I plan to read Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy and thought it might be interesting to reread the book, this time in French.
My first observation was that the translator did a good job and most of the book was translated well – at least to the limits of my memory. Then I did notice some shortcomings, for instance the wordplay in the mouse poem relating the mouse’s tail to the tale being told just didn’t work in French. However, the translator did include good footnotes. Here, he explained differences in the French and English version. He also added some historical notes that I found added value to the story. This included some notes about the symbology that I had been completely unaware of.
Some of the jokes and puns were, if my memory serves, and perhaps were replaced with new or similar ones taking advantage of the language differences.
Overall, it is a quick read, delightful and imaginative and well worth some time spent.