Reading the Classics with Ilan Stavans (NYPL/Jones Library)

Saw at the Carle Museum shop

Read the introduction (to p. xli), mainly a biography of Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer, how they came to collaborate on The Phantom Tollbooth (and, much later, The Odious Ogre).

Author's notes to two characters he ultimately chose not to include in The Phantom Tollbooth: The Exact Moment (1. the Exact Moment you pass from wakefulness into sleep, 2. the exact moment water becomes ice, 3. the exact moment forward motion becomes backward motion, 4. the exact moment good becomes bad) (xxix)

"Fairy-tales were plainly not primarily concerned with possibility, but with desirability" (Tolkien 1966) (xxxi)

"for it goes without saying"
Here the author makes a place for his favorite childhood pun (79)

Norton Juster's 1960's classic, The Phantom Tollbooth is an all-time favorite of mine. It is a gem -- a book for the ages, all of them. It is chock full of wisdom. Every time you read it, you find something meaningful. Sadly, I think the annotated version detracted from the magic of the book, which is an allegory. I had to read each chapter in full, and then go back to read the annotations so as to follow Milo's adventures.

The few annotations I liked by Leonard Marcus were those regarding synesthesia and how Norton Juster himself was able to get over his own troubles with numbers by association with colors, how the wonderful chapter entitled Colorful Symphony was almost deleted by the editor, how colors were an important element of psychedelic rock in the late 1960s, Juster's decision not to include the Chocolate Mouse, and how many readers were upset that the Mathemagician's letter to his brother, King Azaz, all in numbers was not written in code. Hopefully, I have spoiled this version so all of you can read the original version, which is a fantastic 5 star read, which I recommend without reservation. Jules Feiffer's classic illustrations have withstood the test of time too.

Here are my two favorite quotes in this reading:

"For always remember, that while it is wrong to use too few [words], it is often far worse to use too many."

"For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reason than you do for being right for the wrong reason."

I was also amused again by the cure for jumping to conclusions was a swim back through the sea of knowledge. ( )

5 for the Phantom Tollbooth, 3 for the Annotations. Unlike Martin Gardner's seminal The Annotated Alice (which was my first exposure to Alice in Wonderland--I read it when I was 8 and loved it), much of the annotations seem superfluous. I'm just making up an example, but a statement like "Miles picked the dandelion" might warrant an annotation about dandelions, where they're from, the origin of the name dan-de-lion, or some such thing. That's not really what anyone wants to know. There were very few notes that made me perk up and see something in a new light.

I appreciated the introduction a lot more. Basically, this would be an interesting library rental, but I wouldn't rush out to purchase it (as I had done!) ( )

A childhood classic in which the ultimate message is to oppose ignorance and champion thought and reason...a message that is needed now more than ever. ( )

The Phantom Tollbooth is one of my most favorite childhood books, so this gets five stars; the annotations are enjoyable, but as another reviewer stated, not exactly earth shattering. That said, I find any glimpse into the author and illustrator's minds to be interesting, along with the history behind different phrases and puns, so I found the annotated edition to be very enjoyable. ( )