Product Description

'They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care; They pursued it with forks and hope; They threatened its life with a railway share; They charmed it with smiles and soap' Ever since Lewis Carroll's nonsense epic appeared in 1876 readers have joined his ten-man Snark-hunting crew and pursued the search with great enthusiasm. What are they hunting for? What is the Snark? Numerous theories have been proposed. Carroll himself provides a helpful Preface to the poem and is recorded as having explained to one reader: 'In answer to your question, 'What did you mean the Snark was?' will you tell your friend that I meant that the Snark was a Boojum. I trust that she and you will now feel quite satisfied and happy.' This edition, previously published as The Annotated Snark, reproduces the original illustrations by Henry Holiday, including the 'supressed' Boojum drawing. Martin Gardner provides an introduction, notes and bibliography, and an Appendix contains F. C. S. Schiller's 'Commentary on the Snark' and J. A. Lyndon's 'Fit the Seven-and-a-Halfth'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #163167 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

About the Author
Lewis Carroll was the pen-name of the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. Born in 1832, he was educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was appointed lecturer in mathematics in 1855, and where he spent the rest of his life. In 1861 he took deacon's orders, but shyness and a constitutional stammer prevented him from seeking the priesthood. He never married, but was very fond of children and spent much time with them. His most famous works, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1872), were originally written for Alice Liddell, the daughter of the dean of his college. Charles Dodgson died of bronchitis in 1898.

Customer Reviews

An absolute classic in every sense of the word
My Wife bought me this as a present and I have to say, of all the things I have been given this is one of the most precious.

Although I read it to myself I am most looking forward to reading it to my Son. It's an ideal length for a short bedtime story but also long enough for you to be able to put some effort into it and create a bit of an atmosphere.

It's full of great little characters, each with their own peculiar personality and soul. The poem flows well with great rhythm and gives the reader a chance to disappear for a quarter of an hour or so into Carroll's bizarre little world.

I have a 1928 edition of the book and I hope it stays in print for another eighty odd years as well. The Snark contains something for everyone, no matter what the age, a subtle blend of humour, nonsense and poetry at its absolute best.

If my house were to catch fire and I had time to only snatch a few things from the flames it would be my Wife and Son, along with a very old, well used copy of a Book of a Thousand Poems and this.

the art of "nonsense".
One would have thought that it would be impossible for Carroll to rival the beauty and dream-like quality of "Alice in wonderland", yet this poem is much better than the much-acclaimed novel. It propels us into a magical and wonderful world, where we travel, guided by the bell-man, going nowhere in particular, just hunting for the snark. The poem contains good insights into human nature, as for example the final friendship of the two ennemies under a common danger. The style is as usual exquisitely beautiful, full of inner music.

Excellent
Well worth spending a little of your money on. "Snark" is infinitely re-readable; and should be re-read on a regular basis--make it a little ritual for yourself. Keep all of the caricatures in your head. Soak in the wonderful drawings by Mervyn Peake (a genius in his own right--read his "Titus Groan", "Gormenghast", and "Titus Alone" and you'll see what I mean). What is a Snark, exactly? We'd best hope this one isn't a Boojum...

And you Brits are fortunate to have the "Snark" illustrated by Peake available--I had to order this over Amazon.co.uk. :-) Though as I've said, it was well worth the trouble.