I do love books. To have, to borrow, to smell, to hold and, of course, to read. But mostly to have. And read, of course. But I like the presence of books in my home. Wherever that is. Well, maybe my home is where my books are. (After returning from Indonesia, some of the books are missing, by the way. So if any of my friends are reading, please check your shelves for intruders. Please.)
So I do love books. We established that. I also like some books more than others. I am so sorry for some of the books I have, but that is true. I consider some books better than others. So, logically, some of them I consider worse than others. But maybe I will not talk about those.
Well, to the point. I want to write about the book I consider the best. Not the best ever written, but the best for me. And even that is not true, because my opinion about what is the best/favourite book is as solid as the wind. And it depends on what I am reading at the moment (well, if you care so much, it is Teju Cole's "Open City".) But, if someone ever asks me (and sometimes somebody does), what is my favourite book, I always answer that it is "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass" by Lewis Carroll.
And to prove my point, I started to collect this book in many forms. Well, maybe in one form - the book's, but published in different languages, with different illustrations, and so on. So far, I do not have a lot of them, but sometimes my friends still manage to give me those I already have. So in order to avoid this predicament in the future, here is the list of those I already possess:
1. The Annotated Alice: The Definite Edition. It is my favourite one. It has original illustrations by John Tenniel and everything is explained by the great Martin Gardner. I mean, EVERYTHING. Are you interested in "why is a raven like a writing-desk?, well, then you can find Carroll's answer to the readers' enquiries, the best answers from England's Lewis Carroll Society contest, the best answers from the Spectator readers, and so on...
Are you puzzled by Jabberwocky? Well, there are a lot of information about the texts, best translations in other languages, and so on. So, in sum, this is the best version for nerds like me:)
2. The one with the artwork of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. This is pretty cool, too. I mean, this version is the most psychodelic of them all.
3. Oxford World's Classics edition. It is a pretty cool version: it contains original John Tenniel's illustrations and also has a lot of explanatory notes and introduction (On the right)
4. Petualangan Alice di Negeri Ajaib. That is an Indonesian version. Illustrations by Inner Child. Not in any way interesting, except that it is in Indonesian language.
5. Alice au Pays des Merveilles. As you've probably realised, the French version. An amazing edition. A huge, beautiful book, illustrated by an amazing artist Rebecca Dautremer. Here Alice looks more like an original girl who inspired the book, and the illustrations are wonderful. The details are worked out with such precision. And they are not all in colour. Some of them are sketches, and they are astounding.
6. The Georgian version Nr. 1
It is illustrated by Eric Kincaid. But as you can see bellow, the illustrations are very realistic and quite boring. But the book itself is published beautifully.
7. The Georgian version Nr. 2. This one is with the original - John Tenniel's - illustrations. Two friends each gave me a Georgian Alice for my 30th birthday and surprisingly it was not the same version:)))
8. Le avventure di Alice nel Paese delle Meraviglie. An Italian version.
Illustrated by Paolo D'Altan. This version is not amazingly special, but I love to have it.
9. An Iranian version.
Illustrated by somebody I have no pacience to decipher because his name is encoded in an Arabic alphabet.
I love this version. Not because it is extremely beautifully illustrated (it is not), and it is really purely published. (And it was extremely cheap, by the way, less than 1 Euro). But I loved the adventure we experienced while searching for it in Tehran. I think we went to 10 or 15 bookshops, and asked, and asked, and asked... And I lost hope, but I was with an "unstoppable force", named Ehsan, aslo known as the best poser for pictures (see below). We even went in academic bookstores, and I said, they are definitely not gonna have it. But Ehsan tought me about the Persian optimism with an Iranian proverb: "It's a donkey, maybe it can fly". So we were an unstoppable force and in the end we found this book:)
9. Arabic version. Moroccan style. Johnny Depp is on the cover, but John Tenniel is inside.
10. Alisa stebuklų šalyje ir veidrodžių karalystėje. Lithuanian version. The first one I've read. Not the same book, but the version. It's simple, it is with the original Tenniel. The quality of the paper inside is horrible, but I love the translation. Especially of the Jabberwocky. (Translated by Kazys Grigas, Julija Lapienytė)
Lankšliaują bukai pietspirgiai
Sau grąžtėsi ant pieplatės;
Greit rainelaiši šluotpūkai,
Šmųlydę čiukai švilpčiaublės.
11. The Japanese version. Not the Alice's Adventures, but Through the Looking-Glass.
It is a very small and a very very cute book. The size of my hand. My nephew's favourite from all my Alices. And it is a gift from my wonderful friend Goda, who also brought me Alice from Georgia:)
12. Chinese version and also "Through the Looking-Glass". A gift from my two friends (Rugilė and Ignas) who went travelling in China. No possibility to decipher the illustrator:)
13. „Alisa stebuklų šalyje“, an adapted Lithuanian version (adapted by Eliza Gatewood Warren and translated in Lithuanian by Edmundas Juškys, illustrated by Lea Kaster). I think this book was stollen from somewhere and for this theft and regifting to me I am grateful to my friend Vanda.
14. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. An English version. Published in New York by Barnes & Noble, illustrations by John Tenniel. Hard cover.
I just love this version. There is nothing too special about it, except that the pages are cut very roughly, but I like the feeling when holding it:). It is a gift from Ieva B. Thank you:))
15. Аліса в Країні чудес. Ukrainian version. With the wonderful, amazing illustrations of Robert Ingpen.
Illustrations by Robert Ingpen are among my favourites. This artist is from Australia, born in 1936 and one of the most talented book illustrators that I know.
This version is also a gift from my friend Ieva B.
16. Alice i Underlandet. The Swedish version. Illustrations also by wonderful Robert Ingpen.
A gift from my mother and also one of the most beautiful editions of Alices that I have. So here are some more illustrations from the master R. Ingpen
And - what a face!
Isn't he just amazing?
The End. So far. But you are most welcome to bring me some from your travels. It would be nice, though, not the same I already have.
Bon voyage! Buen viaje! Buon viaggio! приятного вам пути!
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