Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum

Another Librivox recording.

You think you know the Wizard of Oz? You don't. I read this long ago when I was young and was amazed at the difference between this book and the movie. Listening to it again makes me wonder why more of the book wasn't adapted into the movie. Such great scenes that would have added a lot.

The basic premise is still the same. Dorothy and Toto are flung away from Kansas in a tornado/cyclone and end up in Munchinland, crushing the Wicked Witch of the East. Her travels are much the same with the scarecrow, the tin woodsman, and the lion. What I like about the book is while each character still wants their heart, brain and courage, the plot makes it very obvious that they already have what they need. The movie seemed to make them needier and less....great than the book.

They have lots of adventures including a land of hammerheads and a land of nothing but china figures.

The book is worth reading just to get what the Wonderful World of Oz is supposed to be.

Oh, and the slippers weren't ruby slippers. They were silver.

2 comments:

Brett said...

I am reading this to Ivan right now and cannot believe how much is different. They have already melted the witch and exposed Oz as a fraud and we are only halfway through the book. I guess the trip home is more than just a clicking of the heels.

manadabomb said...

No joke! The movie left out so much stuff that would have been cool to see. This is why you always read the book. This is a whole series too, did you know that?