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A review by emiged
Patchwork Girl of Oz by L. Frank Baum
3.0
The Patchwork Girl is one of my favorite Oz characters. She's absolutely delightful! I loved her whimsical little rhymes and her unquestioning loyalty to Ojo as well as the budding romance between her and the Scarecrow.
While I've dinged other Oz books for being "travelogues" without any driving plot, the urgency behind Ojo's journey feels real. He desperately wants to save Unc Nunkie, his only relative and, until his travels, his only friend as well. (Curious, though, how he lives with his uncle - no mother or father in sight - in a land where no one ever dies...but I digress.)
Mr. Baum has an interesting approach to moral dilemmas. For the record, if the only way to rescue Unc Nunkie was to sacrifice a single yellow butterfly, I'd probably cry a bit (I couldn't spear a worm on a hook to go fishing), but I'd do it. It wouldn't even be a question for me. The Tin Woodman would not approve, I'm sure, but I thought his response to Ojo's request remarkably cold and cruel for one who is supposed to be "tender-hearted."
And Ozma's "benevolent dictatorship" truly gets on my nerves some times. No one but Glinda and the Wizard (what happened to the Good Witch of the North?) can practice magic, even for their own amusement and benefit, because some people did bad things with it? Let's take away everyone's cars because some people drive drunk! And while she sits in her opulent Emerald City and proclaims how devoted she is to the happiness of her people, there are people in her land in such dire straits that they have to leave their homes so they don't starve (even if they can't die, they can't be pleasant!)? Get out of your throne room, lady, and look around!
Yes, I'm aware that I'm reading far too much into these children's fairy tales. So sue me.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.
While I've dinged other Oz books for being "travelogues" without any driving plot, the urgency behind Ojo's journey feels real. He desperately wants to save Unc Nunkie, his only relative and, until his travels, his only friend as well. (Curious, though, how he lives with his uncle - no mother or father in sight - in a land where no one ever dies...but I digress.)
Mr. Baum has an interesting approach to moral dilemmas. For the record, if the only way to rescue Unc Nunkie was to sacrifice a single yellow butterfly, I'd probably cry a bit (I couldn't spear a worm on a hook to go fishing), but I'd do it. It wouldn't even be a question for me. The Tin Woodman would not approve, I'm sure, but I thought his response to Ojo's request remarkably cold and cruel for one who is supposed to be "tender-hearted."
And Ozma's "benevolent dictatorship" truly gets on my nerves some times. No one but Glinda and the Wizard (what happened to the Good Witch of the North?) can practice magic, even for their own amusement and benefit, because some people did bad things with it? Let's take away everyone's cars because some people drive drunk! And while she sits in her opulent Emerald City and proclaims how devoted she is to the happiness of her people, there are people in her land in such dire straits that they have to leave their homes so they don't starve (even if they can't die, they can't be pleasant!)? Get out of your throne room, lady, and look around!
Yes, I'm aware that I'm reading far too much into these children's fairy tales. So sue me.
For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves.