out the conclusion without going through the process of eliminating the unneeded information via paper. It was fun. Strange, but fun.

Then today we got a math problem! Yay! I love math, and to have a math problem, even one like the one we had today, was so much fun to do and to look at and figure out. My only regret was that he didn’t give us enough time to figure it out on our own before this one girl solved it very fast. So she got to go up and explain it as I was trying to finish mine off and before most people had even figured out how to start. Annoying!

Anyway, it’s been a pleasant surprise to be able to go to Logic Class dreading the hour spent there and leave in a better mood. The entire rest of the quarter, it’s been the other way around.

That is what I learned today.

A BOAT, beneath a sunny sky
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July –

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear –

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die:
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream –
Lingering in the golden gleam –
Life, what is it but a dream? — Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass, Chapter XII: “Which Dreamed It?”

The poem is an acrostic. Going down, the first letter of each line spells out “Alice Pleasance Liddell.”

If you read my post from yesterday on all the reasons Fair Trade alone isn’t enough to save the coffeelands, you may be feeling a bit discouraged.  I wish I could say I am sorry, but to me, that sounds like success.  I feel like if we are going to make progress on the structural sources of persistent poverty and hunger in the coffeelands, we need to move away the tidy, stick-to-the-script promotions of Fair Trade and embrace some of the messiness of it all.  And when I say “we” I mean all the stakeholders in the “sustainable coffees model“: farmers and farmer organizations, the NGOs and research institutes that support them, the companies that buy their coffee, the consumers that drink it, the donors who fund work in the coffeelands, and the academics who help us situate all this activity in some kind of coherent framework of transformative action.

One of my favorite passages in this regard comes from three participant-observer academics who have expanded the frontier of our understanding of sustainability with their work in the coffeelands and the classroom: Ernesto Méndez of UVM, Chris Bacon of Berkeley and Jonathan Fox of Santa Cruz.  (The quintessential image of the participant-observer. Hemingway went to report on the Spanish Civil War.)  The following excerpt comes from a chapter they co-authored in the excellent book on sustainable, farmer-led approaches to coffee, and combines the elements of what needs to come next.

“It is important to move beyond the conventional agronomic response to coffee crises, which has sought to support farmers by diversifying the crops within coffee plantations. Examples of this include intercropping bananas, oranges or timber with existing coffee and shade trees. This response has been continuously repeated through cyclical coffee price crises since the 1930s, with very limited success. To move beyond crop diversification and into livelihood diversification it is necessary to start with a deeper understanding of the current farm household characteristics and strategies…This knowledge forms the basis for a process, which is led by farmers and their organizations, to seek diversified livelihood strategies that go beyond coffee production.”

I think it is time for an Alice-Through-the-Looking-Glass moment when everyone who cares deeply about coffee and the coffeelands stops thinking  about coffee and starts thinking about the livelihoods of farmers who grow coffee.  This broader lens might seem to take people away from the focus of their passion. It might mean finding ways to support the planting of citrus trees. Or the formation of women’s savings groups. Or the construction of guesthouses for backpackers. Or wind-farms.  Or payment for watershed management services.   All of which might feel a long way from the coffee that we love.  In the end, it may the surest way to keep the good stuff coming.

Alice In Wonderland, zapped into the Twenty-First Century, care of Nick Willing.

Nick Willing’s 1999 adaptation of Alice is the most recent adaptation of Carroll’s story, and is by far the most visually advanced of the adaptations. Willing has the assistance of computer-generated imagery to produce images that are incomparable with the previous iconic moments within the Disney and McLeod interpretations. The visual product is irrefutable, and the film won four Emmy awards, including Outstanding Costume Design and Outstanding Special Visual Effects.[i]

 There are limited criticisms currently in circulation that look at Willing’s film, which is why I feel the desire to voice my observations. Brooker examines the adaptation and its place amongst previous adaptations; omissions and additions are noted and Brooker draws upon Willing’s conflicting message to stay ’true’ to the text, but at the same time create a film that emanates alternative themes and motives, ‘There does seem something perverse about claiming a “reverence” for the original text and going on to utterly change its tone. The creatures’ rudeness and challenging demeanour are a significant part of Alice’s developmental journey in Carroll… but in Willing, the denizens of Wonderland are almost all dedicated to helping her out.’[ii]

