Saturday, January 07, 2006

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (by L. Frank Baum)

(I updated Cloud Atlas, just for you, Anonymous.)

This book was on my reading list, believe it or not! After zipping through Atlas Shrugged in three days, I figured I deserved a book I could read in an hour. (And I did zip through the Ayn Rand, the below notwithstanding. Stuff annoyed me, but the book still kept me interested, and I enjoyed Dagny in spite of everything. I definitely didn't think it was a slog by any means. It was one of the more fun classics.)

Anyway my friend Queen M. gave me a copy of Wizard for Christmas and I read it on the plane. It's been years since I've read it; I'd forgotten a lot of it. (Like the town made of china, which was always a favorite, and the little golden cap.) My favorite will always be Ozma of Oz, but it was fun to re-read this one. And I love the illustrations, especially the very first one. Aw, nostalgia.

"'What is that little animal you are so tender of?'
'He is my dog, Toto,' answered Dorothy.
'Is he made of tin, or stuffed?' asked the Lion.
'Neither. He's a--a--a meat dog," said the girl.'
(Page 60)

2 Comments:

Blogger K said...

I will read Cloud Atlas after that writeup, having been put off it slightly because although there are many gushing blurbs on the UK paperback edition, none of them actually tell you what it's about, and I like to have some clue before I start.

I bought The Wonderful Wizard of Oz during my university finals, in much the same spirit as you - my brain needed something relaxing... I've never read Ozma of Oz, though I read various others as a child - my favourite was The Patchwork Girl, I think.

8:44 AM  
Blogger mo pie said...

Oh, Ozma of Oz is totally the best one! And it's a free text online, although you do lose the fun of the illustrations, and that's half of the joy of it. So go hunt yourself down a copy!

11:49 AM  

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