The Wonderful World of Oz

I've been wanting to read L Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for years. I've seen a ton of adaptations, from the 1939 Judy Garland movie, to Gregory Maguire's Wicked and the musical based on it, to the Syfy mini-series Tin Man. But somehow I kept missing the original work, even after my mom bought it.

I finally picked it up when I discovered a collection that combines three books in the series into single printings. And I'm happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed the original tale. There was a lot more adventure and character development that I expected. It was fun to see so much more of Oz when the characters traveled south to meet Glinda (the witch in the north is an entirely different person).

I also liked how much the book emphasized that the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, and Cowardly Lion all already possessed the very things they wanted from the wizard. The scarecrow is nearly always the person to provide solutions to any problems the group faces. The lion leaps canyons and faces down monsters despite being scared. And the Tin Woodman would be a bleeding heart vegan if he lived in our world.

Actually there was one scene with the Tin Woodman that bothered me. He's always presented as this kind-hearted, sentimental man. But there's one passage that struck me as unnecesarily violent.
It was, indeed, a great yellow Wildcat, and the Woodman thought it must be chasing something, for its ears were lying close to its head and its mouth was wide open, showing two rows of ugly teeth, while its red eyes glowed like fireballs. As it came nearer the Tin Woodman saw that running before the beast was a little grey field mouse, and although he had no heart he knew it was wrong for the Wildcat to kill such a pretty, harmless creature. 

So the Woodman raised his axe and as the Wildcat ran by he gave it a quick blow that cut the beast's head clean off from its body, and it rolled over at his feet in two pieces

I mean, seriously. Did he have to cut off the cat's head? And I'm still trying to figure out why the mouse is more in the right than the cat in this scene. It all reminds me a bit of the vegan lion from that one episode of The Simpsons.

At any rate, I really liked the book, and I'm excited that there are so many more books in the series. Oz is a pretty cool place, even more full of wonders than the movie suggested.

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