Alice in Sunderland: A Review
I have wanted to read this graphic format history of the origins of Alice in Wonderland and other British literature from the area once called Sunderland for years. Unfortunately, our library copy was lost shortly after I purchased the book, and I have not been able to afford to replace the copy. I came across a copy last week for a reasonable price, so I purchased it for my own collection. I will have it here for you to see for a week or so and if there’s interest, I’ll try to order another copy for GHHS. I read this one for the What’s in a Name Challenge for a place name, the Twenty Ten Challenge, the Graphic Novel Challenge and the Chain Challenge for it’s connection to Lewis Carroll and all things Alice. I do not read a lot of nonfiction, but I was entranced by the art and pathways through history that Bryan Talbot combined in Alice in Sunderland. The reader is transported backwards and forwards in time in relation to the literature that came out of Sunderland as well as through the connections to Alice in Wonderland, Alice Liddell and Lewis Carroll. Talbot includes a complete list of his sources for the extensive history of the area and people he relates. Every so often, the reader encounters a more standard comic rendition blended into the more contemporary and individual style Talbot uses throughout the book. He tells us “The Legend of the Lambton Worm” in this way and includes his own version of “Jabberwocky” as well. These drawings are rendered in black and white while the rest of the art is a combination of photographs, the art from various versions of Alice in Wonderland, and paintings of locations with comic characters superimposed upon them. Really, I’m trying to describe the indescribable here. Talbot also peaked my interest in lots of other books from Sunderland roots: The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman, In the Shadow of the Dreamchild by Karoline Leach, Red King Rising by Grant Morrison and Blood Waters by Chaz Brenchley are just some of the books I want to seek out after reading about them. I think I will definitely read more comics by Bryan Talbot, too. Take a look at this visual feast!
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