Book report: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum
It's hard to believe that the movie, The Wizard of Oz, started out as a children's book. The movie is so perfect an entity, and the source of so many quotes and images in our culture, that it seems like it must have been born fully formed. In fact, the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900 (39 years before the movie), and was so popular that author L. Frank Baum (is Lyman really so bad a first name?) wrote 13 sequels – and his own stage musical version.
Probably the first thing you have to do when reading this book is to unlearn the movie that you know by heart. For example, Miss Gulch, Professor Marvel, and the three farmhands aren't in the book at all. The Wicked Witch of the West is a very minor character, appearing in only one chapter, after the Wizard orders Dorothy to kill her – not bring back her broomstick. That might seem like losing a lot from the story, but it isn't. The book is full of adventures that Dorothy and her friends have on the way to Emerald City, on the way to the Witch's palace, and after leaving the Emerald City (the Wizard departs about ¾ of the way through, and Dorothy must find her own way home).
Baum is extremely clever at creating obstacles and challenges for Dorothy and her friends to overcome. Each of these situations is arranged in such a way that the characters must use their unique talents to deal with them, even though they doubt their own abilities. For example, although the Scarecrow is wishing to receive brains, he often comes up with ideas about how to solve problems. Similarly, the Tin Woodman, longing for a heart, always displays caring and compassion as he overcomes difficulties, and the Cowardly Lion shows great bravery in several situations. Children must find these passages fascinating, because they would realize that the character was able to do things that they doubted they could do. This is a great lesson for kids. It would probably also comfort them to think that, by analogy with the other characters, Dorothy really will be able to return home as she hopes to do.
This is a very American book, very practical and down-to-earth despite being a fantasy. I can't help but compare it to Lewis Carroll's Alice stories, which I love. Alice is clearly a bored child of the British upper classes, while Dorothy is a brave and self-sufficient farm girl and an orphan. The main characters that Alice encounters are very imaginary cards and chess pieces brought to life, and speaking inspired illogic. Although Dorothy encounters talking animals and the occasional witch, most of the characters she meets are very down to earth. The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman are working-class folks. (By the way, the Tin Woodman's origin, which is never mentioned in detail in the movie, is nothing less than horrifying and tragic.) While Alice flies or floats from place to place with no agenda, Dorothy has to walk almost everywhere, and be very practical about where to sleep and how to eat. It is clear that Oz is not meant to be an imaginary or dream place, as in the movie – and contrasted to Wonderland – but a real place that you can travel to. When Dorothy does return to Kansas, it's to a new farmhouse that Uncle Henry had to build during the weeks while she was gone, because the original house is still on top of the Witch of the East in Munchkinland.
A lot of people have a lot of ideas about how "The Wizard of Oz" is symbolic of something or other, including the turn-of-the-century political controversy over the silver and gold monetary standard (I’m not kidding). I'll take Occam's Razor on this one: the simplest explanation is probably the truest. This is a children's book. I can imagine that children even today would find Dorothy's adventures interesting.
That's not to say there's nothing for adults in this book. Besides the fun of comparing it to the movie, it has at least one subtle philosophical idea. All through the book, Dorothy and her friends believe that the Wizard will help them *because he can*. The idea that the mighty and powerful should help the vulnerable and weak is pretty complicated, and I won't discuss it here. But it's a hopeful notion that may appeal to the child in us all.
I highly recommend this book for all ages.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060293233?ie=UTF8&tag=echoxraydelta-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0060293233#noop
It's hard to believe that the movie, The Wizard of Oz, started out as a children's book. The movie is so perfect an entity, and the source of so many quotes and images in our culture, that it seems like it must have been born fully formed. In fact, the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was published in 1900 (39 years before the movie), and was so popular that author L. Frank Baum (is Lyman really so bad a first name?) wrote 13 sequels – and his own stage musical version.
Probably the first thing you have to do when reading this book is to unlearn the movie that you know by heart. For example, Miss Gulch, Professor Marvel, and the three farmhands aren't in the book at all. The Wicked Witch of the West is a very minor character, appearing in only one chapter, after the Wizard orders Dorothy to kill her – not bring back her broomstick. That might seem like losing a lot from the story, but it isn't. The book is full of adventures that Dorothy and her friends have on the way to Emerald City, on the way to the Witch's palace, and after leaving the Emerald City (the Wizard departs about ¾ of the way through, and Dorothy must find her own way home).
Baum is extremely clever at creating obstacles and challenges for Dorothy and her friends to overcome. Each of these situations is arranged in such a way that the characters must use their unique talents to deal with them, even though they doubt their own abilities. For example, although the Scarecrow is wishing to receive brains, he often comes up with ideas about how to solve problems. Similarly, the Tin Woodman, longing for a heart, always displays caring and compassion as he overcomes difficulties, and the Cowardly Lion shows great bravery in several situations. Children must find these passages fascinating, because they would realize that the character was able to do things that they doubted they could do. This is a great lesson for kids. It would probably also comfort them to think that, by analogy with the other characters, Dorothy really will be able to return home as she hopes to do.
This is a very American book, very practical and down-to-earth despite being a fantasy. I can't help but compare it to Lewis Carroll's Alice stories, which I love. Alice is clearly a bored child of the British upper classes, while Dorothy is a brave and self-sufficient farm girl and an orphan. The main characters that Alice encounters are very imaginary cards and chess pieces brought to life, and speaking inspired illogic. Although Dorothy encounters talking animals and the occasional witch, most of the characters she meets are very down to earth. The Scarecrow and Tin Woodman are working-class folks. (By the way, the Tin Woodman's origin, which is never mentioned in detail in the movie, is nothing less than horrifying and tragic.) While Alice flies or floats from place to place with no agenda, Dorothy has to walk almost everywhere, and be very practical about where to sleep and how to eat. It is clear that Oz is not meant to be an imaginary or dream place, as in the movie – and contrasted to Wonderland – but a real place that you can travel to. When Dorothy does return to Kansas, it's to a new farmhouse that Uncle Henry had to build during the weeks while she was gone, because the original house is still on top of the Witch of the East in Munchkinland.
A lot of people have a lot of ideas about how "The Wizard of Oz" is symbolic of something or other, including the turn-of-the-century political controversy over the silver and gold monetary standard (I’m not kidding). I'll take Occam's Razor on this one: the simplest explanation is probably the truest. This is a children's book. I can imagine that children even today would find Dorothy's adventures interesting.
That's not to say there's nothing for adults in this book. Besides the fun of comparing it to the movie, it has at least one subtle philosophical idea. All through the book, Dorothy and her friends believe that the Wizard will help them *because he can*. The idea that the mighty and powerful should help the vulnerable and weak is pretty complicated, and I won't discuss it here. But it's a hopeful notion that may appeal to the child in us all.
I highly recommend this book for all ages.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060293233?ie=UTF8&tag=echoxraydelta-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0060293233#noop
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