Chapter 648: Chapter 614: The Red Queen and The White Queen_1

What kind of fairy tale is Chu Kuang’s “Alice in Wonderland”?

The story itself is not very complicated.

A little girl named Alice enters a world as magical as Wonderland, meets many interesting friends and experiences many absurd and magical encounters.

In this world, the White Queen and the Red Queen stand against each other.

Finally, Alice helps the White Queen and defeats the Red Queen.

In the end, Alice wakes up.

She realizes that there is no real magic in the world, and her Wonderland was just a dream.

The real complexity of the story lies in its symbolism.

Each line of dialogue, each scene in the novel seems to carry a special meaning.

Different readers are bound to have different feelings about it.

Some people finish reading and are completely baffled.

Some think they understand it, but upon reflection, they aren’t sure if they really do.

So, after the novel was published, the first hot review on the Starry Sky website’s comment section was:

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“A strangely curious and absurd fairy tale.”

And the second hot review seems to be a kind of reply to the first one:

“Strangely lovable, strangely interesting, strangely absurd, strangely brilliant.”

This strangeness presents itself in many corners of the fairy tale.

Such as drinking a potion and growing bigger…

Or eating a cookie and becoming smaller…

Or rabbits and cats that can talk…

And that strangely significant dialogue in the novel:

‘Which road should I take?’

‘Where do you want to go?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘Then any road will do.’

‘What if I take the wrong road?’

‘Then I’ll make a road.’

And those beautifully thought-provoking lines:

“The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe that it is possible.”

“Going back to yesterday is useless because I’m not the person I was then.”

“People always think that time is a thief who steals everything we love. But time is a giver before it takes away. Every day is a gift, every hour, every minute, and every second.”

“The best of us is a little crazy.”

“In our land, you have to run constantly to stay in the same place.”

Of course.

There’s also that question for which many people couldn’t find the answer:

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

But undoubtedly.

Everybody loves this fairy tale.

The storm of book reviews officially begins now.

“Chu Kuang’s fairy tale is absurd yet lovable. I don’t regret being one of the first batch of pre-order readers. What I love about the story is not how magical the process was, but the last line. Perhaps many years from now, the little girl will become a woman, and I will no longer be a girl suffering from Alice syndrome, but at least I once had beauty in my life.”

“Laid-back and free, I love this carefreeness.”

“I used to have nightmares, always dreaming that someone wanted to kill me, but I was not afraid at all because I knew it was just a dream. If I wanted, I could wake up at any time.”

“I recommend more adults to read this fairy tale.”

“I think it’s a fairy tale for adults. The essence of dreams is absurdity. Beauty is camouflaging extreme sarcasm. Ugly and beautiful, good and evil are always relative. They are contradictory but unified.”

“Why do I feel uneasy reading this fairy tale?”

“It’s not as profound as it seems. I feel Chu Kuang’s fairy tale is a cautionary tale, urging us not to be restrained by secular norms and outside influences, and to stick to our own desires. Alice has always been a dreamer, not used to the various restrictions of the time. The previous Alice was such a person. However, after the death of her father, she gradually lost her characteristic of being brave and appreciative. It wasn’t until her return to Wonderland that she found herself again.”

“…”

The original story lacks narrative, it’s a bit of an account.

Lin Yuan didn’t alter the plot drastically, but he emphasized the narrative, for instance, the opposition between the White Queen and the Red Queen.

This approach benefits character development and allows everyone to feel more immersed when they journey through Wonderland.

This concept references Earth’s film and television adaptations of the Alice series.

The results are quite good.

Paired with Shadow’s illustrations, the effect when consumed is doubled.

In this slightly modified story, the Red Queen is brutal, and the White Queen is kind.

But the reason the Red Queen became cruel is that she was hurt by the White Queen in her youth.

When they were children.

The White Queen sneaked a fruit tart, but the crumbs fell in the Red Queen’s room.

Their mother questioned the Red Queen, and the Red Queen denied it, opting for the White Queen to confess. But the White Queen, out of fear, did not admit that she had eaten the tart.

The mother scolded the Red Queen.

As the eldest girl, the Red Queen was unjustly blamed. Out of anger, she ran out of the room and bumped her head, transforming into a big-headed monster. This ugly figure was ridiculed by the citizens.

The Red Queen felt insulted and threatened to decapitate those who laughed at her.

Furious, their father declared on the spot, the Red Queen lost her inheritance rights, and the White Queen would inherit the kingdom.

That is the reason for the conflict between the White Queen and the Red Queen in the story.

Many readers have debated this plot point.

Some believe that the Red Queen was innocent and only turned dark because of this experience in her youth. They argue that the White Queen should have told the truth instead of letting her sister suffer the unjust blame.

Others argue that the White Queen was too young at the time to understand these things.

The Red Queen’s turning evil, they contend, was because the Red Queen was never good to begin with. She had killed too many innocents, and one couldn’t simply blame her actions on a troubled childhood, thus absolving the Red Queen of all guilt.

“Nobody loves me.”

The Red Queen often mutters, “In comparison to being loved, it is more useful to be feared.”

The Red Queen rules through force.

The White Queen rules with kindness.

As these debates escalated, someone suggested, “The Red Queen is innocent but terrifying, the White Queen is kind yet lacks a certain responsibility. I believe Chu Kuang wants to express that the two queens could learn from each other’s strengths.”

It’s fascinating that…

In the vast majority of fairy tales, the villains are detested.

But the Red Queen’s evaluation is not all criticism, many people sympathize with her.

This is probably because the Red Queen is particularly friendly to deformed individuals, as she herself became a ‘deformed big head’ due to an injury caused by her younger sister.

In the end, Lin Yuan arranged for the Red Queen and the White Queen to have a major reconciliation.

The Red Queen turned to stone.

For the first time, the White Queen disregarded decorum, carrying the petrified sister, which consequently led to her petrification as well.

When the curse was lifted, the White Queen apologized to the Red Queen for their early childhood incident.

The Red Queen said, “I’ve been waiting for these words all these years, that’s all I ever wanted to hear.”

Lin Yuan’s writing is absolutely neutral.

The story of the Red Queen and the White Queen is left for the readers to judge.

But Alice, in reality, has already chosen the White Queen. This is likely because the Red Queen, in response to her personal pain, inflicted suffering on many people.

This blemish cannot be wiped clean.

Lin Yuan did not intend to cleanse it either.

Just like the portrayal of the White Queen, she’s not as pure and flawless as she presents to the world. This is a break from the traditional fairy tale thinking; even the kind White Queen has her own flaws, just like the wicked Red Queen who also has suffered and whose villainy is direct and simple.

Heightened storytelling…

The plot’s contemplative nature…

The absurdity’s humorous appeal…

The philosophical nature of the language…

Along with Shadow’s illustrations and control of the visuals, it feels like watching a movie rather than simply reading a fairy tale novel. These are all essential elements of why “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” became such a hit.

Yes.

Alice.

Is already a hit.

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ps: I referenced the movie version of the plot. Although there are many weaknesses in the film, I felt that the character development of the Red Queen was quite good. This portrayal aligns with the idea that no person is perfect. The interesting thing about this fairy tale is that it is highly philosophical; it doesn’t contain the absolute good versus evil conflict found in other fairy tales.