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A review by danimacuk
Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin
3.0
I went back and forth between deciding whether I ultimately enjoyed this book more than I was bothered by it, or vice versa.
Being a reader that has never actually read Alice In Wonderland or Through The Looking Glass (much to my shame!), and who did not know much about Ms. Alice Liddell Hargreaves or Mr. Charles Dodgson, I came to the story rather unprepared. Which is fine. In fact, it probably helps. As per other GoodReads users, I can imagine that one who places great respect in Lewis Carroll might become uncomfortable or even offended by his role (and of his relationship with the protagonist) in this novel.
Overall, I found the story to be enjoyable. It appeared a bit shallow in character development in some places. I was expecting more development in Alice's family, and was slightly disappointed a few times when I expected there to be harsh conflict between Alice and a family member later in the novel, and there was little to no conflict at all (the principle of Chekhov's Gun didn't seem to apply when I thought it should've). There was enough conflict in the novel to keep me going. It seemed to go through a progression of two or three story arcs or phases, which helped it avoid getting dull or repetitive.
The major criticism I have with this book was the grammar. The author loves semicolons. She loves them so much that she isn't afraid to use two semicolons in a sentence rather often. Five to ten semicolons per page isn't uncommon in this novel, which causes the sentences to drag on. As a reader, I appreciate prose that does not make me wander all the way back to the top of a sentence to remember what the subject of it was, or why we're on a different train of thought in the same sentence.
That criticism aside, the author definitely researched her subjects well, and I enjoyed the narrative liberties she took in some areas to make the story more compelling. This book is a cute and fun read into the life of a well-to-do woman growing up, and later, growing old, in England in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Being a reader that has never actually read Alice In Wonderland or Through The Looking Glass (much to my shame!), and who did not know much about Ms. Alice Liddell Hargreaves or Mr. Charles Dodgson, I came to the story rather unprepared. Which is fine. In fact, it probably helps. As per other GoodReads users, I can imagine that one who places great respect in Lewis Carroll might become uncomfortable or even offended by his role (and of his relationship with the protagonist) in this novel.
Overall, I found the story to be enjoyable. It appeared a bit shallow in character development in some places. I was expecting more development in Alice's family, and was slightly disappointed a few times when I expected there to be harsh conflict between Alice and a family member later in the novel, and there was little to no conflict at all (the principle of Chekhov's Gun didn't seem to apply when I thought it should've). There was enough conflict in the novel to keep me going. It seemed to go through a progression of two or three story arcs or phases, which helped it avoid getting dull or repetitive.
The major criticism I have with this book was the grammar. The author loves semicolons. She loves them so much that she isn't afraid to use two semicolons in a sentence rather often. Five to ten semicolons per page isn't uncommon in this novel, which causes the sentences to drag on. As a reader, I appreciate prose that does not make me wander all the way back to the top of a sentence to remember what the subject of it was, or why we're on a different train of thought in the same sentence.
That criticism aside, the author definitely researched her subjects well, and I enjoyed the narrative liberties she took in some areas to make the story more compelling. This book is a cute and fun read into the life of a well-to-do woman growing up, and later, growing old, in England in the late 19th and early 20th century.