is one of the most bizarre books I've ever read,
The fantasy elements are all rather ordinary, Theres a secret world beyond that of our own this is a standard trope of the genre, C. S Lewis would soon follow suit and inspire later generations, But the point is the Land of Oz is just weird,
Seems like a bland criticism, though the entire point of the plot is to have good triumph over evil.
But what is evil Beyond the actual name of the antagonist, the Wicked Witch of the West, we dont actually know much about her.
Is she really that bad It seems unusual to create such an evilly induced character and then have her preform no evil it sort of makes the whole moral of the story seem questionable.
Simply put, an apt summary of the story would be: “a little girl meets three freaks and goes on a killing spree in a fucked up world.
” Indeed, the heroes of the tale arent exactly what Id define as good,
Are they evil heroes
Dorothy is completely unheroic, She kills another “evil witch” on her entry into the land her first act is to accidently commit murder, All her success is down to unbelievable blind luck it gets to the point that she performs a completely random action, like throwing water at someone, and she somehow saves the day.
Itd just odd. The Tin Woodsman is an even stranger figure, We have an entire chapter devoted to the saving of a colony of mice yet, at one point he cuts a leopards head off despite travelling in the company of a lion.
Does this sound like childrens fiction For me this was slightly hypocritical, Its like the author is saying we should be nice to some animals only, It made little sense. And then theres the whole separate issue of how the woodman managed to survive so many decapitations, .
I can understand why this book was so popular to its earlier audiences its a very early attempt at fantasy, so there wasnt a great deal quite like this around at the time.
I think for a child who just sees the basic plot of this, they would easily become lost, But when you read it as an adult you just cant help but think “this isnt right, ” I could go on. I could go on to explain how the structure is a slight mess, Each chapter is almost like its own enclosed story thats could be read section by section, each night before bed.
But as an actual novel, the progression of chapters really is quite poor, I picked out two points where the novel really should have ended yet, it kept going on when the climax had finished and all momentum has been lost.
For me this book is an example of an overly hyped cultural phenomenon, Many people claim to love this book, but many havent actually read it, Everyone my age I have ever met has watched the film at some point in their life the basic narrative is embodied into their cultural psyche, which happens with many literary classics of this type.
The point is the book here is a very different thing, I implore everyone who bases their knowledge, and perhaps love, of this on the movie to actually sit down and read the horrendous work in question then you may see what it actually is: a vile little story that is accidently evil.
This one was quite a shocker!
I've never liked the movie,
And that's my shameful secret, Random Goodreader,
It terrified me that the mean neighbor was going to have Toto put down, And there was never any resolution to that when Dorothy came back from Oz! The movie just glossed over the fact that as soon as Toto set foot in Kansas again, Aunt Em and Uncle Henry are going to turn him over to Ms.
Gulch.
Worse, nobody else seemed to notice this glaring plot hole, and they just kept insisting that somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue and the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true.
And then they kill your dog!
Beyond that, I didn't like all the singing and skipping around.
Or the munchkins' annoying voices,
At any rate, I never got the appeal of this beloved classic,
Until now.
The book was a bajillion times better than the movie! ltI don't know why I'm surprised, but there you have it.
There were several pretty big differences between the book and the movie that you may not be aware of if you're only familiar with the big screen version.
First, Dorothy and Toto go on an adventure to Oz without any mention of a dog killing neighbor lurking in the shadows awaiting their return.
That storyline was something they made up for the movie, more's the pity,
Second, the slippers were silver not ruby! I'm guessing that was a choice made to show off Technicolor, and I can't really say I disagree with that one.
Third, there were all of these great backstories for all of the characters that got completely chopped out for the movie.
Did you know that the Tin Man wants a heart because he was once in love with a young lady Or that the flying monkeys were under a curse due to a practical joke gone wrong
Cool, huh
I can see why this was such a hit back in the day with the kiddos.
It's not long, there are a lot of fun amp fantastical characters, and THE DOG DOESN'T DIE,
Recommended! This is one of those rare books where the movie is ACTUALLY BETTER than the book.
I did read this years ago and I did enjoy it, but the movie tops it, Still all the magic is here at the beginning,
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الحلم, . هو أن تجرؤ علي الحلم
أن تحلم وتأمل وتبدأ المغامرة كما بدأها هؤلاء الأربعة
فتاة ضائعة وكلبها. . خيال مآتة يبحث عن عقل. . إنسان حديدي يبحث عن قلب. . أسد يتمني الشجاعة
الفتاة تتحدث. . خيال المآتة يتحدث رغم كونه بلا عقل. . الإنسان الحديدي يتحدث ويبكي. . الأسد يتحدث وهو حيوان ! والكلب الوحيد الذي لا يتحدث رغم كونه حيوانا أيضا مثل الأسد. . لماذا
!!
الإجابة تستنتجها انت من الرواية بلا شك
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ثلاث نجوم للفكرة والاقتباسات
ونجمة لروح الرواية نفسها الروح التي تأخذك لأدب بعيد عن عالمنا قريب من واقعنا رمزي في معناه رقيق في فحواه وتصويره
هذه الرواية ورواية أليس في بلاد العجائب وبينوكيو وغيرها من هذه الفئة من الروايات لا تظنها للأطفال أبدا ففيها من الاقتباسات والتشبيهات والرموز ما يجعلها رواية فلسفية من الدرجة الأولي
رواية رغم بساطتها إلا أنها عميقة للغاية في أفكارها ورموزها ويجب عليك أن تتأملها ببطء وهدوء
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لماذا هذا خيال مآتة من قش ولماذا هذا الإنسان من الحديد
هل لأن الإنسان حقا دون عقل هش فارغ مثل القش لا احد يهتم به ولا يقدره ولا يحترمه خيال مآتة لا يخيف ولا يؤثر
وهل لأن الإنسان دون قلب مثل الحديد لا يلين ولا يحب ولا يتمني ولا يأسف ولا يندم يصدأ فقط بمرور الأيام
وهل من الممكن أن يولد الأسد جبانا
أم أن شجاعته من المفترض أنها فطرة
وإذا كان الأمر مكتسبا فهل يولد الإنسان أيضا بإنسانيته أم أن الامر مكتسب
القلب أهم أم العقل
وما الوطن هل المكان المريح أم المكان الموجود المتوافر ولا يوجد غيره
ومتي يجب عليك التضحية بأحلامك ومتي يلزم عليك التمسك بواقعك
فماذا نفعل هل نتمسك بأحلام غير مضمونة ونلهث وراء مغامرة خطيرة غير مأمونة أم نستسلم لواقع غير مريح
وماذا لو كان كل الأمل سراب
ثم فكرة البكاء والصدأ.
. حقا نحن نصدأ بمرور الأحزان
هذه الرواية مثل رواية أليس. . لا تقرأها أبدا في عجالة ولا تظن أنها للأطفال بالنسبة لي لو الأمر بيدي لقمت بإقرار كلتا الروايتين علي طلاب الجامعة في قسم الفلسفة حقا ودون مبالغة
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sitelink Really enjoyed this classic, I can very well imagine reading this to a child and there is a lot of symbols that elevate the book above being a simple parable
Am I really wonderful asked the Scarecrow.
You are unusual, replied Glinda,
Of the adaptations of sitelinkThe Wonderful Wizard of Oz I remember the Wiz, with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross and quite scary flying monkeys the best.
The book gave me vibes of sitelinkAlice's Adventures in Wonderland / Through the LookingGlass and sitelinkThe Hobbit, or There and Back Again, with a quest into a foreign country, with friendships along the way.
However strangely enough for quite a slight children's book, this read was most synergetic with sitelinkThese Truths: A History of the United States of historian sitelinkJill Lepore from Harvard, since a lot of the elements touched upon by sitelinkL.
Frank Baum refer to American history and enfranchisement,
For instance, House ending slavery in the East or how Chinese immigrants working in the gold rush of California, but not treated as citizens, inspiring the Winkies and the Wicked Witch of the West.
The dust bowl comes back at the start of the book, when Dorothy refers to Kansas as a grey state full of dust everywhere.
Her companions can also be seen as symbols of the common man his enfranchisement, Scarecrow as Farmer, Tin Man symbolizing Industry and Lion representing soldiers.
In the book they are quite witty and snappy, for instance:
Have you brains asked the Scarecrow,
I suppose so. Ive never looked to see replied the Lion,
Finally illusionists and circus, think of T, J. Barnum his successes with illusions, must have inspired the Great Wizard As he said, he was a good man, even if he was a bad Wizard.
This is an easy read and I highly recommend picking it up if only for curiosity to the source that inspired so many adaptations.
Everything is neatly explained and solved in the end,
Frankly the only question that does still nag at me a bit is why Dorothy has silver shoes in the book, or rather why does the film and musical versions have her wearing red ones I thought it interesting that in the foreword Baum says he didn't want this to be violent like the fairytales of the past.
. . and yet, a little girl transports to a strange land, kills the first person she meets, and teams up with three strangers to kill again.
They also kill various creatures on their path of destruction,
Perhaps we could savor all the violence but have a much more abridged version with the following:
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Currently filing a lawsuit with the Childhood Experience Department: Wondrous Fictional Classics Division over the fact that I didn't read this until I was a fullon adult.
I love children's classics because they feel like eating candy that's good for you, They're sweet and fun and often magical but also written all oldtimey so it counts are reading Classic Literature and it makes your brain bigger, guaranteed.
So I'm glad as with Anne of Green Gables that I got around to this one eventually, . . but what the hell was childme doing that kept me reading this off the agenda I had no friends, was a huge nerd, and read all the time.
Some things never change. There's no excuse.
Anyway.
Bottom line: A delight for all ages and times!
currentlyreading updates
anyone else have this sneaking suspicion we're not in kansas anymore.
Download Your Copy ოზის ჯადოქარი Conceived By L. Frank Baum Available In Audiobook
L. Frank Baum