3.8.10

There's lot of hullabaloo going round about the new Alice in Wonderland movie. I have mixed feelings about it, mostly because I don't always agree with Tim Burton's aesthetic sensibility. I love his darker stuff--Edward Scissorhands is particularly brilliant.

But when I think of the Victorian England, I see images borrowed from the photographs of Lewis Carroll himself, and Julia Margaret Cameron. Over the holidays I read an amazing new book, The Children's Book by AS Byatt (the author of Posession). It takes place in Victorian England, and its characters include the historical figures J.M. Barrie, William Morris, George Merrill and Edward Carpenter. It was an enchanting and beguiling time in the world, sort of a social experiment that ended with World War I.

top two photos by J.M.C., bottom by L.C.