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jaime_davison's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sidharthvardhan's review against another edition
5.0
It is always feels great to return to simple world of children books. This one is a perfect example of how children books are supposed to be; and like all children books, it is a fabulous piece of imagination. Its greatness can be best described by the fact that someone like Salman Rushdie has taken pains to write about the movie it inspired.
People are trying to read it as a economic parable, but author himself never made such a claim. Let us, for a change, see a duck as a duck and let it be one.
Dorothy (the name came from Baum's dead niece, who his wife loved like the child she never had), the child protagonist is able to maintain her innocence even as she accidentally kills the two bad witches - something missing in so many children stories; except of course she is someone who slaps lion when it attacks her dog.
Baum combines fantasy elements (like witches) with real life things like scarecrow and lion; and also the industrial tin man. Munchkins are akin to farmers and winkies to industrialists.
One of its most important themes is that 'there is no place like home' - even when Dorothy's home is a grey and sad area; she is willing to return to it after seeing wonderful places. The character of oz (perhaps a satire on powerful people with all his fear, loneliness, manipulation and yet internal good hardheartedness) is able to inspire self belief in Dorothy's comrades by using a kind of placebo magic. The characters continue to ask him to help them even when they come to know that he is an impostor.
There is just too much of parody in it. There are many examples- The fact that witch should be afraid of darkness, that a little girl slapped lion, the way two witches die or in the secret of 'great and terrible' wizard of oz' who gives title to book; and the fact that Dorothy's three friends each want one of three key qualities - brains, heart and courage; not knowing they already possess them.
People are trying to read it as a economic parable, but author himself never made such a claim. Let us, for a change, see a duck as a duck and let it be one.
Dorothy (the name came from Baum's dead niece, who his wife loved like the child she never had), the child protagonist is able to maintain her innocence even as she accidentally kills the two bad witches - something missing in so many children stories; except of course she is someone who slaps lion when it attacks her dog.
Baum combines fantasy elements (like witches) with real life things like scarecrow and lion; and also the industrial tin man. Munchkins are akin to farmers and winkies to industrialists.
One of its most important themes is that 'there is no place like home' - even when Dorothy's home is a grey and sad area; she is willing to return to it after seeing wonderful places. The character of oz (perhaps a satire on powerful people with all his fear, loneliness, manipulation and yet internal good hardheartedness) is able to inspire self belief in Dorothy's comrades by using a kind of placebo magic. The characters continue to ask him to help them even when they come to know that he is an impostor.
There is just too much of parody in it. There are many examples- The fact that witch should be afraid of darkness, that a little girl slapped lion, the way two witches die or in the secret of 'great and terrible' wizard of oz' who gives title to book; and the fact that Dorothy's three friends each want one of three key qualities - brains, heart and courage; not knowing they already possess them.
catgv's review against another edition
4.0
It's REEEALLLY good. The kind of books I love to read :D It's ''childish'', but not written as though we were children of 5 to understand it. :D
jesslunac's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
insearchofsheila's review against another edition
4.0
I read this for my English class since we're focusing on the American road story of the early 20th century and such. The underlying message of the story, which is road reform, is not highlighted to most readers when they pick up the book or watch the movie, which I think is great to learn when you analyze. Baum is very accurate in his contrasting depictions between farmers and the Good Roads movement and the land of Oz, which represents the thriving and industrialized nation America was becoming at the time of publication. The book is pretty different from the movie which is expected. It carries more detail of the Tin Man, the Lion, and the Scarecrow, and the Winged Monkeys by including personal stories of how they ended up 'the way they were' (heartless, courage-less, brainless enslaved). One question my professor asked the class while we were analyzing which I absolutely love is....is the author intentionally trying to be ironic? or are we looking at it too closely?
spacedancekitten's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A classic for a reason.
I enjoyed the mythic quality to the story.
I enjoyed the mythic quality to the story.
beccabookworm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Much more beheading than the films, but overall very good. The adventures were simply told, but still held a lot of excitement. There were some times I literally laughed out loud. My favorite running joke (whether it was intentional or not) was how characters kept saying goodbye so flippantly as if they hadn’t just been or weren’t currently in life-threatening situations.
I listened to this in one sitting while I did my hair and I was never bored, nor did I ever zone out (which happens a lot with me and audiobooks if I’m not interested).
