Book Review 2
Mar. 9th, 2011 07:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drownedinlightEDIT: 3/11/11
So, I have an hour before class and decided to get off my butt and write this review.
What I liked: The movie The Wizard of Oz depicts a bright and colorful world. The books is like that, only times ten. The way Baum describes the landscapes and what the all the people are wearing it's fantastic. Not to mention, this has always been described to me as a whimsical children's tale, and not only does it live up to that, it exceeds it. I also liked how Baum really made Dorothy work to get home. The trip to the Emerald City was much more fraught with peril and much harder for Dorothy to do. Also killing the Wicked Witch of the West was no easy matter as well. And even though Baum makes Dorothy work for it, she always keeps her chin up, which makes her rather admirable.
What I didn't like: This, though well done, is a traveling book. It's not quite a bidungsroman, because Dorothy doesn't do much growing up, so it's just a traveling book. That works pretty well, but toward the latter half of the book it gets kind of tired and I think you can see that in Baum's writing. He makes and makes use of several Deus Ex Machina toward the end of the book leaving it feeling almost rushed. He also adds in a couple of strange (not quite for OZ), scenes that really add nothing to the journey or the characters. I get the feeling that some of these were just part of his vision, and even though it didn't help the story, he got away with it because it's the Land of OZ.
Over all it: Exceeds Expectations (especially for a children's book).
But See for yourself: The Wonderful Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum
Already Reading: Gender Dilemmas in Children's Fiction by Kerry Mallan
Project WC: Still 20416
So, I have an hour before class and decided to get off my butt and write this review.
What I liked: The movie The Wizard of Oz depicts a bright and colorful world. The books is like that, only times ten. The way Baum describes the landscapes and what the all the people are wearing it's fantastic. Not to mention, this has always been described to me as a whimsical children's tale, and not only does it live up to that, it exceeds it. I also liked how Baum really made Dorothy work to get home. The trip to the Emerald City was much more fraught with peril and much harder for Dorothy to do. Also killing the Wicked Witch of the West was no easy matter as well. And even though Baum makes Dorothy work for it, she always keeps her chin up, which makes her rather admirable.
What I didn't like: This, though well done, is a traveling book. It's not quite a bidungsroman, because Dorothy doesn't do much growing up, so it's just a traveling book. That works pretty well, but toward the latter half of the book it gets kind of tired and I think you can see that in Baum's writing. He makes and makes use of several Deus Ex Machina toward the end of the book leaving it feeling almost rushed. He also adds in a couple of strange (not quite for OZ), scenes that really add nothing to the journey or the characters. I get the feeling that some of these were just part of his vision, and even though it didn't help the story, he got away with it because it's the Land of OZ.
Over all it: Exceeds Expectations (especially for a children's book).
But See for yourself: The Wonderful Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum
Already Reading: Gender Dilemmas in Children's Fiction by Kerry Mallan
Project WC: Still 20416
