Book review: The Wizard of Oz

By L. Frank Baum

Book review: The Wizard of Oz

Dorothy, Toto, the silver slippers, the wicked witch of the west and the friends she made along the way.

This book is pure entertainment. Let's discuss it in this book review.

It starts with a murder.

Well... a tornado, then a murder. But wait, it was an accident! (At least she got some red bottoms out of it, am I right?).

Sometimes I wondered who the real main character was; Dorothy or The Wizard of Oz? Let's begin by addressing the fact that he is just some guy from Nebraska who made himself mayor of the Emerald City. I mean, he shape shifted and presented a different form each time Dorothy (a huge floating head), the tin woodman (a frightening beast), the scarecrow (a beautiful fairy) and the lion (a ball of fire) respectively walked in for a one-on-one with him.

He then sends them to commit further murder. Does he realise Dorothy is a child and not a Don?

It's only when Toto accidentally tripped over a screen (love this little guy), that his true colours are revealed. But that's much later on.

For some context: a tornado blew Dorothy's house all the way from Kansas to Oz and it landed on the wicked witch of the East. Like I said, it was an accident. But the wicked witch of the West wasn't having it at all. So she enslaved Dorothy and the Lion then demanded Dorothy hand over her sister's shoes.

But Dorothy had taste.

She would not hand return her well deserved (deserved?) shoes for free.

In a fuss, she throws a bucket of water at the witch; which makes her melt.

Needed a bath much?

They travel back to the wizard, but his "rewards" to the tin woodman, scarecrow and lion are basically placebo effect.

After the good witch of the North tells her all she had to do to go home was click her shoes thrice (why didn't she say sooner?), Dorothy teleports back home... but the shoes fall off along the way.

God forbid a girl is into fashion.

This book was hilarious. As I tried to imagine each scene, I felt like a child again boiling with imagination. It was a lovely distraction and beautifully written.

There are a lot of analyses of the hidden symbolism within the narrative, but like Freud allegedly said"sometimes a cigar is just a cigar". And that helped me enjoy the book a lot better.

Also, justice for the witch of the South. We never hear of her. Maybe she was just that unproblematic.

I would gladly give it a 7,5/10.

But that's just because it's not my usual read.

Thank you for reading my rambles. If you'd like to get in touch, don't hesitate; I write back ;)