Saturday Rave: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.

Alice in Wonderland terrified me as a child. It was full of deeply worrying things happening for the flimsiest of reasons - or, indeed, for no reason at all.

It also had difficult words like conversations on the very first page, and this annoyed me greatly.

But now I'm grown up...

...well, perhaps I still don't really love Alice in Wonderland, but I do admire it hugely. The sheer cheek of the book is just staggering. Lewis Carroll dances around reason, as nimble as a gnat, and we have no choice but to tumble dizzily with him. 

Oh, and all those over-the-top characters are magnificent.

(Though scary. Definitely scary.)

The Queen's argument was, that if something wasn't done about it in less than no time, she'd have everybody executed, all round. (It was this last remark that had made the whole party look so grave and anxious.)

As well they might.

Ah well! At least no one does get executed. Many a modern book for young people would have them all dead by teatime.

Word To Use Today: execute. This word means to carry out, and doesn't really have anything to do with killing people. It's a bit like saying we're going to do him.
The word is from the French executeur, executor (that's someone who makes sure the right people get the money and property after someone dies) and before that from the Latin ex which means out from, plus sequi, which means to follow.