Through the literary looking glass with "Alice in Wonderland"
Certain children鈥檚 books have a staying power beyond their own era, but few have as tenacious a hold on our hearts as Lewis Carroll鈥檚 creation: the heroine of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," the girl Mark Twain called 鈥渢he immortal Alice.鈥�
With the release of "Alice in Wonderland," Tim Burton鈥檚 鈥�,鈥� yet another creative soul has seized upon Alice鈥檚 curiouser and curiouser world. That brings the tally to some two dozen feature film incarnations, 100+ versions of the book, plus TV shows, trinkets, and endless broader cultural influences, according to .
The Times took on the question of why Alice has remained such a lasting phenomenon through the last 145 years, and came up with some theories worth debating. Perhaps it鈥檚 the gutsy, self-sufficient heroine, or the playful 鈥渋nherent weirdness鈥� of the tale, the Times said 鈥� or perhaps it鈥檚 the book鈥檚 very malleability, 鈥渟uch well-crafted nonsense that, in the words of Humpty Dumpty in his wall-top dialogue with Alice in 'Through the Looking Glass': It 'means just what I choose it to mean 鈥� neither more nor less' ?"
When it comes to ticket sales for "Alice in Wonderland," the answer is definitely, "More." The movie broke records when it opened last weekend, drawing enough viewers to sell .
Will any heroine of today鈥檚 children鈥檚 bestsellers 鈥� Bella? Hermione? 鈥� hold such a place in readers' hearts a century from now?
Rebekah Denn blogs at .
Join the Monitor's book discussion on and .
