Reading List Update: # 7 - 10

[jedibuttercup]

Here we are: the last of the Oz series. Bit of a mixed bag; some good storytelling, but some very weird underlying cultural structures. For example-- the majority of the heroes are female-- very girly females, at that-- and of the rest, every single one of the recurring males is emasculated in one way or another. *raised eyebrow*

7. The Lost Princess of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Hardcover, large print, 312pp. 11th of the Oz series. Reread. In this one, a disaffected shoemaker who inherited his great-granddad's magic books finds a list of Big Magic Items in them and decides they should be his, including a teleportation-enabled dishpan, the Magic Picture, the Magic Records book, and all of Glinda's and the Wizard's magic tools. Our Heroes discover the thefts in stages after Dorothy (the only person in Oz allowed into Ozma's bedchamber at all hours!) finds their Ruler missing and everybody panics. Several search parties are sent out. Dorothy's party ends up foiling the Shoemaker, more by luck than planning, and everything stolen is restored. Then Glinda takes the Shoemaker's power, Dorothy turns him into a bird, and he decides everything that happened to him was for the best, cue eyeroll. An enjoyable enough quest, but I couldn't get over the part where Ozma just let the guy wrap her up in a sheet, hijack her off to his castle, and turn her into a gold peach-pit, without fighting back!

8. The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Hardcover, large print, 288pp. 12th of the Oz series. Reread. In which the Tin Woodman is reminded that he should go back and marry his old sweetheart, even though he didn't love her anymore, because he had a Duty to her. Cue adventure. A yookoohoo Giantess foils his group for a time, but Ozma and Dorothy arrive soon enough (deus ex Magic Picture) to fix matters and seal away the Giantess' magic. When Nick Chopper and party reach their destination, they find another rusted tin man-- but no Nimmee Aimee! She fell for Captain Fyter after Nick rusted and never came back; the Witch cursed him, too; he also was repaired/replaced with tin, then rusted and never came back; the Witch died; and Nimee Aimmee gave up and left. But lo, the tinsmith also made a piecemeal man from some of their leftover parts! When the tin men finally track her down, they find her already wed to their grouchy "brother" Chopfyt. Duty satisfied, the Tin Soldier joins Ozma's "army" and Nick takes his "chosen companion" the Scarecrow back home. *snort*

9. The Magic of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Hardcover, large print, 266pp. 13th of the Oz series. Reread. In which Dorothy sets out with the Wizard to find a unique birthday gift for Ozma's next birthday, and her path intersects with those of Kiki Aru, a disaffected Munchkin boy who'd stolen the trick of magical transformation, and the old Nome King, Ruggedo, who'd apparently gotten over the events of Tik-Tok in Oz and wanted to conquer Oz again, this time by using Kiki to turn the beasts of Oz into soldiers. Though temporarily transformed themselves, the Wizard, Dorothy and co. soon turn the tables and foil the would-be conquerors. Subplots follow other Oz friends also looking for unique gifts and running into trouble. The Magic Flower and the Lonesome Duck are the most memorable features of this book.

10. Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Hardcover, large print, 279pp. 14th of the Oz series. Reread. Not really about Glinda, though she does a lot of magic in it; more about Dorothy and Ozma, who discover via the Records Book that the Skeezers and Flatheads off in a far corner of Oz are about to go to war, and set out to fix it alone, on the theory that the people there won't find two girls to be a threat. Predictably, they end up imprisoned, and Glinda leads a rescue party manned by most of the characters in the previous books! In the most interesting subplot, Ervic the Skeezer (with a selfish yookoohoo's help) manages to free three Adepts whose presence-- and enchantment-- were at the root of most of the troubles between the two peoples; and the domed Glass City the Skeezers live in is a pretty neat (for the time) science fiction-y device. In the end, Our Heroes are freed, the evil sub-rulers are punished, and the peoples swear their allegiance to Ozma. Of course.