 Brooker’s work has been used as a basis for this critique to reach various observations surrounding Willing’s final adaptation. This statement is more than valid; Willing goes beyond Carroll’s original storyline and dialogue to include language that he feels still meets the stylistic qualities of the writer’s words.. It is inevitable that Willing would be aware of the critics urge to compare the film with previous Alice adaptations. However the influence of previous work cannot be ignored, and what is most striking about Willing’s interpretation is the way in which intertextuality of previous film production is used to the film’s advantage. This chapter will examine Willing’s film in relation to Carroll’s text, but will also investigate the way in which the film purposely alters previous practises that have been used within film, and the reasons behind this.

 Willing’s use of CGI technology means that the line between Wonderland and reality can be merged; parts of the set are purposely illuminated to draw the audience’s attention, so that the viewer is told subconsciously, ‘look here, then here, then here’ for any message Willing wishes to highlight to his viewer. However with the use of outside setting for much of the film, it is difficult at times to fathom as to whether Alice is still in fact in Wonderland; as Alice walks up to the Duchess’ house, the camera pans across a shot of the surrounding field, which could be any piece of English countryside. Much of Alice’s journey through Wonderland is a confused mixture of imagination and reality, as a dream would be, but Willing takes this to a developmental level by using CGI effect to draw attention to the viewer’s association of objects. The opening scenes to Willing’s adaptation provide heavy clues as to what theme the film will play out; the opening titles are delayed as the first sequence we are provided with is Alice, illuminated in complete darkness, beginning to sing Cherry Ripe, the song she must perform at her parent’s tea party. Willing’s use of subtle hints to the viewer are placed as clear indicators of what is to come; the opening ten minutes of the film re-enact McLeod’s use of association within iconic objects, to give the viewer an insinuation of what is to come. The opening camera shot sweeps through Alice’s childhood things, showing the viewer a doll resembling Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and a playing card pyramid, before swooping under the floorboards as a more sinister soundtrack instigates Alice’s fear of the unknown. Willing plays heavily upon the viewer’s ability to draw correlation with the character’s mannerisms and their behaviour within Wonderland. A guest resembling the Cook featured later in the film sneezes on pepper, and Ben Kingsley is displayed with a hookah, with the unenthused expression of his counter-character, the Caterpillar. Willing wants to strengthen our ability to draw Wonderland and reality together so that the two places are one, existing within Alice’s imagination. The iconography builds up a union between the two places; Alice tries to escape reality by fleeing to Wonderland, but what she doesn’t realise is that she is simply in the same place all along. The same idea is adopted within Fleming’s Wizard of Oz; the characters Dorothy encounters within Oz are family friends and so are unconsciously familiar.

 The method of escape within Willing’s film is switched, and by doing so gives more of a linear, excusable storyline to Carroll’s sporadic sequences. Where Disney features Wonderland as a place of terror that means Alice is constantly in flight, Willing ensures that his Alice views Wonderland as a place of sanctuary; by implying that Alice’s obstacle is that she does not want to perform at the party, Willing makes a moral lesson of the film that was previously nonexistent within Carroll’s novels. Alice, finally able to enter the Rose Garden by obtaining the key, says to herself, ‘finally, the perfect place to hide.’[iii] As a rebellion against the mad chase that unravelled within Disney’s animated adaptation, Willing allows his characters to assist Alice at various stages of her journey, and so each character irrespective of their eccentricity is in some obscure way helping Alice to become ready for her journey home. Brooker states, ‘these Alices do more than simply express a single director’s interpretation; they seem to channel a broader way of seeing and responding to the book and its central character’.[iv] Instead of a distorted amusement at Alice’s fear as within Disney, Brooker incorporates Alice overcoming fear as a method of continuity that the child viewer can familiarise with. Willing claimed, ‘our modern movie sensibility has to have an emotional pull for us to stay with a character… singing the song becomes a metaphor for growing up.’[v] This means that it is not Alice’s curiosity that motivates her exploration of Wonderland- indeed, Marjorino’s face is often one of contempt at her fellow character’s behaviour- but instead a distraction from the reality of what she will have to face later.

