The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is the classic tale of Dorothy and Toto's adventure to Oz. There are 14 Oz tales in all, but the first book reflects what we know and love as The Wizard of Oz film. I had never read the book(s), and it's been a few ages since I've seen the movie, so it was exciting to look at the story from a new, fascinating angle.
Of course, the tale is so ingrained in my brain from my childhood that it all came back to me as I was reading. I've also seen Oz the Great and Powerful fairly recently (which was a misogynistic piece of crap in my opinion, but the tale does incorporate some of the traditional Oz elements) so that assisted my memories quite a bit.
My favorite part of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is that besides Dorothy who is actually far from home, the others already have the qualities they're going to the Wizard to get. On their journey, the scarecrow demonstrates over and over again how intelligent he is. The Tinman shows his kindness and love to all creatures. And the Lion faces down many fearsome circumstances.
Overall, however, the story does feel dated. Maybe it's because I'm no longer a child, but even for a short book parts of it dragged on. It wasn't very exciting, and I constantly knew what would happen before the characters themselves.
Favorite quotes:
"Brains are the only things worth having in this world, no matter whether one is a crow or a man."
"I shall take the heart, for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world."
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