EBD refers to many real books and authors throughout the CS series. She mentions Lewis Carroll’s books and characters on several occasions.
The most formal of these mentions is the Alice in Wonderland Sale in Tom Tackles, where the various stalls were set out as the White Rabbit’s House; the Seashore, where Alice and the Gryphon meet the Mock Turtle; the Courtroom where Alice’s Trial was held; the Queen of Hearts’ Garden Party; the Mad Hatter’s Tea-Party; the Queen of Hearts’ Rose Garden; and the Old Sheep’s Shop. All but one of these are from Wonderland; the Sheep’s Shop being from Through the Looking Glass. For the afternoon of the Sale, Nella Ozanne was dressed as ‘Alice’, Miss Phipps as ‘The Old Sheep’, and everyone else in generic 1860s costume.
Another fairly frequent allusion is when a new girl is being shown around the School and her sheepdog keeps telling her to ‘Come on!’ — we are often told that the new girl is feeling like Alice trying to keep up with the Red Queen.
Also from Through the Looking Glass is the reference to ‘plenty of practice’ which is a saying of the White Knight quoted by Joey in New House and the guide at Cadbury's in Changes.
Do you think EBD expects everyone to have been brought up on Alice, and to know the books well enough to pick up these references straight away?
Were any of you inspired to read the Alice books if you didn’t already know them?
Is the allusion to characters in a ‘real’ book something that you like to see in EBD, or does it annoy you?
Are the themed Sales something you read avidly or skip?
Are there any other points of discussion you would like to raise, or any other references to events or characters I haven’t mentioned? [I’m sure the Cheshire Cat is mentioned somewhere, but cannot at the moment find where
] Over to you
ETA the idea for this series of threads was suggested by maeve
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I would think that Lewis Carroll made that expression better known as well. It must still be confusing for people who've never read those particular books, though.
) were allowed on the CS library shelves....
though I do usually explain the quotes. If I think it's something a lot of people will know, I don't, but even if only a few get the reference it's still worth it. Hopefully, it encourages people to tackle books they wouldn't otherwise consider.