 Willing features performance as a continuing theme so that in addition to assisting Alice in her struggle to gain confidence, each character performs as an example to the lead character. Martin Short’s Mad Hatter plays out ‘Aunty’s Wooden Leg’ as some disastrous cabaret rendition, and the inclusion of canned applause as we see the Dormouse groan at the exertion of having to endure, ‘the desperate men’[vi] highlights the fear of performance. As the Mad Hatter marches relentlessly to ‘Twinkle Twinkle’, including the line, ‘I’m so glad it isn’t me’[vii], Alice is reminded of her task. Wilder as the Mock Turtle stages a later performance of ‘Will you join the Dance’ and ‘Beautiful Soup’, Alice finds both entertainment and beauty in song and by the end is actively participating in singing along, as Wilder observes, ‘you mustn’t hate it (performing), it’s such fun!’[viii] Even the Speaking tree sings back to Alice in her own voice, ‘you have to move on, though you tremble and quake.’[ix]

 Willing’s adaptation plays upon the audience’s familiarity with film generally, and there are countless associations of intertextuality within the film that are purposely added to ensure that the viewer goes away with a fully informed view of Alice’s intentions or motives. The  star-riddled cast, and each actor’s character seems specific in keeping with their previous notoriety to film. With a cast featuring household names like Whoopi Goldberg, Gene Wilder, Robbie Coltrane and several more, the parts that they represent can draw an unconscious association for the viewer. Whoopi Goldberg plays the Cheshire Cat, and Willing ensures that no one but Alice ever sees the Cheshire Cat; she represents a half-way point between reality and Wonderland, as the medium that found her fame in Ghost[x], and shares jokes with Alice as she rolls her eyes at the Queen’s ridiculous behaviour.[xi] Miranda Richardson is immediately recognisable as the Queen of Hearts, a role that echoes her part as Queenie in Blackadder II[xii]; the irrational and petulant Queenie is replicated by Richardson as she shows complete disdain at everything, and screeches at Alice, ‘do you like cro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-quet? COME ON THEN!’[xiii]

The most innovative use of casting must be Christopher Lloyd in his depiction of the White Knight. As we hear him utter absent-mindedly, ‘it’s my own invention’[xiv], replicating his portrayal of Doc within Back to the Future[xv] so many years before, he slides effortlessly into the role of eccentric, creating nonsensical inventions as resolutions to everyday life. The setting is almost in darkness when the White Knight appears, and Alice finds reassurance and comfort in the encounter. By implementing a cast that both adult and child viewer alike will familiarise with, Willing brings a contemporary tone that is absent within previous adaptations; the film includes these connotations that incorporate film production since Disney’s attempt Carroll’s narrative in 1951, and forms part of the history of film that elapsed since the last adaptation.

 Willing’s interpretation of the White Knight scene is both accurate and fitting to Carroll’s novels; Alice steps into the forest setting through a story book which marks the movement from one Alice novel to another. Garner remarks the aim of the White Knight is that, ‘no matter how much he’s missing the mark, he’s there rescuing Alice and adhering to the credo of knightly behaviour’[xvi] and Willing ensures that his purpose is met. The scene begins with a sinister soundtrack of voices that Alice hears in the woods as she looks around in fear of her surroundings. The Knight is given a heroic entrance, as Alice leaps behind a tree to watch on as a Black Knight and White Knight battle, and regal sound begins to build to a crescendo as the Black Knight flees in defeat, and the shot is directed toward the White Knight as he removes his helmet to reveal the renowned actor Christopher Lloyd, who pants Carroll’s line, ‘it was a glorious battle, wasn’t it?’[xvii]

 The mise en scene is not dissimilar to that of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, featuring a blackened sky and the White Knight appearance is luminous against this background. Lloyd is best known for his role as the eccentric Doctor Emmet Brown in Robert Zemekis’ Back to the Future, the father figure to the lead role Marty McFly, and this is emphasised through the capacity that Carroll’s character holds as a figure of clarity and reassurance for Alice. Willing’s White Knight is nostalgic and excitable, and Willing incorporates an invented line for the Knight to explain to Alice, ‘ready for anything, then nothing can frighten you’[xviii]. His actions are unpredictable, galloping off and then returning suddenly, leaping over Alice so that the camera pans in to give us Alice’s view of a horse careering over her. Geer remarks, ‘Alice’s meeting with the White Knight suggests that the conflicting desires behind Victorian ideals of girlhood and fairy tales can be well served by a deluded story-teller and a child’s polite deception.’[xix]

 Willing provides this backdrop; the Knight gives the air of one who carries on relentlessly, giving both comfort and inspiration to Alice when she needs it most.