Titus Burgess’s narration was fantastic. So much emotion and the characters felt distinct from one another not just because of the different voices he put on for each, but their individual personalities came through in his performance.
I listened to this in one sitting while I did my hair and I was never bored, nor did I ever zone out (which happens a lot with me and audiobooks if I’m not interested).
Titus Burgess’s narration was fantastic. So much emotion and the characters felt distinct from one another not just because of the different voices he put on for each, but their individual personalities came through in his performance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Slavery, and Death
eesh25's review against another edition
4.0
Up until ten minutes ago, I thought this book was a standalone. I had no clue that I'd unwittingly started a fourteen-book series! But now that I have, let's see how far I make it.
I'd wanted to start by saying that everyone's probably heard of the Wizard of Oz. Except where I live, most people haven't. So I'm gonna pretend that no one's heard of it and go with that.
This is a story of a young girl, Dorothy, who get's caught up in a cyclone and transported to a magical land called Oz. She's lost and just wants to go back home to her aunt and uncle in Kansas. She doesn't want to stay in this land, as magical as it may be. And as she's trying to figure out what's going on, she meets some residents of Oz who tell her that there's a great wizard who lives the Emerald city who has the power to send her back. All she had to do is follow the yellow brick road.
On the way, she meets strange but friendly individuals who decide to join her in her journey to the wizard, because they all have things they want from him. And that's the gist of it. A magical land, new friends and an adventure, as Dorothy tries to get back home. And I gotta tell ya, it could have been boring.
Adventure books, as cool as they sound, don't always work because all the walking around and doing stuff can get repetitive. What saves this book is it's quirkiness. There's a lot of unusual things that happen and the book never tries to explain itself. Like the fact that a scarecrow is just somehow alive, or that a man who accidentally cut off all parts of his body and replaced them with tin, is also alive.
The book doesn't take itself seriously, the characters are all deliberately one-dimensional, and there's no tension to be found (it's a kids' books). But it's so unique, with the simple prose working very much in it's favour, that I quite enjoyed it.
This is a short and fun book that you could speed through in just a few hours. You might have moments of "wow, Dorothy is so unintentionally mean!" or "did she just accidentally defeat the villain" but overall, as long as you're not one to fret over things not making sense, you'll probably enjoy it. And, unlike Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (which I've read maybe one chapter of, so far), this one doesn't feel like an acid trip.
I'd wanted to start by saying that everyone's probably heard of the Wizard of Oz. Except where I live, most people haven't. So I'm gonna pretend that no one's heard of it and go with that.
This is a story of a young girl, Dorothy, who get's caught up in a cyclone and transported to a magical land called Oz. She's lost and just wants to go back home to her aunt and uncle in Kansas. She doesn't want to stay in this land, as magical as it may be. And as she's trying to figure out what's going on, she meets some residents of Oz who tell her that there's a great wizard who lives the Emerald city who has the power to send her back. All she had to do is follow the yellow brick road.
On the way, she meets strange but friendly individuals who decide to join her in her journey to the wizard, because they all have things they want from him. And that's the gist of it. A magical land, new friends and an adventure, as Dorothy tries to get back home. And I gotta tell ya, it could have been boring.
Adventure books, as cool as they sound, don't always work because all the walking around and doing stuff can get repetitive. What saves this book is it's quirkiness. There's a lot of unusual things that happen and the book never tries to explain itself. Like the fact that a scarecrow is just somehow alive, or that a man who accidentally cut off all parts of his body and replaced them with tin, is also alive.
The book doesn't take itself seriously, the characters are all deliberately one-dimensional, and there's no tension to be found (it's a kids' books). But it's so unique, with the simple prose working very much in it's favour, that I quite enjoyed it.
This is a short and fun book that you could speed through in just a few hours. You might have moments of "wow, Dorothy is so unintentionally mean!" or "did she just accidentally defeat the villain" but overall, as long as you're not one to fret over things not making sense, you'll probably enjoy it. And, unlike Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (which I've read maybe one chapter of, so far), this one doesn't feel like an acid trip.
readinginmaine's review against another edition
5.0
My daughters LOVED this book, as did I. I think it is much better than the movie and surprisingly un-dated given when it was written.