Customer Reviews

The Wonderful World of Oz: The Wizard of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, Glinda of Oz (Classic, 20th-Century, Penguin)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) is best known today as the author of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," a children's story written in 1900. But following the success of that book, Baum wrote thirteen other Oz stories before his death from a stroke in 1919. Moreover, Baum wrote dozens of other children's tales, plays, and general stories. He was extraordinarily prolific, churning out five books in the year 1907 alone. In addition to this immense body of work, Baum worked as a journalist, a printer, a chicken breeder, an actor, a theater manager, an oil salesman, a playwright, and many other equally esoteric occupations. Despite this litany of accomplishments, it is that one little story about a Kansas girl and her dog that people remember, and even that is due to the 1939 film adaptation with Judy Garland as Dorothy. This Penguin Classics volume compiles three of Baum's Oz stories, "The Wizard of Oz," "The Emerald City of Oz," and "Glinda of Oz." With a dandy introduction by Jack Zipes, a bibliography of pertinent literature about Baum, and explanatory endnotes, this is an excellent introduction to a marvelous trio of stories written by an enormously talented individual.

The introduction outlines the highpoints of Baum's life as well as academic analyses on his Oz stories. According to Zipes, these stories reflect personal aspects of the author's life as well as social aspects of American society. Zipes's own analysis is that Oz represents a matriarchal utopia based on socialist principles. In Oz, women rule as witches and princesses while magic and good deeds serve the denizens without relying on capitalistic tendencies of competition and money. The introduction also refers to academics that saw "The Wizard of Oz" as a thinly veiled allegory concerning the Populist movement of the late 19th century, which was the reason I decided to read the stories. Regardless of academic analysis or cultural insights, these stories turned out to be a fascinating and entertaining read, full of puns, irony, and wacky creatures. I had fun reading these stories.

The first story in the collection, "The Wizard of Oz," should be instantly recognizable to most people. It differs considerably from the film version, however. Dorothy and Toto do meet the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion just as they do in the movie, but there are more adventures in the book version. There are differences too: in the story, the winged monkeys only obey the wicked witch because she can summon them with a magic cap. The witch also holds Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion in bondage for a period of time. I understand why the movie made several changes in the tale, but reading the story is as much if not more fun than seeing the film.

"The Emerald City of Oz," published in 1910, recounts several more adventures of Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Baum used this story to expand this mysterious realm by having Dorothy bring Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to live in Oz permanently after the bank forecloses on the Kansas farm. Young Dorothy then acts as a tour guide for her family, setting out on an exploration of unknown regions of Oz. The author throws in some great puns in this installment, little jokes that surprisingly made me laugh out loud. For example, Dorothy's adventure in Utensia (where she stands trial in a dwelling full of animated cutlery, pots and pans, and utensils), her trip to Bunbury (a town inhabited by living pastries, buns, breads, and rolls), and her meeting with the Fuddles (people who literally fall to pieces when surprised by outsiders; Dorothy and her companions have to put them back together like a puzzle) are amusing to read. The best scene in the story has to be the Flutterbudgets, a town full of people who worry incessantly about nonexistent dangers. All of these explorations take place against the backdrop of an invasion of Oz by the evil Nome King and his evil allies the Growleywogs, the Whimsies, and the Phanfasms. This Oz story is quite amusing and tremendously clever.

"Glinda of Oz," released to the public in 1920 a year after Baum's death reunites nearly every character from the other Oz stories. Dorothy, now a princess of Oz, sets out with her friend and monarch Ozma to stop a war between the Flatheads and the Skeezers. When Dorothy and Ozma get trapped in the fighting, Glinda the Sorceress leads a ragtag group of characters to rescue the two. Along for the trip are the Wizard of Oz, who returned to Oz after the first book and is learning magic, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the funniest character, Button Bright, a boy whose sole attribute is his ability to constantly get lost. Glinda and company step into the situation and bring it to a resolution. Arguably the most interesting theme in "Glinda of Oz" is the limitations Baum places on the uses of magic in Oz. There are different types of magic and no one character (The Wizard, Glinda, Ozma) has a grasp on infinite stores of magic. Moreover, magic can only be used to assist people, not to harm them. Ozma and Glinda punish anyone who uses magic as a weapon.

These are great stories whether you pay attention to the social and cultural subtexts or not. Fans of the MGM extravaganza will find much here to expand on their knowledge of Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Lion, and Glinda. Moreover, the addition of scads of other characters adds a richness and depth to the fantasy world of Oz beyond the scope of the film. I enjoyed these three stories so much I am considering reading a few of the other Oz stories, and hopefully you will too.

Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics presents a nice selection of L. Frank Baum's Oz books with The Wizard of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, and Glinda of Oz. It is a nice way to visit Oz beginning with the excellent essay, notes and bibliography by Jack Zipes to set the reader on the right foot along the Yellow Brick Road. After that the stories themselves will delight the reader in their own way with the versatile imagination of the author and will hopefully lead the unintiated to read more about Oz and to the more seasoned explorers it will bring back the joy felt when first going to this wonderful, wonderful land. A nice package.

These stories are sheer genuis and a blessed light in our sometimes dark world. I read them to my children, ages 4 and 6, and we all are transported to a place over the rainbow, where things somehow turn out wonderfully happy. In the Emerald City and Glinda, we enjoyed hearing more adventures of Dorothy's friends. Ozma is indeed a great heroine for her people and for my two bright-eyed children. I could just picture where each land was that Dorothy visited with her aunt and uncle in the Emerald City book. And the eccentric rules each place had were enchanting.

Anything by L. Frank Baum is going to be a good book for a person of any age to read. Oz is a fairy land that is full of imagination for any girl or boy. This is one of the best Oz books I've seen.