It's funny to read this now in its entirety as I think many kids have read some version of Alice in Wonderland growing up, or have at least had some exposure to it. I've read pieces of it and have been in a production of it before, so getting to read it feels oddly like home. I sort of know what's already happening and find myself saying the words to myself exactly as they're written. Funny how that works!
The most interesting part about Alice's adventures, at least to me, is the zany world in which she finds herself. There aren't really any rules. I like the second rabbit hole scene. I also like the last one, but this one feels nostalgic for me for some reason. The memory I have attached to it is my old theatre teacher yelling at me while I do lights for a very complicated lighting sequence while Alice falls down the rabbit hole and sees the key. It's not a great memory, but I like the scene anyway.
Major digression aside, Alice begins talking about her cat, Dinah, and how much she's going to be missing her. She does a few lines of rhyme about bats and cats before finally landing, unhurt. It's all dark, but she can see the White Rabbit still scuttling away, so she continues pursuing it. They get to a corner, but when Alice turns, she can no longer find the rabbit.
The room she is in is dimly lit my hanging lamps and there are doors lining the hall, all of them locked. She happens across a solid glass, three legged table with a key on it, after being sad about not being able to find a door. It doesn't fit any of them on the first try, but on the second she finds that it fits into a door that leads to a passage too small for her. She wants to "shut up like a telescope." This is when she finds the "drink me" bottle and does that.
Alice is a smart girl and considered that it could be poison, but there are no poison labels on it(??? okay,) and she drinks it anyway. It tastes like cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast. Sounds... good? I find it funny how childlike she is. Obviously, she is a child, but she's filled with this sense of wonder and curiosity that's wonderful to see.
Alice finding a tiny door behind curtain by Sir John Tenniel (Project Gutenberg)
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