dangersquirrel 's review for:

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

4.0

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Very strange to think that this little thing is the first in a line of dominos that ends with people really holding space for the lyrics to defying gravity. Wicked expands on many of the very strange concepts of the original but it’s easy to forget that latent lesbian subtext also originates with L Frank Baum having Dorothy flirt with half the girls in Oz. 

I hadn’t read this since I was like 10 and I don’t think I realized at the time how surprisingly bland the prose is. It does invite the reader to let the imagination take over, and the movie departs enough from the book that it doesn’t replace the imagery, which is nice. 

One could read almost anything into the politics of this story, it’s wild.