I've been reading my way through the Oz books lately in order to fill in some gaps of children's literature I'd missed as a kid. I wasn't too happy with the previous story because it felt like Baum didn't really feel any of it and just wrote Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz because he was pressured by a publisher as well as ravenous fans who wrote him imploring for more Oz. I found myself more than a little peeved that he allowed children to dictate what he put in his book. Sure, he pleased his fans, I suppose, but that never makes for good storytelling. There was no conflict and was just a series of bizarre encounters. There's also no question of whether or not Dorothy will return home anymore (spoiler alert: she does). Our girl Dorothy is getting rather used to her visits to fairylands and seems all rather chill about it all.So, again, with this book, we have a series of bizarre encounters and no real conflict, danger, or desire. We've stopped worrying whether or not Dorothy will get back to Kansas, and so has she. There is no dramatic arc going on. Everything is all hunky dory, except for a run in with the Scoodlers (who remind me of the Fireys from "Labyrinth") who want to make Dorothy and her pals into soup. Other than that, it's just Dorothy and a bunch of weirdos on their way to see Ozma for her birthday (which is August 21st - mark your calendars, folks!) In this adventure, it's Dorothy's three new companions that need to find their homes: The Shaggy Man to a new home, Polychrome back to the rainbow, and Button-Bright back to wherever the hell he came from.The story opens with Dorothy's encounter with the Shaggy Man, which is totes creepy. He and Dorothy meet when he passes by her home in Kansas and asks her for directions. She attempts to oblige him, but it isn't going so well. Dorothy decides the best way to get him there is to take him herself. She excuses herself to run inside to grab her bonnet -- something I was hoping was just a ruse to yell for Aunt Em and Uncle Henry to call the cops. But, no, I guess Stranger Danger wasn't an issue in early 1900s Kansas. For some reason.And away they go. As soon as the Shaggy Man (who doesn't have a name, that we know of, and just answers the "Shaggy Man") has gotten Dorothy far enough away from home to realize she's lost, he reveals he has a super special magic token called a "love magnet" that makes people love him no matter what and in any circumstance.RUN, DOROTHY, RUN.Well, hang in there, folks, it turns out it's not meant to be creepy at all and it's actually good that he has this object because it ends up helping the out of a few tight spots. And, really, I do appreciate what Baum was trying to do here and show that this guy is really a sweet, good man beneath his shaggy appearance and just wants to be seen for more than that without changing who he is. But, lordy, that is not the way this reads today. Soon afterwards she meets the idiot Button-Bright who I just can't even. No.So I only adored about one-third of Dorothy's new companions. "A little girl, radiant and beautiful, shapely as a fairy and exquisitely dressed, was dancing gracefully in the middle of a lonely road, whirling slowly this way and that, her dainty feet twinkling in sprightly fashion. She was clad in flowing, fluffy robes of soft material that reminded Dorothy of woven cobwebs, only it was colored in soft tintings of violet, rose, topaz, olive, azure, and white, mingled together most harmoniously in stripes which melted one into the other with soft blendings. Her hair was spun like gold and floated around her in a cloud, no strand being fastened or confined by either pin or ornament or ribbon."(page 60)I am a sucker for colors and rainbows and fairies, so, of course, I am a sucker for Polychrome's adorable spirit - even though the poor girl doesn't get anything to do (except dance to keep warm) (and be adorable all the time).Some other observations:-I couldn't help but think that the chapter headings resembled the female reproductive system. -"Everything about Ozma attracted one, and she inspired love and the sweetest affection rather than awe or ordinary admiration. Dorothy threw her arms around her little friend and hugged and kissed her rapturously." (page 204) Whoa. Should I be shipping Dozma? "You have some queer friends, Dorothy." [Polychrome] said."The queerness doesn't matter, so long as they're friends," was the answer." (page 184)"It isn't what we are, but what folks think we are, that counts in this world." -The Hungry Tiger, page 185I love that dude.And this passage:"There were many people on these walks - men, women, and children - all dressed in handsome garments of silk or satin or velvet, with beautiful jewels. Better even than this: all seemed happy and contented, for their faces were smiling and free from care, and music and laughter might be heard on every side.'Don't they work at all?' asked the shaggy man.'To be sure they work,' replied the Tin Woodsman; 'this fair city could not be built or cared for without labor, nor could the fruit and vegetables and other food be provided for the inhabitants to eat. But no one works for more than half his time, and the people of Oz enjoy their labors as much as they do their play.'(page 191)The Emerald City is a shining beacon of socialism, huh?And I'm going to end this mess with this image of His Royal Foxiness.
