The Wizard of Oz

My daughters and I finished reading The Wizard of Oz. I read the book years ago, but I’d forgotten a lot of it. I remembered the movie better, which had made such an impression on me as a child. But even that was fuzzy.

I posted some observations about the book here. The book’s religious overtones were striking to me, partly because most of my Oz books were given to me by a firmly atheistic aunt when I was around 9. But I wouldn’t argue, as some have, that the book is primarily intended as an argument or exposition of Baum’s spiritual leanings.

I see it merely as a fairytale, and one which worked well as a read-aloud. My daughters always pushed for another chapter and my youngest asked frequently how it was going to turn out. (She knows I’ll say, “Let’s keep reading and see.” But she always tries!) My older daughter was focused in on it too.

As an adult reader, I enjoyed the way Dorothy’s friends so obviously were in possession of the traits they sought from the wizard. It was fun to see my daughters processing their insecurity and their willingness to accept meaningless tokens from the wizard. The back of the book contained a few biographical notes and some trivia about the comparison between book and movie. The notes point out that while in the movie Dorothy is always getting rescued, in the books, she’s always doing the rescuing. She’s a spunky, loyal, likable heroine. I would add that in addition to a number of plot alterations made in the movie, it adds considerably to the stress level. The book impressed me as far more low-key than the movie, perfect for reading aloud.

My aunt always insisted that this was far from the best of the Oz books, though it was the most popularized by the movie. It struck me as more hollow, somehow, than the Narnia books or George MacDonald’s fairy tales. I don’t remember the other Oz books any better than this one, but I have a few of them. We’ll probably make a few more trips to the land of Oz before we’re done.