Today is Rabbit Hole Day because of Lewis Carroll’s birthday. To celebrate this holiday one is supposed to write on a topic about which one does not usually write, thus jumping into a rabbit hole.
The first time I read Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass I was about 14. For whatever reason, I could not come up with about $25 to buy a library card, so there was this period when I would bike a couple of miles to the library, and read for a while, then go home without having the option to get books. The problem was that even though I lived two miles away it was outside the area that paid tax to the library, so I had to pay to check out books. Small towns are so weird for making it hard for kids to read; it was a thrill when I found that Seattle would give me a library card as soon as I arrived here, despite not establishing residency or any of the other dumb things that I could not do where I grew up.
Anyway, I read this book and I loved it. I started tripping hard on every part of it, like trying to find meaning in it all. I reviewed it repeatedly like kids do with their media and about this time, internet had become available. When I got my first computer one of the first things that I remember doing is finding an online text of Alice and thinking how wonderful it was that books could be online. I also remember having questions about the meaning of the book, and being able to search and find relevant information. Besides downloading advance copies of the Harry Potter books and certain textbooks that I could not afford, I never really took to reading online, but the Alice books to me are connected with my realization of how different the internet made my prospects for study.
I still biked to the library just to hang out and study, but I was less jealous of their outdated, underfunded collection when I had dial-up at home.