A Tangled Tale

Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 160K words
Chapters: 16

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Tangled Tale by Lewis CarrollAuthor: Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898,Language: English, Class: QA: Science: Mathematics, Release Date: Jun 5, 2009

Editor's review

A Tangled Tale is a collection of mathematical puzzle stories that Lewis Carroll published in serial form, weaving arithmetic and algebra problems into dialogue and plot. Its appeal lies in a two-layer structure of "story shell" and "mathematical core": readers can follow the narrative straight through, or pause after each tale to work the problems and then compare their approach with the author's solutions. This method gives mathematical practice a playful quality and preserves Carroll's characteristic wit and humor. Note that the specific mathematics and problem settings should be taken from the original text rather than assumed from memory. Suitable as supplementary material for recreational mathematics, or for thinking-game sessions in shared family reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Middle-school and adult readers who enjoy mathematical puzzles and are willing to work out the answers
Parents and teachers who want to introduce children to mathematical thinking through stories
Literary readers interested in Lewis Carroll's style

Not a good fit for

Readers who want pure literature and are unwilling to engage with mathematical problems
Those with weak mathematical foundations who do not want the reading rhythm interrupted by problems

Reading tips

Read the stories through first, then return to work the problems one by one, so the narrative flow is not interrupted.
Keep pen and paper to record your own solutions, and compare them with the book's solutions after finishing.
For shared family reading, take one story at a time and use the problems as discussion topics.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a collection of mathematical problems?

It lies between the two: the outer layer is a story with plot and dialogue, and the inner layer embeds arithmetic and algebra puzzles. Readers can read it as a story or treat the problems as mathematical exercises; both approaches work.

How much mathematical background is needed to read it?

The problems are mainly arithmetic and basic algebra, so a junior-high-school level is usually enough to attempt them. Some require patient reasoning; if you get stuck, read the author's solution first and then return to understand the problem, rather than insisting on getting it right in one go.

Is it suitable as extracurricular mathematics reading for children?

Yes, but parents or teachers should accompany them. The story form can reduce children's resistance to mathematics problems, but some wording and background are dated, so adults need to help explain the problems and turn the working-out process into discussion rather than a test.

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About the author

Carroll, Lewis, 1832-1898 Author

Lewis Carroll (Carroll, Lewis, 1832–1898) is an English writer known for children's literature and nonsense narrative. The collection holds 26 of his works, with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as representative titles, alongside derived texts such as The Nursery Alice and translations into Finnish, French, Esperanto, and other languages, showing their wide circulation. His writing is distinguished by logical games, verbal puns, and bizarre imagination; through dreams and transformations it disrupts everyday order, and beneath the seemingly light fairy tale lie reflections on rules, growing up, and identity. These works are often classed as inspirational coming-of-age literature, yet are better regarded as classic fantasy that transcends age. Public information on the details of his life is limited, so this note focuses on the themes, style, and lasting influence of his works.