The Wizard of Oz

Image credit: Amazon

It’s one of the most celebrated children’s novels in the world and can you believe it’s taken me almost thirty years to actually read it?! Baum’s classic tale of magic shoes, wizards, witches, and flying monkeys has been immortalized on stage and screen time and time again, not to mention the continuing series of Oz novels as well as the series of Wicked novels by Gregory Maguire. Dorothy’s adventure in the Land of Oz is one that no child will go their entire life without hearing about at least once, so why not tell the tale in its original entirety?

We all know the tale. Little Dorothy’s world is turned upside down when her house is caught in a dreadful cyclone and carried miles away to the strange and wonderful country of Oz. After accidentally killing the Wicked Witch of the East, Dorothy must travel to the centre of Oz to ask the Great and Terrible Wizard to return her home to Kansas. Along the way she meets many companions including a brainless scarecrow, a heartless tin woodsman, and a cowardly lion who accompany her travels in the hope of having their greatest wishes granted. The road is long and treacherous filled with monsters, wicked witches, and deadly poppies, but anything can be overcome when the promise of home lies at the end.

Like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, there is no real close cinematic adaptation of The Wizard of Oz. If, like me, you grew up loving the film with Judy Garland and are forever stuck with images of ruby slippers and Glinda the Good helping the heroine out of many scrapes then the lies have been sweet, but lies nonetheless. Indeed the Muppets have probably come closest with their rendition! 

The basic adventure and quest narrative is all the same and the book itself proves to be a wondrous children’s adventure filled with simple writing that still manages to create wonderful imagery and characters. It’s by no means a complex book, far greater advances have been taken in the realm of fantasy, but the themes of coveting what one already has and not taking happiness for granted still prove to be powerful and relevant. 

The characters are still among the most unique people to populate the fantasy page and each individual story about loss and then coming to greatness from nothing is still touching and heart warming. True to form it’s a very easy read, one that any adult could power through in a day, but despite its simple scripture, short sentence structure, and very child friendly vibe, it’s still overly powerful.

Image credit: Wikipedia

Indeed, reading The Wizard of Oz as an adult, I am amazed at just how much children’s literature has changed and become rather complicated. If you compare Baum’s classic with, say Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men, you might be surprised at just how complex children’s literature has grown. It’s actually rather interesting and brings a further level of intrigue to a tale that is already an immortal classic and will remain so until we lose the ability to read, write, and remember that we were once great and creative.

The Wizard of Oz was written by L. Frank Baum and first published by the George M. Hill Company in 1900.