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A review by kberry513
The Wizard of Oz: The First Five Novels by L. Frank Baum
4.0
Thoughts on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:
I remember from reading this as a kid that there were many other peoples in Oz, like the Quadlings and the Winkies, that got cut from the film. And I knew that in the book, the Ruby Slippers were actually Silver Shoes (changed because it was cooler in Technicolor that they were red and sparkly). But I had forgotten that the death of the Wicked Witch of the West was so anticlimactic in comparison to the movie. In fact, she's less of the main villain of the piece and more of another in a series of obstacles the four heroes must get through. It's still a very enjoyable read, though.
**Thoughts on the Marvelous Land of Oz**
I thought I had read this one before, but after finishing it, I'm pretty sure I hadn't. I liked the new characters Tip/Ozma, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Saw Horse, and the Woggle Bug. I never knew that the Tin Woodsman was actually named Nick Chopper.
I find it interesting that the treatment of women in the novel is both progressive and backwards, which is most likely a product of the time it was written. Specifically, at the end, when Tip turns out to be Ozma enchanted, they make him feel better by saying that girls are just as good as boys, but then a few pages later, when Jinjur is defeated, the women go back to cooking and cleaning and they are all thrilled about it.
***Thoughts on Ozma of Oz****
I liked that this one brought all the characters from the previous stories together, along with a couple new friends. I also love that Billina saved the day twice - once because the Nomes are afraid of eggs and once because she knew how to guess which decorations were enchanted people. I am gaooy that tge ending sort of set up a more feasible way fir Dorothy to keep ending up back in Oz, too. How many more times would the same person really end up in a tornado or shipwreck? One weird thing - ut seems a bit like Dorothy regressed between her first adventure and this one. In the first one, she spoke normally and her moniker was either tge girl or the child, whereas here it was always the "little girl" and she has affected speech lots of " 'sociate" and "'pprove" snd "respec'able"s.
**Thoughts on Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz**
Dorothy's baby talk has not improved. Her companions in this one were not as good, either. Eureka the kitten was mean and murdery, Jim the horse has anger management problems, and the wizard is a semi genocidal charlatan. The companions pretty much just start attacking everyone they come across and they kill quite a few and feel no guilt about it because vegetable and wooden people aren't truly alive...except neither are most of Dorothy's Ozian friends either. The save by Ozma was a lot convenient and why didn't Dorothy think of it before? Also tge title isn't entirely appropriate as 90% of the story takes place in the center of the earth (and how ridiculously unlikely is it that the same little girl gets swept off to fantasy lands by a tornado, hurricane, and earthquake??) This one is my least favorite so far.
**Thoughts on The Road to Oz**
Clearly no one has told Dorothy of stranger danger. Eome weirdo comes up to her asking for directions, pockets her dog, and she goes off with him and gets lost, which is when he shows her the Love Magnet...sounds like thr beginning of a criminal minds episode.
okay so the shaggy man turned out to be not a serial killer but I maintain that would be a good story. two more things - how come every other animal but Toto can talk in Oz? And if Ozma was watching their progress, why not use tge belt??? it's like she wanted it to be her own reality tv show.
I remember from reading this as a kid that there were many other peoples in Oz, like the Quadlings and the Winkies, that got cut from the film. And I knew that in the book, the Ruby Slippers were actually Silver Shoes (changed because it was cooler in Technicolor that they were red and sparkly). But I had forgotten that the death of the Wicked Witch of the West was so anticlimactic in comparison to the movie. In fact, she's less of the main villain of the piece and more of another in a series of obstacles the four heroes must get through. It's still a very enjoyable read, though.
**Thoughts on the Marvelous Land of Oz**
I thought I had read this one before, but after finishing it, I'm pretty sure I hadn't. I liked the new characters Tip/Ozma, Jack Pumpkinhead, the Saw Horse, and the Woggle Bug. I never knew that the Tin Woodsman was actually named Nick Chopper.
I find it interesting that the treatment of women in the novel is both progressive and backwards, which is most likely a product of the time it was written. Specifically, at the end, when Tip turns out to be Ozma enchanted, they make him feel better by saying that girls are just as good as boys, but then a few pages later, when Jinjur is defeated, the women go back to cooking and cleaning and they are all thrilled about it.
***Thoughts on Ozma of Oz****
I liked that this one brought all the characters from the previous stories together, along with a couple new friends. I also love that Billina saved the day twice - once because the Nomes are afraid of eggs and once because she knew how to guess which decorations were enchanted people. I am gaooy that tge ending sort of set up a more feasible way fir Dorothy to keep ending up back in Oz, too. How many more times would the same person really end up in a tornado or shipwreck? One weird thing - ut seems a bit like Dorothy regressed between her first adventure and this one. In the first one, she spoke normally and her moniker was either tge girl or the child, whereas here it was always the "little girl" and she has affected speech lots of " 'sociate" and "'pprove" snd "respec'able"s.
**Thoughts on Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz**
Dorothy's baby talk has not improved. Her companions in this one were not as good, either. Eureka the kitten was mean and murdery, Jim the horse has anger management problems, and the wizard is a semi genocidal charlatan. The companions pretty much just start attacking everyone they come across and they kill quite a few and feel no guilt about it because vegetable and wooden people aren't truly alive...except neither are most of Dorothy's Ozian friends either. The save by Ozma was a lot convenient and why didn't Dorothy think of it before? Also tge title isn't entirely appropriate as 90% of the story takes place in the center of the earth (and how ridiculously unlikely is it that the same little girl gets swept off to fantasy lands by a tornado, hurricane, and earthquake??) This one is my least favorite so far.
**Thoughts on The Road to Oz**
Clearly no one has told Dorothy of stranger danger. Eome weirdo comes up to her asking for directions, pockets her dog, and she goes off with him and gets lost, which is when he shows her the Love Magnet...sounds like thr beginning of a criminal minds episode.
okay so the shaggy man turned out to be not a serial killer but I maintain that would be a good story. two more things - how come every other animal but Toto can talk in Oz? And if Ozma was watching their progress, why not use tge belt??? it's like she wanted it to be her own reality tv show.