Reviews

The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum

summerinohio's review against another edition

5.0

Favorite book of all time.

abbydee's review against another edition

I love rereading things I first read when I was a kid. After so many years, it’s completely fresh and totally different to experience as an adult, but I can still see the things Little Abby loved about it. I remember having that moment in the library when I realized there were more Oz books, and being so delighted. I had no idea. 

It is interesting how different the sequels are from The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz is tied to a fairy tale structure–numbers are important, violence is casual. Like The Fellowship of the Ring, its plot is padded with “Oh, this would be a cool thing to happen in the woods!” Characters like the stork can come and go without becoming characters (anybody remember the stork? anybody?). Conversations in The Wizard of Oz are a bare fraction of the dialogue in The Land of Oz, where the attempts at wit proliferate. Every passing character here is a true character and will probably be back. You can see this in the way the palace guard morphs into The Soldier with the Green Whiskers. Dorothy isn’t much of a character in that first book, in that she has a goal but doesn’t contribute much to accomplishing it. Everything she does, she does by accident. Gregory what’s-his-face was kind of on to something when he took a second look at Oz’s political situation, which is truly messed up for a while and under extremely inept leadership. But I love how recognizably American the countryside is in The Land Of Oz, with crops of pumpkins and corn. 

There are some funny inconsistencies. In The Wizard of Oz, the houses and clothing of various parts of Oz vary in color, but there is no indication that the actual vegetation or people’s hair color changes. That’s only true in the Emerald City because of the fake green-tinted glasses everyone wears. But in The Land of Oz, the country of the Gillikins sports purple grass. It’s unclear whether things in the Emerald City are now truly green or if they are still all white, as was true when Dorothy visited. The Good Witch of the North continues to be a sort of mysterious person who is never encountered again after Dorothy met her randomly hanging out with the Munchkins. 

There is also some odd gender stuff in The Land of Oz, what with multiple armies of women and multiple politically powerful women, including Ozma as the legitimate ruler of Oz. But Tip is a stereotypical boy, with boyish activities and behaviors, who is initially pretty shocked by his gender swap and not pleased at all. Ozma says she hasn’t changed, but I’m dubious about that. Tip wasn’t particularly wise or good at leadership and didn’t remind me of someone who would make a good ruler. Tip is gone, and Ozma is functionally a new character.

 

moose_goose's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

tcgarback's review against another edition

2.0

⭐️⭐️
Critical Score: B-
Personal Score: D+

I guess this isn’t terrible or anything, but I just couldn’t get myself to be amused at all. It just feels like shallow, kiddish nonsense. There’s no thematic interest here, and the drama isn’t enticing. I was charmed by the first few chapters and then lost all interest.

I will say that the gender discussion at play is fodder for fun debate, though I don’t think Baum is really making any intentional or clear commentary. 

danisg's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

kinosthesia's review against another edition

3.0

Having only read the 'Return to OZ' before now, it was really good to return to that magical land and discover how much of this particular book had been used for that film. Always quite quotable in places and with new characters its definitely aimed at children, though as an adult i rather enjoy returning to that place :). I thought the woggle-bug was a really delightful name for a being in OZ and the witch Mombi and the Gump and the introduction of Ozma was all here. I'll be making my way through the rest of the OZ books now and am looking forward to seeing how Baum developed the world further.

giopep's review against another edition

4.0

Il secondo libro di Oz scarta di lato e cambia protagonisti, con un cast quasi inedito a cui si uniscono alcuni personaggi di ritorno. In pratica è un po' seguito e un po' spin-off, fa molto universo condiviso, world building, continuity e tutte quelle altre robe che negli ultimi dieci anni Marvel ci ha fatto ingoiare con l'imbuto. Tra l'altro non ha una scena dopo i titoli di coda ma ha un discreto Shyamalan Twist nel penultimo capitolo, che ha lasciato mia figlia a bocca spalancata. Bello.

shawnusaurus's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

riahsade's review against another edition

5.0

How can I give a children's book anything less than 5 stars? I can't.

It's got a twist, misogyny, feminism, gender issues, and magic, oh my!

ambibambi's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0