A review by insearchofsheila
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

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?