The Annotated Wizard of Oz (Centennial Edition)
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the quintessential American fairy tale. Michael Patrick Hearn, the world's leading Oz scholar, now provides a fascinating new annotation that not only reacquaints readers with the Tin Woodman, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion, but also illuminates the colorful background of this treasured American classic. This edition explores numerous contemporary references, provides character sources, and explains the actual meaning of the word "Oz." A facsimile of the rare 1900 first edition appears with the original drawings by W.W. Denslow, as well as 25 previously unpublished illustrations. There is a bibliography of L. Frank Baum's published work, every notable "Oz" edition, and the stage and cinematic productions from 1939's The Wizard of Oz, to the 1974 Broadway hit, The Wiz. A beautiful, awe-inspiring work, The Annotated Wizard of Oz is an enduring tribute to the timeless joy of The Wizard of Oz, and a classic to rival Baum's own.
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Community Reviews
Another Librivox recording.
You think you know the Wizard of Oz? You don't. I read this long ago when I was young and was amazed at the difference between this book and the movie. Listening to it again makes me wonder why more of the book wasn't adapted into the movie. Such great scenes that would have added a lot.
The basic premise is still the same. Dorothy and Toto are flung away from Kansas in a tornado/cyclone and end up in Munchinland, crushing the Wicked Witch of the East. Her travels are much the same with the scarecrow, the tin woodsman, and the lion. What I like about the book is while each character still wants their heart, brain and courage, the plot makes it very obvious that they already have what they need. The movie seemed to make them needier and less....great than the book.
They have lots of adventures including a land of hammerheads and a land of nothing but china figures.
The book is worth reading just to get what the Wonderful World of Oz is supposed to be.
Oh, and the slippers weren't ruby slippers. They were silver.
You think you know the Wizard of Oz? You don't. I read this long ago when I was young and was amazed at the difference between this book and the movie. Listening to it again makes me wonder why more of the book wasn't adapted into the movie. Such great scenes that would have added a lot.
The basic premise is still the same. Dorothy and Toto are flung away from Kansas in a tornado/cyclone and end up in Munchinland, crushing the Wicked Witch of the East. Her travels are much the same with the scarecrow, the tin woodsman, and the lion. What I like about the book is while each character still wants their heart, brain and courage, the plot makes it very obvious that they already have what they need. The movie seemed to make them needier and less....great than the book.
They have lots of adventures including a land of hammerheads and a land of nothing but china figures.
The book is worth reading just to get what the Wonderful World of Oz is supposed to be.
Oh, and the slippers weren't ruby slippers. They were silver.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is well known to everyone since the movie is so famous that even if you haven't seen the movie, you know almost exactly what happens. There's not much more to be said about the first book except that it's a story about confidence in your abilities and proceeds the way many kids books do: first this happened, then this, then this.
But the second book gets weird.
But the second book gets weird.
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