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MORE ON ALICE vs. DOROTHY: I want to thank everyone who alerted me to this gr…

Apr 28, 2013

MORE ON ALICE vs. DOROTHY:

I want to thank everyone who alerted me to this great picture, attached below…hilarious.

And I also thank you for reminding me of the great heroines of children's literature: Not just Alice, Dorothy, Pippi and Nancy Drew, but also Jo from Little Women, and Anne from Anne of Green Gables, and the sisters from Narnia, and Ramona the Pest. And how can we forget the brave and high-acheiving Hermione?

In any case, I think you Alice lovers gave me my answer to what you see in her: You folks actually LIKE the trippy-freaky hallucinogenic world of Wonderland! It stirs your imagination, because, at your essence, you are rabbit hole people! You like going down that rabbit hole and having everything turned upside down! You dig a little bit of chaos in the mix.

See, I am not a rabbit hole person. I have far too deep a craving for order. (In this regard, I am a nerdy blend of Hermione and Nancy Drew.) All the proverbial and hypothetical rabbit holes of the universe scare me to death.

Maybe I need to examine this…

Tell me more about your favorite childhood books! I could talk about this ALL DAY. And what are you reading your kids, if you have them.

Children's literature = The Best.

xo
Liz

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall

TOTALLY RANDOM QUESTION OF THE DAY: Who do you identify with more? Alice in Won…

Apr 28, 2013

TOTALLY RANDOM QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Who do you identify with more? Alice in Wonderland, or Dorothy in Oz?

I ask because I've always identified with Dorothy, maybe because I grew up loving the original series of Oz books by L. Frank Baum. We inherited some of these beautiful old books from my grandmother, and I relished every single volume, every crumbling page.

Dorothy always seemed like a real hero to me — stalwart, brave, midwestern, no-nonsense.

On the other hand, Alice always scared me. Even as a little kid, I didn't like that story. Wonderland seemed more chaotic and psychedelic than Oz, and Alice always kind of passive and, at times, was literally drugged! A child on Roofies, tumbling through madness! Scary!

But recently I heard that the recent Alice in Wonderland movie was one of the highest grossing films ever, and I started wondering, "What is it about her that people love?"

Will any of you Alice fans out there explain? I am truly curious as to what I have missed…

And if you identify with another leading lady of childhood literature — Pippi, Mary Poppins, Nancy Drew — do share!

But my heart belongs to Dorothy.

BRAINS! HEART! COURAGE!
Liz


The Complete Oz
www.goodreads.com
Although most children today are introduced to the world of Oz through the classic 1939 movie, L. Frank Baum has been captivating the hea…

via Elizabeth Gilbert’s Facebook Wall