 Carroll’s description of the Knight as he is ‘turning his gentle face and large mild eyes’ is reinforced, as the camera shows several repeated shots of face shots of the character, accompanied by reaction shots showing Alice’s reassurance. Willing certifies that the White Knight acts in a manner that many of his characters do; to act as assistant and confidant for Alice, to guide her but at the same time allow her character to develop independently. The Knight departs with the words, ‘just be brave!’[xx] as he rides off gallantly, leaving Alice on a CGI-illuminated chess board lawn, with Alice standing at the centre and safely out of the forest. The scene is touching, and more intimate than McLeod’s attempt; there is clear thought behind the speculation that this scene has received and where the Knight is not portrayed as the geriatric that we are led to view within McLeod’s interpretation, instead we are left with the nostalgia and wistfulness towards the loss of childhood that Carroll seemed to intend.

 The adaptation features Alice as a much more developed character than previous adaptations; where McLeod features Alice as a submissive spectator, and Disney’s leading character is isolated and constantly in pursuit, Willing puts great effort into giving the viewer the impression that Wonderland is Alice’s own creation; more than a dream, because of the active enjoyment that Alice takes in certain sequences. Although the opening titles and the correlation that Wonderland holds with the real world try to suggest otherwise, Willing’s interpretation implies that Wonderland is in fact a second reality, created by Alice herself. Characters use Alice’s name without asking for it first, creating the involvement that is lacking in previous adaptations. The relationship that Alice holds with characters is of more of an intimate nature; as mentioned previously, the Cheshire Cat acts as a character for Alice to confide in, as she states to it that she wants to get to the garden as ‘its safe’[xxi]. She confides in the caterpillar, ‘I don’t want to’[xxii], and says to the Duchess, ‘I don’t want to go back’.[xxiii] Willing strives for Alice’s interaction with other characters as much as possible throughout the adaptation, to ensure that there is a moral lesson; that the viewer is as much aware of Alice’s fears and hopes as they are of the craziness of Wonderland itself. The characters therefore have method in their madness, by carrying out a purpose rather than the sporadic episodes that we witness within previous adaptations, and indeed within the novels themselves.

 There is a sense of fulfilment that is not previously experienced within previous adaptations; for Willing’s Alice, the dream ends when she gains enough confidence to return and carry out her performance. Once again, the sequence of Alice’s realisation echoes previous films to demonstrate her moral awakening. As the rabbit states, ‘are you so confident young lady? Then you don’t need us, anymore’[xxiv], the playing-card court disintegrates as the set falls away in Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, not dissimilar to Disney’s methodology in his final scene.[xxv] Where Labyrinth’s Sarah needed her quest to conceal her task in learning lines, Wonderland fails into inexistence because it is no longer required and has served its purpose. Alice’s choice to perform ‘Will you Join the Dance’ instead of the originally agreed ‘Cherry Ripe’ seals the moral message of the film, and the flashback images of the Mock Turtle reflect this, as though he is helping her through her performance. Willing works within his own boundaries rather than replicating anything that could be linked to the most recognisable adaptation that Disney produced, and the final product is a story that provides reason and ‘poipose’ to a story that was previously viewed as nonsensical. By adapting the narrative to film, Willing provides a familiar and accessible way of interpreting Alice’s story that was perhaps previously absent within Carroll’s text.

Willing does feel the necessity to include additional dialogue and songs and it is questionable as to whether this is required to produce a successful adaptation. Brooker feels that ‘Willing sees fit to improve’[xxvi] the film by doing so; the Duchess’ sequence is developed with lines like ‘the show must go on’, where the sequence within Carroll’s novel depicts the nonsense in finding a moral from anything. But is this not the sole purpose of Willing’s adaptation, to find moral where there is no moral? By omitting the Duchess’ lines, ‘and the moral of that is…’[xxvii], Willing erases dialogue that would have perhaps strengthened the film’s linear plot.

 The adaptation succeeds in attempting to portray the Alice books within a contemporary setting; although Alice’s costume and the ambience of the story are not contextualised to meet our everyday expectations- croquet does not essentially have a place within modern society, and Alice’s reality remains within a Victorian setting- the connotations that Willing makes means that he brings a modern-day feel to the overall effect of the film. The use of CGI effect, especially to depict the Mad Hatter with his extending arms and overgrown head helps to emphasise the fantastical and add family value to the film. It is irrelevant as to whether Willing manages to capture Alice more successfully than his predecessors, but the association that the viewer can identify within previous film makes the final adaptation representational of its period. Willing takes Carroll’s novel, and the technology and knowledge available to him to produce a film that fills the void of fifty years between one Alice adaptation and his own.

[i] Information sourced from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0164993/, accessed 18^th April 2008.

[ii] Will Brooker, Alice’s Adventures: Lewis Carroll in Popular Culture, Contiuum: London, 2004.

[iii] Nick Willing, Alice in Wonderland, 1999, 59 minutes.

[iv] Ibid.

[v] Ibid.

[vi] Nick Willing, Alice in Wonderland, 1999. 52 minutes.

[vii] Ibid, 53 minutes.

[viii] Ibid, 85 minutes.

[ix] Nick Willing, Alice in Wonderland, 1999, 45 minutes.

[x] Jerry Zucker, Ghost, 1990.

[xi] Nick Willing, Alice in Wonderland, 1999, 66 minutes.

[xii] BlackAdder II, BBC, 1986. Please see Appendix for comparative images.

[xiii] Nick Willing, Alice in Wonderland, 1999, 63 minutes.

[xiv] Ibid, 99 minutes.

[xv] Robert Zemeckis, Back to the Future, 1985.

[xvi] J. Garner, Wings of Fancy: Using Reader’s Theatre to Study Fantasy Genre, Libraries Unlimited: London, 2006, p.187.

[xvii] Nick Willing, Alice in Wonderland, 1999, 68 minutes.

[xviii] Ibid., 91 minutes.

[xix] ‘All sorts of pitfalls and surprises’: Competing views of idealised girlhood in Lewis Carroll’s Alice books, Children’s Literature, Storrs: 2003.Vol 31.

[xx] Nick Willing, Alice in Wonderland, 1999,  93 minutes.

[xxi] Nick Willing, Alice in Wonderland, 1999, 42 minutes.

[xxii] Ibid,32 minutes.

[xxiii] Ibid, 72 minutes.

[xxiv] Ibid, 125 minutes.

[xxv] Please see Appendix for finale scenes from both Disney and Willing adaptations that support this concept.

[xxvi] Will Brooker, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: Lewis Carroll in Popular Culture, Continuum: London, 2004.

[xxvii] Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Penguin: London, 1994, p.107.

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.“   — Lewis Carroll

• Wilson, Robin J.: Lewis Carroll en el país de los números : su fantástica vida matemática (un desatino en ocho arrebatos). Madrid : Turner, [2009]

Hubo un matemático, hombre serio y victoriano hasta la médula, llamado Charles Dodgson, que escribió uno de los relatos infantiles más disparatados, sugerentes e imaginativos de la historia: Alicia en el país de las maravillas.

Y hubo un cuentista, fotógrafo, escritor de panfletos y libros de adivinanzas, llamado Lewis Carroll, que revolucionó el estudio de la lógica, el álgebra y la geometría, y cuyos logros marcan un antes y un después en estas disciplinas.

Las vidas paralelas del matemático Dodgson y su álter ego, el escritor Carroll, se relatan esta “biografía matemática”; su irrepetible imaginación narrativa y su espectacular dominio de los números y las palabras dan como fruto una explosión de adivinanzas, rompecabezas y juegos, que el lector podrá desentrañar a la luz de la impecable lógica matemática que contienen, y que aquí se narra de forma sencilla y accesible.

Un festín para los aficionados a los números y un descubrimiento para los lectores de Alicia, que quizá nunca se habían imaginado que un cuento infantil encerrara esta otra historia apasionante.

- Obras de Robin J. Wilson en la biblioteca

- Obras de Lewis Carroll en la biblioteca

Some whimsical Alice in Wonderland inspired necklaces from Australian jewelry line Drink me, Alice.

10. The Chronicles of Amber
Roger Zelazny

With the Amber novels, Zelazny created a very detailed and intricate fantasy universe. Fantasy fans have called this one of the most engrossing fantasy worlds they have ever read and remains a classic of modern fantasy.

9. The King of Elfland’s Daughter
Lord Dunsany

One of the most influential works of fantasy writing, Lord Dunsany’s 1924 novel of elves, kingdoms and magic laid out the groundwork for much of modern fantasy today. This is truly a pioneering work in the genre which laid out the groundwork for the writers who would come after.

8. A Song of Ice and Fire
George R. R. Martin

George Martin’s series is a richly constructed world grounded in both reality and fantasy. These unconventional plots keep the story fresh. The action is realistic while the events are unpredictable, adding a certain suspense around the characters, as you truly don’t know what will happen to them. The four books of the series thus far have grabbed the attention of high fantasy fans everywhere as they have proven to be some of the best there is.

7. A Wrinkle in Time
Madeleine L’Engle

This richly layered children’s fantasy has become a favourite to many readers over the years. Its deep themes may remind you of C.S. Lewis, with a hard look at what it means to be a child, as well as just being a great adventure. A Wrinkle in Time is a book which will stand the test of time.

6. The Harry Potter Series
J.K. Rowling

Sure, it may be bold of me to include a series which is so recent as high as #5. However, this is no ordinary fantasy series. This is the series which created a worldwide reading phenomenon, grabbing the attention of both kids and adults everywhere. Yet Harry Potter is not just hype; these are wonderfully crafted stories set in a fully realized magical world. The characters feel real, and even more so since we follow them through their growing years throughout the seven books. There are twists and very interesting plot devices all leading up to a final conclusion which does not disappoint. This series is one of the powerhouses of modern fantasy, and will remain so more a long, long time.

5. The Chronicles of Narnia
C.S. Lewis

Its interesting that most of this list is comprised of stories written for children. Perhaps it says something about the child-like need for discovery in fantasy tales, and none sums it up better than the Narnia books. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe has reached instant classic status, and the wardrobe in the title has become an icon for all portals into new and fantastic worlds. Lewis’ Christianity allegories also give this series an intellectual edge which doesn’t distract from the story. These seven books are some of the most beloved fantasy stories of all time.

4. His Dark Materials
Philip Pullman

Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy tells the story of two kids who are able to journey through the different dimensions which exist in the universe. These two children have a great destiny in the future of all the worlds which will affect the very nature of existence and spirituality. Pullman reaches for some pretty big goals here, but does not disappoint. He tackles the domination of organized religion while championing the freedoms of human thought and expression.

3. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass
Lewis Carroll

Carroll’s fantasy tale of Alice’s trip down the rabbit hole has captured the imagination of youth all over the world. This exercise in nonsensical logic, language and situations has become a book not only to enjoy, bu also to study. The metaphors in these two tales run deep and are often referenced by many other media. Alice and her crazy adventures simply make no sense; and that’s why we love them.

2. A Midsummer’s Night Dream
William Shakespeare

Let’s face it;  Shakespeare is the master.  Many of Shakespeare’s plays have an element of fantasy in them, but with Dream the bard went all out.  Shakespeare mostly played upon the idea of the fairy world and the mischievous creatures’ intrusions upon the lives of us regular humans.  Midsummer night’s dream is perhaps Shakespeare’s most beloved comedy, and its whimsy will live on for many centuries to come.

1. The Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien

Choosing the greatest work of literary fiction was an easy task. It is, of course, the Lord of the Rings; the epic high fantasy of one hobbits journey to defeat the powers of evil. No fantasy world is as rich or detailed as Tolkien’s Middle Earth. It is as if he himself believed it to be a real place, complete with a full, fleshed out history and wonderfully detailed geography. And set in this world is a strong, heartfelt story which has proven to be ageless. This is a bold tale of massive proportions which also works on the simplest emotional level. A masterpiece in every way.