Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a children’s book, isn’t it? Then how came I to review it on this blog, which is devoted to literary works for adults? Not by the usual pathways, I assure you. In fact, renewed interest in Alice’s adventures was ignited in me by means of the song “White Rabbit,” which is written by Grace Slick and performed by her and the rock group Jefferson Airplane. It came about because the phrase “feed your head,” which is the song’s climax, came to me as I was writing about a perennial nomad staying on the move mentally, if not physically, by visiting local museums and reading lots of books. A bit of online research turned up a recent article in which Grace Slick explains that though the song definitely deals with the experience of taking psychedelics, “feed your head” also refers to the act of reading.

In my younger years, I took a variety of types of psychedelics in a number of places around the world, the most notable being an LSD trip in which a companion and I wandered up into the Himalayan foothills surrounding Kathmandu, Nepal. I have also done extensive reading in the science fiction and fantasy genres. My objective in reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was to find out if it was really written for children or if it has nuances that will absorb the attention of adults as well. I wanted to know what Carroll really had in mind when he wrote it.

A brief online perusal of several articles, including one by the BBC News, seems to indicate that there is no evidence that Carroll used drugs, even though opium, laudanum, and other now-forbidden substances were legal back then. As any writer will tell you, though, you don’t need drugs to take off on incredible flights of fancy. By all accounts, Carroll wrote the book simply as an entertainment. However, when I read it I realized that it contains many more nuances and complexities than are usually found in children’s tales. Carroll was a mathematician, and there is a fair amount of number play in the text. There is also pun after pun after pun, some of which children would be oblivious to, and a lot of word-play, such as the famous example: “Curiouser and curiouser!” cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). There are perplexing poems and idiosyncratic characters such as talking animals, an animate deck of cards, and a Queen of Hearts with a penchant for decapitating anyone who annoys her. Alice traverses this alternate universe with courtesy, intelligence, equanimity, and courage.

In short, I greatly enjoyed reading about Alice’s adventures. If the book was originally intended for children, I think that Carroll’s wit and intelligence and acumen and gift for storytelling made it so much more. Many modern fantasies have turned to repetitious epic patterns that have rendered them somewhat cliché, whereas Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, although published way back in 1865, to me was like a breath of literary fresh air. As for the psychedelic references, those seem to have been tacked on (brilliantly, I might add, in the case of “White Rabbit”) by the counterculture of the 1960s. In the book, unlike in the song, the dormouse does not say “Feed your head.” In fact, the dormouse is the epitome of laziness, always falling asleep no matter what is going on around. (Come to think of it, that’s how a lot of people react to drug intake too.)

In conclusion, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a dazzling, ingenious, well-written, and entertaining book. Its effectiveness does not rely on supposed hidden allusions. It is brilliant enough on its own.