Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Cindy Hardin's reading of Alice is adequate but uninspired. The many delightful creatures in Carroll's classic are imaginatively voiced, but the reading is mechanically paced. Hardin's wooden reading of this sprightly tale becomes tiresome and frustrating. There are many Alice's to pick from; choose carefully. P.E.F. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


What a delight to hear Michael York's rendition of this classic. His distress at Alice's predicaments humanizes a character who has become a near stereotype over the decades. Listeners experience Alice's surprise as she tumbles down a near-endless hole, nibbles and drinks tidbits that make her grow and shrink, and meets one absurd personage after another. York's elegant accents highlight Carroll's wordplay and the tangles it makes of Alice's distorted reality. His cameos of the hurried White Rabbit and dreamy-voiced, hookah-smoking Caterpillar are sound. Especially riveting is the Queen of Hearts, with her imperious shout--"Off with their heads!" As Alice explores Wonderland, York is a superb guide. S.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

March 1, 2002
An edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll contains all of Arthur Rackham's original artwork from the 1907 edition (published after Sir John Tenniel's illustrations). Pen-and-inks dot the text; full-page paintings, such as one sepia-toned frame showing Alice, in a delicate rose-patterned dress, addressing the hookah-smoking Caterpillar, plus a sewn-in satin bookmark make this an elegant gift choice.

The time-honored puns, delightful logic, and surreal scenes in ALICE weave in and out of contemporary animations, commercials, rock videos and, most recently, computer games. To narrate the work is to take on the daunting task of performing a well-known classic. Narrator David Horovitch and a host of London-based voice talents read their parts with almost too much reverence. They know it is a classic and deliver it as such, making these fine performances sound slightly rote. The Queen sounds angry. The caterpillar--sleepy. Alice--very Victorian. It all has the nineteenth-century feel of adults presenting children's literature to children. Somewhere out there Lewis Carroll may be responding with a Cheshire smile. B.P. (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine