Sunday Salon: Reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. L. Frank Baum. 1900. 156 pages.

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles.

I definitely enjoyed reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I liked it more than the movie. Dorothy and her dog, Toto, are swept up into a magical-yet-dangerous world when their house is lifted up during a tornado. Their house lands on a wicked witch--the witch of the East. Dorothy is overwhelmed with her circumstances and desperately wants to find her way home. Her journey to the one person perhaps powerful enough, wise enough, to help her get home is interesting! On the journey to Emerald City, Dorothy meets a brainless Scarecrow, a heartless tin man, and a cowardly lion. Readers might quickly catch on that things aren't quite what they appear: the lion can be quite brave, the Scarecrow can be quite resourceful, and the Tin Man is more thoughtful and considerate than most. I loved spending time with these characters. The book is definitely more complex--and more interesting--than the movie.

Have you read the book? Which do you prefer, the book or the movie?

Favorite quotes:

Brains are the only things worth having in this world, no matter whether one is a crow or a man. (24)

"Anyone would know that," said Dorothy.
"Certainly; that is why I know it," returned the Scarecrow. "If it required brains to figure it out, I never should have said it." (25)

"Did you groan?" asked Dorothy. "Yes," answered the tin man, "I did. I've been groaning for more than a year, and no one has ever heard me before or come to help me." (28)

"Oh, I see," said the Tin Woodman. "But after all, brains are not the best things in the world."
"Have you any?" inquired the Scarecrow.
"No, my head is quite empty," answered the Woodman. "But once I had brains, and a heart also; so, having tried them both, I should much rather have a heart." (30)

"All the same," said the Scarecrow, "I shall ask for brains instead of a heart; for a fool would not know what to do with a heart if he had one."
"I shall take the heart," returned the Tin Woodman; "for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world." (32)

The Tin Woodman knew very well he had no heart, and therefore he took great care never to be cruel or unkind to anything. (37)

"Which road leads to the Wicked Witch of the West?" asked Dorothy.
"There is no road," answered the Guardian of the Gates. "No one ever wishes to go that way."
"How, then, are we to find her?" inquired the girl. "That will be easy," replied the man, "for when she knows you are in the country of the Winkies she will find you, and make you all her slaves." (74)

Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was as powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere. (75)

"I think you are a very bad man," said Dorothy.
"Oh, no, my dear; I'm really a very good man, but I'm a very bad Wizard, I must admit." (102)

Experience is the only thing that brings knowledge, and the longer you are on earth the more experience you are sure to get. (102)

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews