How 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' changed the life of Joyce Carol Oates
This year marks the 150th anniversary of 鈥淎lice鈥檚 Adventures in Wonderland,鈥� first published as 鈥淎lice鈥檚 Adventures Under Ground鈥� in 1865.
W.W. Norton is honoring this landmark for author Lewis Carroll鈥檚 celebrated children鈥檚 tale with 鈥淭he Annotated Alice,鈥� a deluxe, lavishly illustrated edition of the classic that鈥檚 copiously footnoted with insights from 鈥渙ver half a century of scholarship by leading Carrollian experts.鈥� It鈥檚 an updated version of Martin Gardner鈥檚 1960 鈥淎nnotated Alice,鈥� expanded by Mark Burstein.
The new 鈥淎nnotated Alice鈥� doesn鈥檛 roll out until聽Oct. 5, but in the meantime, Alice fans can take note of a just-released tribute to Carroll鈥檚 heroine in 鈥淭he Lost Landscapes,鈥� Joyce Carol Oates' new memoir of her upstate New York childhood at the start of World War II.
Oates, one of America鈥檚 most prolific authors, has written dozens of novels, essay collections and works of criticism, and in 鈥淭he Lost Landscape,鈥� she credits 鈥淎lice鈥� with giving her an enduring literary spark. Oates calls 鈥淎lice鈥� 鈥渢he singular book that changed my life 鈥� that made me yearn to be a writer,鈥� and she praises her grandmother for giving her a lovely oversized edition for her ninth birthday in 1947.
鈥淭o this day I treasure, and keep prominently on a bookshelf in my study, this gift book with its eerily beautiful quasi-鈥榬ealistic鈥� illustrations by John Tenniel,鈥� says Oates.
Through Alice, writes Oates, she learned the independent stance needed to be a writer.
鈥淚 think I learned from Alice to be just slightly bolder than I might have been, to question authority 鈥� (that is, adults) 鈥� and to look upon life as a possibility for adventures,鈥� Oates tells readers.
That possibility of adventure still awaits readers of 鈥淎lice鈥� a century and a half after it first appeared.
