Title: The Wizard of Oz

By L. Frank Baum; Illustrated by W.W. Denslow

Genre: novel

Sub-genre: -  Children's Literature  // Fantasy

Nationality: - American

Time Period: -20th Century

First  read by Dr. Rearick -1967 //  Most recent reading: July  1997.

Rated: A+

Location: - Dr. Rearick's  Home
 
Comments:

Like most people who were born after 1939 when the famous Judy Garland film appeared (1939 is also the same production year for Gone with the Wind which may be why The Wizard of Oz did not win more awards), I had movie inspired visual images in my mind of what Oz looks like long before I picked up the novel.  Still I did get around to reading the actual book:

Apparently my mother received in the mail an offer for some hard cover editions of the Oz books with the original illustrations.  She got three and seeing that none of her children were interested discontinued the subscription.  How sorry we all are that she did for a few years later both my sisters and I fell in love with them and had a slight squabble as adults over who would keep them in their own family library years later.  (I won, but only because at some point years earlier I had packed them into my extensive library where they vanished from general sight--hardly fair but there you are.)

Some time during the 60s I discovered Baum's narrative and found in his fancy a wonderful new world.  The film covers only a small part of his vision.  In fact the quest of the three friends goes on for some time after the Wizard's famous inadvertent exit in his balloon.  This occurs about three quarters of the way through the narrative.  The three then go on to Glenda the Good Witch where they meet several fascinating adventures.  One is a whole kingdom made of beautiful porcelain and another is the confrontation with a strange race of short chubby beings called "Hammerheads" with no arms but spring muscles in their necks so that they can butt anyone back who dares cross their hill.  Baum's imaginative perspective is wonderful all the way through!

One point made over and over about Baum is that as a fantasy writer, he is firmly rooted in America:

. . .he had the wit to build his fairy kingdom largely out of American materials cyclone, a Scarecrow, a mechanical man.  We do not believe that American magic is better than French magic or German magic, but it is important to realize that the imagination still lives in American.  Neither technology nor prosperity has killed it--nor lessened the need for it.

In in this uniquely American vision of the fantastic that Baum is matched by Ray Bradbury who pointedly refers often to the city and land of Oz in his stories that describe societies cruelly intent on removing works of imagination from the public reach.  Bradbury apparently thinks Baum's stories are special treasures not to be lost.  I agree.

One especial American quality about the Oz books is their foundation in free enterprise.  Oz was a smash and there was a continuous demand for them afterwards.  Baun mentioned in one of his forewards that he had other tales to tell but children kept clamouring for tales about Oz.  That is a poetic way of saying the public demand is forcing me to stay on this track.  At least he never tried to kill off his characters as Arthur Doyle did.  In fact like Sherlock Holmes, the characters of Oz continued to thrive in new adventures after the death of their creator.  There is a whole collection of Oz books not written by Baun.