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More on Oz
The Oz books are great--I've read all 14? 15? of them and have all but two. My favorite is probably The Emerald City of Oz--Baum's imagination was on overdrive for that one. He thought it was going to be the last one in the series--I figured this out as a kid because he ends it with Glinda making Oz invisible to the outside world, and as a result he can no longer make contact and write down the stories. (He later had to reconsider, due to money problems, and wrote 8 more--he explained it by saying a child suggested he contact Oz via wireless.) There are dueling stories in it--Dorothy and her aunt and uncle come to live in Oz and then she takes a long tour of the countryside, and at the same time, the Nome King enlists the help of some truly bad baddies to conquer Oz. The Dorothy travelogue storyline is a diversion from the action of the story, but wonderfully written--Baum's writing had weaknesses, certainly, but his imaginatin was just outstanding. Dorothy visits places like Utensia, where all the inhabitants are knives, forks, etc. The Baum punning is out of control in this chapter:
The Captain answered, "It is so quiet here that we are all getting rusty for want of amusement. For my part, I prefer to see stirring times."
"Naturally," returned the cleaver, with a nod. "I have always said, Captain, without a bit of irony, that you are a sterling officer and a solid citizen, bowled and polished to a degree. But what do you expect me to do with these prisoners?"
"That is for you to decide," declared the Captain. "You are the King."
"To be sure; to be sure," muttered the cleaver, musingly. "As you say, we have had dull times since the steel and grindstone eloped and left us.
And:
"Compose yourself, Mr. Paprica," advised the King. "Your remarks are piquant and highly-seasoned, but you need a scattering of commonsense.
I know it's a little much but Baum's unabashed delight in these silly puns is contagious.
Dorothy visits many other mini-kigdoms, like the Cuttenclips (live paperdolls), Fuddlecumjig (live, 3-D jigsaw puzzle people) and my favorite, Bunbury, where all the inhabitants are pastries. The Bunbury section is hilarious--Toto, understandably, goes a little nuts and attacks one of the citizens:
Just then a dreadful scream was heard, and Dorothy turned hastily around to find a scene of great excitement a little way down the street. The people were crowding around Toto and throwing at him everything they could find at hand. They pelted the little dog with hard-tack, crackers, and even articles of furniture which were hard baked and heavy enough for missiles.
Toto howled a little as the assortment of bake stuff struck him; but he stood still, with head bowed and tail between his legs, until Dorothy ran up and inquired what the matter was.
"Matter!" cried a rye loafer, indignantly, "why the horrid beast has eaten three of our dear Crumpets, and is now devouring a Salt-rising Biscuit!"
"Oh, Toto! How could you?" exclaimed Dorothy, much distressed.
Toto's mouth was full of his salt-rising victim; so he only whined and wagged his tail.
During all of this, the Nome King's General Guph has been making the rounds of all the baddies in the area--the Whimsies, who have itty bitty heads and wear giant plaster heads over them but fool no one, the Growleywogs who are incredibly strong, and the Phanphasms who are the worst (and most powerful) of the lot. Each time Guph has to promise more and more of the spoils to convince them to join in the endeavor, and when he's talking to the Phanphasms, the Head says "what can you give us that we can't already take for ourself?" Guph thinks, and replies:
"Permit me to call your attention to the exquisite joy of making the happy unhappy," said he at last. "Consider the pleasure of destroying innocent and harmless people."
Wow! That's some existential stuff for a kid's story!
The Captain answered, "It is so quiet here that we are all getting rusty for want of amusement. For my part, I prefer to see stirring times."
"Naturally," returned the cleaver, with a nod. "I have always said, Captain, without a bit of irony, that you are a sterling officer and a solid citizen, bowled and polished to a degree. But what do you expect me to do with these prisoners?"
"That is for you to decide," declared the Captain. "You are the King."
"To be sure; to be sure," muttered the cleaver, musingly. "As you say, we have had dull times since the steel and grindstone eloped and left us.
And:
"Compose yourself, Mr. Paprica," advised the King. "Your remarks are piquant and highly-seasoned, but you need a scattering of commonsense.
I know it's a little much but Baum's unabashed delight in these silly puns is contagious.
Dorothy visits many other mini-kigdoms, like the Cuttenclips (live paperdolls), Fuddlecumjig (live, 3-D jigsaw puzzle people) and my favorite, Bunbury, where all the inhabitants are pastries. The Bunbury section is hilarious--Toto, understandably, goes a little nuts and attacks one of the citizens:
Just then a dreadful scream was heard, and Dorothy turned hastily around to find a scene of great excitement a little way down the street. The people were crowding around Toto and throwing at him everything they could find at hand. They pelted the little dog with hard-tack, crackers, and even articles of furniture which were hard baked and heavy enough for missiles.
Toto howled a little as the assortment of bake stuff struck him; but he stood still, with head bowed and tail between his legs, until Dorothy ran up and inquired what the matter was.
"Matter!" cried a rye loafer, indignantly, "why the horrid beast has eaten three of our dear Crumpets, and is now devouring a Salt-rising Biscuit!"
"Oh, Toto! How could you?" exclaimed Dorothy, much distressed.
Toto's mouth was full of his salt-rising victim; so he only whined and wagged his tail.
During all of this, the Nome King's General Guph has been making the rounds of all the baddies in the area--the Whimsies, who have itty bitty heads and wear giant plaster heads over them but fool no one, the Growleywogs who are incredibly strong, and the Phanphasms who are the worst (and most powerful) of the lot. Each time Guph has to promise more and more of the spoils to convince them to join in the endeavor, and when he's talking to the Phanphasms, the Head says "what can you give us that we can't already take for ourself?" Guph thinks, and replies:
"Permit me to call your attention to the exquisite joy of making the happy unhappy," said he at last. "Consider the pleasure of destroying innocent and harmless people."
Wow! That's some existential stuff for a kid's story!