further reading
Books: non-fiction
IN THE SHADOW OF THE DREAMCHILD
by Karoline Leach
The book that brought the concept of the Carroll Myth to public attention and the most quoted 'Carroll Myth' text. Carroll experts attempted to dismiss it, but ten years on, it seems to be winning the argument.
The opening chapter offers the most complete rundown of the way biography created a mythic Carroll that has yet been attempted and really lays the groundwork for all subsequent studies. Essential reading. A primer in 'the Myth'.
Hardback out of print, but a paperback version is due soon.
LEWIS CARROLL: IN HIS OWN ACCOUNT
by Jenny Woolf
The book is now out of print, but if you can find a copy we recommend you buy it. It's a virtually complete anaylsis of Carroll's personal bank account from the age of 24 until his death, with a very good analysis provided by Jenny Woolf. Factually unimpeachable and helping to lay many myths to rest.
Read some background to the book
BEHIND THE LOOKING-GLASS
by Sherry Ackerman
Behind the Looking Glass offers a fresh perspective in the ongoing, contemporary deconstruction of the Carroll Myth. Through rigorous examination of numerous myths that have been hitherto unquestioned, Ackerman skillfully positions Lewis Carroll in the theological and philosophical contexts of his time. She uncovers a Carroll whose radical religio-philosophical counter-response to patriarchal materialism moved his intellectual journey, intentionally or otherwise, deep into the waters of mysticism. The image of Carroll as a dreary Victorian conservative gives way to that of a man with wide intellectual parameters, an inquiring mind and bold, far-sighted vision.
Fiction
FROM AN ISLAND
by Anne Thackeray.
From an Island was written by the young novelist Anne Thackeray and published
in 1877. It is an emotional celebration of real people in her life and a place - the Isle of Wight -
that was dear to her. Most notable for this site, one of the real people she celebrates is
Lewis Carroll. He appears in her text as George Hexham, the young photographer who falls in love with the heroine.
Little is known of the underlying relationship
between Thackeray and Dodgson or of why she
chose to feature his character in her most personal fiction.
But the book is worth attention
for the very atypical un-'Carroll' portrait it paints of its hero.
The book is sadly not that readily available.
Read Karoline Leach's article about Dodgson's role in the book
Websites
CONTRARIWISE
The website of the Association of new Lewis Carroll Studies. It hosts the best collection of new writing on Carroll anywhere on the web, with controbutions from Karoline Leach, Hugues Lebailly, John Tufail and others.
LEWIS CARROLL AT TANT MIEUX
Sadi Ranson-Polizzotti's Carroll page.