I'm reading all of the Oz books (credited to Baum, at least), and I'm only, what? Maybe five books in now--I've read past this one, of course--but though I have work ahead of me yet, I feel pretty safe to say that Button Bright is the worst character in the entire series. Maybe the world. He's just the worst (apologies to the late Mr. Baum).It's pretty undeniable Baum has a reputation for being something of a magician for spinning fantasies and being revered storyteller, and I don't want to dismiss this all completely, but he certainly was not infallible. The emperor (at least occasionally) has no clothes---or to put it in Oz terminology, even the great wizard himself was really a bit of a humbug. There may be a good reason that not all the books in the Oz series are household names or have been immortalized on the screen. I like to think that he even owned these personal limitations to himself and identified with his wizard, but it's hard to say. It's sometimes hard to get a read on the real him in all the pageant girl-esque rambling effusions in the introductions that he wrote for each book. If I am sounding a little mean here I think it's just because I feel Baum really tests his readership so much with this particular volume that I think you can't help but end up with a little bit of resentment. Baum often credits his readers for supplying him with ideas and inspiration for his stories--almost to a tiresome point, but in this book the characters and plot seem so terribly cobbled together that it seems plausible he may have leaned a bit too heavily on audience suggestion for this one...or felt he had to at any rate.Unlike every other book up to this point, Dorothy doesn't magically travel to a fairy company via natural disaster for a change, and as terrible as it sounds to say it--it does actually feel a little anticlimactic as a result. In this case, a walk in the country leads to a new friendship and a much longer ramble than Dorothy intended as she tries to navigate through unfamiliar fairy countries back to the familiar and relatively safe territory of Oz.Along the way she unsurprisingly picks up a motley group of travel companions along the way, including the aforementioned Button Bright, whose chief characteristics are that he has a cherubic appearance and has absolutely nothing to say for himself, and Polychrome, the Rainbow's daughter. Polly is not the worst thing about this book, but she isn't particularly interesting either, as she joins the legion of stock sweet, mild, and beautiful blank slate girls in the Oz saga who are defined solely by their physical appearance. The travel through the various countries follows in a very formulaic fashion, with each extraordinary ruler the group encounters sending them off with a request to take back to Ozma. If the characters were more interesting, this wouldn't trouble me so much. Baum set off to craft fairy tales for contemporary times, and his use of the concepts of the quest, the travelers, the child hero (or heroine), and even the repetition itself hearkens back to the tradition that inspired him. Still, you can have some formula and still entertain, but there's just not a lot to appeal here. The different countries in this case seem pretty superficially delineated, and the characters are kind of a weak point. Button Bright even finally drives the notoriously tolerant and accepting Dorothy to exasperation and unkindness so far that she basically disparages him or occasionally, apologies for him, to others even in his presence. Though Dorothy is often (annoyingly, and as you see rather erroneously) described as being "sweet" etc. she is actually NOT one of the namby-pamby doll-like characters found elsewhere in the books, and mostly comes off as pragmatic, honest, and immune to pretense. Her honesty in this case however is so dead-on that it feels a little nasty at times, and rather unsettling--as if even Baum himself was using her as a conduit to vent his repugnance for his own character. The only real reason to read this book is because it serves as the introduction of the Shaggy Man, the only character in this debacle short of Dorothy that Baum seems to really invest himself in here and genuinely like. Though on the surface his literal moniker and signature would seem just as hastily or arbitrarily contrived as much else in this volume, he really does have a compelling charisma. Some of Baum's strongest characters are not the villains or the obvious heroes, but the muddier characters in between, like the Wizard, or like the Shaggy Man, where there's an undercurrent of scamp or rogue about them but enough potential there in their goodness that they convince you to give them the benefit of the doubt anyway. The Shaggy Man appears again in later adventures and at least so far, manages to improve whatever adventure he stumbles into...even this one is no exception.Things to watch out for: as far as I can tell, this book features the first and only appearance of Glinda's magic bubble, which she pulls out as kind of a party trick for Ozma's guests.Also, Santa Claus does a cameo--and he feels pretty right. Baum wrote a Santa Claus origin story, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus. I haven't read it, but I might now.
What do You think about The Road To Oz (2015)?
I think I'll take a break from these for a while. This one didn't have much of a plot - we simply join Dorothy and some new (and not very interesting) friends on their trip to Oz. I can see how children would really enjoy this as it includes a lot of interesting, imaginative situations. However I'm getting annoyed by the lack of conflict and Dorothy's inconsiderate attitude (she's downright rude to the music guy). Also, there are a few unanswered questions. Who is Button-Bright? It seems like there is some secret about his identity, then we don't discover the answer. Maybe in a future book?
—Christina
This is a book that starts out so dismally that one is forced to wonder if one ought to continue reading the rest. However, Frank Baum does take charge and regain his flourish, and the reader is soon ensconced in a happy world of fantasy. One of several sequels to " The Wizard Of Oz", The Road to Oz finds Dorothy and Toto losing their way while trying to help out The Shaggy Man, who has lost his way. Soon they meet remarkable people like Button- Bright and Polychrome, as they travel to interesting lands like the kingdom of foxes and the kingdom of donkeys. They encounter the Scoodlers, who try to turn them into soup, and they are helped by Johnny Do-It, who helps them when they need it most. In addition, they meet familiar characters from previous books, like Tik-Tok and Billina the Hen, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, the not-so cowardly- lion, the Tiger and Jellia Jamb. There is a Truth Pond in the story too. Eventually they all land up at Oz and everything concludes with Princess Ozma's magical birthday party- where everybody has a lot of fun, and where even the Wizard makes a special appearance. L. Frank Baum, with his brilliant understanding of the child's mind, has wonderfully concocted sequel after sequel, to keep the reader in a near- permanent state of fascination with Oz and its endearing creatures. The author's language though simple, is vivid and descriptive- and as if on an enchanted whirlwind, one is immediately transported to Baum's magic fairytale land.
—Jaiwantika Dutta
I read and loved all the Baum OZ books as a child, yet they all disappeared over the constant moving which my family did throughout my adolescence. But when my Mom's business flooded, Mom mailed my personal items which survived the flood out to LA. Somehow, this book survived. I decided to read it again to see if, like Dorothy, I could go home again. Would a book that I loved as a child still hold up?The answer is yes and no. On the positive side, I was reminded of Baum's skill for creating witty original characters. Everybody knows the Scarecrow, Tin Woodman and Lion, but Jack Pumpkinhead, Professor Wogglebug, the Gump, the Woozy, were great and this this book gives us The Shaggy Man, clueless Button Bright and Polychrome; Baum had a knack for creating characters with a unique comical dialogue.Sadly, Baum's narrative structure was always a mess, and The Road to Oz has this problem too: the plot consists of our heroes encountering trouble in several strange lands, only to easily escape and find themselves in another perilous situation in another strange land. Repetitive. Grade: B
—FittenTrim
