Lewis Carroll's Influence on Tolkien

[littlemanpoet]

I've been reading Sylvie and Bruno, curious to see what their charm could have been for Tolkien. I must say, though I am not finished with the second book yet, I have yet to discover it. ... [Carroll's works] seem much more conventional and their realm has little to do with Faery as shown to us in Smith of Wootton Major.- Estelyn Telcontar

I agree with you, Esty. I hope I didn't suggest that they were as good as Tolkien! Sorry if I led you to expect that! Consider Tolkien's position as a reader, rarely finding anything that was up to his standard. Carroll probably did as well as he could considering what he had to work with.

Are you saying that Tolkien didn't think of Alice as fantasy nor faerie-story, and simply that? Or that Tolkien really didn't like the book? - Morquesse

Good to see you around again, Morquesse! My comment was based on my reading of On Fairy Stories. I also noticed the mention in Carpenter's biography, and that was my basis for my own comment, which it turns out, was incorrect:

He was amused by Alice in Wonderland, though he had no desire to have adventures like Alice.

On the face of it, this comment is not as helpful as I had originally thought, since he also said that he greatly desired dragons, but certainly didn't want to meet one! Still, I think his lack of desire in each case is different. With Alice, it's distaste, whereas with dragons, it's self-preservation!