Going through the series all in a lump like this made it obvious that Baum kind of-- revised his universe as he went along. For example-- the Wizard, who was kind of mean in the first two books, got retconned into a good guy; and Ozma got retconned from the latest heir of a line of Rulers whose names all began with "Oz" to the original fairy Queen Lurline left behind when Oz was made a fairyland. Anybody's guess how the Tip storyline was supposed to fit with that version of her background! And the issue of whether people can age and/or die is really inconsistent. In other words, there's lots of wiggle room. Sometime in March, when the DVD of "Tin Man" comes out, I'll have to sit down and do some serious Plotting.

Anyway. Next up-- something out of my unread list?
~

Comments

[kerravonsen]

I think I actually read "The Tin Woodman of Oz"; that plot sounds familiar. My reading of the Oz books was very erratic; it depended on what I could find in the library, since, for some reason, we didn't actually have a complete collection of Oz books, even though we had all the Narnia stories, all the Little House stories, The Hobbit, LOTR, complete set of Andrew Lang's coloured fairy books -- well, maybe after all that, Oz just wasn't high on the list.

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

I've never read any Oz books, but that's interesting info about the plotting.

In the second "Sarah Connor Chronicles" episode there is a neat Oz reference.

Some good stuff on your unread list. I love Robinson's Mars books, but they are best read in one chunk I think, so you might want to try a one shot book since you are coming off reading such a big series.

[the-jackalope.livejournal.com]

It REALLY used to bother me how inconsitant Baum was with OZ. This was when I was younger, like 7-9ish, and devouring all the OZ books I could find, and I just hated that he couldn't keep things strait. Which means in my head I sorta picked and chose which truths I wanted to keep.

I also think it's pretty interesting that every male in the series is either evil, grandfathery, a child, or not human.

[jedibuttercup]

That does seem kind of weird. Maybe the age of them? They were published 1900-1920, though I know they've been reissued several times since, and a lot of people have written continuations or sequels.

The weirdest part of Tin Woodman, for me, was the part where the tin twins meet Nimmee Aimee again, and she tells them about how she married Chopfyt? Her reason for turning down further offers from them isn't because she loves her current husband, but because she'd hate to have to break in a new one! And Chopfyt isn't even a nice guy.

Come to think of it, I don't think there are any happily married couples in the entire series, except for Uncle Henry and Aunt Em, and they almost never appear on-screen together or at any length. It's bizarre.

[jedibuttercup]

Yeah, I think I'll read a couple of the lighter standalones before digging into any more series. =)

I did catch the Oz references; I was very amused. I wonder how long the Baum family identity will last? I may have to start compiling a list of alter-surnames.

So far, I'm highly impressed by all the details drawn in from the movie continuities, and curious to see where they're going to go with this. With only a 9-episode first season, it's going to have to be seriously impressive to snag and keep an audience.

[jedibuttercup]

I'm not sure how many of the inconsistencies I noticed when I was younger, but I think I mostly chalked them up to the same thing I do now: the letters from his little friends that he talks about in the intro letters to every book. If the kids didn't like some element, he dropped or changed it.

From a reader's perspective, it's annoying-- such as when the Glass Cat shows up with her vanity and pink brains intact after Ozma had them removed at the end of Patchwork Girl, without a word of explanation. But from a writer's perspective? It gives me plenty of license to play connect-the-dots and choose the versions that fit closest to my intended plot without breaking "continuity". =)

As for the guys-- yeah. There are a few young, healthy, "good" human males in the series, but their appearances are always brief; the soldier who's interested in Rose Princess Ozga in Tik-Tok, for example, or gardener/prince Pon in Scarecrow. Um, Inga's dad; but he's imprisoned for virtually the entire story. And the Shaggy Man isn't exactly old-- but the Love Magnet pretty much negates any natural masculinity his character might have. It makes me wonder if Baum himself had some-- psychological issues.

[kerravonsen]

Come to think of it, I don't think there are any happily married couples in the entire series, except for Uncle Henry and Aunt Em, and they almost never appear on-screen together or at any length. It's bizarre.

Not bizzare, just sad. Baum isn't unique in assuming that marriage == unhappiness; point to any random divorcee.... 8-(