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A review by lory_enterenchanted
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
lighthearted
2.5
As I'm setting out on an "Ozathon" of Baum's 14 Oz books, I was inspired to wedge this in between books one and two, where it was published. I'd read it before but didn't remember much about it.
This time around, I was somewhat surprised at how extremely secular this Santa Claus myth is! Baum was interested in Theosophy, and rejected the organized church, but I'd like to know more about that. The good of that: no smarmy Christian sentimentality, and an alternative pantheon of nature spirits. The bad: a certain stubborn imperviousness to the spiritual significance of the season. Christmas Eve is chosen arbitrarily for Claus to deliver his gifts, which he offers to all children everywhere (including an insensitive scene where he apparently gives the first Christmas tree to a Native American family who live on a plain with no trees).
The suggestion that children are made happy by receiving toys is disturbing. Baum suggests that parents do not pay much attention to their children, so they need things to make them happy, instead. Hm.
This time around, I was somewhat surprised at how extremely secular this Santa Claus myth is! Baum was interested in Theosophy, and rejected the organized church, but I'd like to know more about that. The good of that: no smarmy Christian sentimentality, and an alternative pantheon of nature spirits. The bad: a certain stubborn imperviousness to the spiritual significance of the season. Christmas Eve is chosen arbitrarily for Claus to deliver his gifts, which he offers to all children everywhere (including an insensitive scene where he apparently gives the first Christmas tree to a Native American family who live on a plain with no trees).
The suggestion that children are made happy by receiving toys is disturbing. Baum suggests that parents do not pay much attention to their children, so they need things to make them happy, instead. Hm.