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A review by narflet
The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll
5.0
Perfection between two hard boards.
This edition is superb. The surreal illustrations of Mahendra Singh are beautiful and just perfect for Snark. The references to other Carroll works, other fiction, artists (Henry Holiday's original illustrations in particular), and goodness knows what else (I couldn't possibly have caught every reference) are amazing and will keep you coming back to this edition time after time. I'm quite sure you'd spot something new each time you read it. The visual jokes that are made with the art are also incredible.
One touch I particularly liked was characterising the Beaver as female. I was just wondering, on my last read through, whether any of the characters could be female and then realising they all used male pronouns. Except, I didn't actually catch that the Beaver uses gender neutral pronouns and so, of course, could be female. It certainly adds a whole new dimension to Snark, and everything seems to fit so well once you accept the Beaver is female.
The afterword from Mahendra Singh explains how well he knows the works of Carroll, but it's evident long before you read that from his artwork. I'm certainly going to be adding this edition to my library some time. Flawless.
This edition is superb. The surreal illustrations of Mahendra Singh are beautiful and just perfect for Snark. The references to other Carroll works, other fiction, artists (Henry Holiday's original illustrations in particular), and goodness knows what else (I couldn't possibly have caught every reference) are amazing and will keep you coming back to this edition time after time. I'm quite sure you'd spot something new each time you read it. The visual jokes that are made with the art are also incredible.
One touch I particularly liked was characterising the Beaver as female. I was just wondering, on my last read through, whether any of the characters could be female and then realising they all used male pronouns. Except, I didn't actually catch that the Beaver uses gender neutral pronouns and so, of course, could be female. It certainly adds a whole new dimension to Snark, and everything seems to fit so well once you accept the Beaver is female.
The afterword from Mahendra Singh explains how well he knows the works of Carroll, but it's evident long before you read that from his artwork. I'm certainly going to be adding this edition to my library some time. Flawless.