I’ve been invited by the amazing Pandora Poikilos to post on “The Book that Most Inspired Me” Blog-A-Licious Blog Tour. Join us in the hop that connects bloggers of all genres, backgrounds and locations and share with us all the book that inspires you the most too! For me, without a doubt it is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
One Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, born in England in 1842, wrote a book for Alice Liddell, the daughter of the head of Christ Church. He'd often told her the story of the girl plunging down the rabbit hole, and she asked him to please, please, please write it down for her.
Who can forget his spectacular characters: the Mad Hatter, the Red Queen, the March Hare, the Rock Lobster, the Caterpillar with his hookah and the sleepy dormouse? Alice’s entry into the eensy, weensy door that gained her entry into a magical world inspired not only my imagination, but seemingly many authors who designed similar magic portals in their novels: the wardrobe of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Magic Treehouse series, and the list goes on. Who can forget Carroll's wondrous inventions such as the “Drink Me” bottle, or events like the Mad Tea Party, where the guests simply moved ‘round the table when their teacups became dirty?
“A bright idea came into Alice's head. `Is that the reason so many tea-things are put out here?' she asked.
`Yes, that's it,' said the Hatter with a sigh: `it's always tea-time, and we've no time to wash the things between whiles.'
`Then you keep moving round, I suppose?' said Alice.
`Exactly so,' said the Hatter: `as the things get used up.'
`But what happens when you come to the beginning again?' Alice ventured to ask.
`Suppose we change the subject!' the March Hare interrupted.”
And who can forget the Gryphon teaching Alice the lines, “'Tis the voice of the Lobster; I heard him declare,
You have baked me too brown, I must sugar my hair."As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose, trims his belt and his buttons, and turns out his toes.”
Even the great Russian novelist, Nabokov was inspired by the wordplay and logic games of Carroll. Read Nabokov’s Pale Fire and this is quite evident. It is is a fictional 99-line poem being edited and critiqued by an ineffectual, pompous fictional editor. Nabokov's abundance of wordplay and hilarious absurdity is an obvious mirror to Carroll’s work.
The “curiouser and curiouser” Lewis Carroll also gave me the courage to know that I could do two things at once: be a serious visual artist and author. The man was multitalented. Not only the author of brilliant children’s
literature, he was a math professor at Oxford, an author of logic
and math textbooks as well as political essays. He was
also a respected photographer. He even coined
words. Chortle, a nonsense word in his poem Jabberwocky,
which was a combination of snort and chuckle, eventually
made it into the dictionary! He even drew the original
illustrations, which one can see at the
British Museum (see image above). Whenever and whatever I write, I think of Lewis Carroll; his unbounded imagination and his joy in playing with
people’s minds in the best sense of the term.
He will forever be my mentor. And now, dear folks, I encourage you to visit the Blog-A-Licious blogger who precedes mine, Hannah Wept, Sarah Laughed, and and the awesome
bloggers, Back of the Book Reviews. Here's the total list: 1. Roy, 2. Sulekha, 3. Dora, 4, Shaeeza, 5. Mari, 6. Paula, 7. Karen, 8. Keiko,
9. Mine--you're here!, 10. Kate & Ashley,
11. Desiree, 12. Sonia, 13. DK Levick, 14. Sarcasm Goddess, 15. Tosh, 16. Lucy,
17. Leo & 18. Dora. But before you hop off, please let me know what books influenced you the most!!!