The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum
Being and avid book reader i would always be the first to say the book is better than the movie and in this case it is really true . I started reading this book because i wanted to read a classic book with a story that i have loved for the longest time ever since i watched the movie as a kid with my family .As you know from watching the movie the main characters are Dorothy ,the scarecrow the cowardly lion the tin man and of course OZ .After being transported by a twister that takes her and toto house from kansas that lands on the witch and kills her she is instantly met by the good witch and sent to Oz to see if they great wizard can send her back to kansas to be reunited with Uncle Henry and Aunt Em .
As a child i took the movie at face value as a child often would or pretty much anyone would of something when you haven't read the book . my book reader friends and i have a saying when people who don't really like to read ask us about a movie that was made from a book we always say to them '' If you haven't read the book you will love the movie and it you have read the book you will hate it.'' Its nothing against the movie mind you because i love going to the movies just as much as the next person but once you read the book and then watch the movie i almost always am left feeling a bit shorted. I realize you can't fit everything into a movie or the movie would be 6 hours long .In this case i wish the person who made the movie had given the characters and the story line the depth that the author did that being said lets get on with my review .
What i liked:I was absolutely in love with the fact that the book gave you reasons to root for the characters it wasn't just simply that each character wanted something from oz and felt that they were entitled to it because he was oz or because it was things they needed ,the author made the characters work for it and their stories as to why they wanted what they wanted were well shaped , I was also happy that the trip they took to get to oz was a believable amount of time for example they stopped along the yellow brick road to eat where they could, they ran out of food at times and had to ask people who lived along the road for a place to stay during the night several times throughout the book .These are probably simple things to most people but for me when a story is more believable especially when its fiction i like the book even more . I also like that as you read the book you realize by certain things and tasks each character completed you learned they already had what they were trying to get the wizard to give them .The character oz was a bit annoying because you realize hes a fraud and you want to hate him but you realize he is only trying to save his skin, keep up appearances and do the best he can with what hes given so i had a love hate relationship with the wizard . I also found myself feeling for the witch just a tiny bit the author gave her emotions you could relate to and someone you could despise not just for being a witch but for the way she behaved . Overall this story exceeded my expectations and i was pleased with it immensely
What i didn't like ; To be honest I ended up not liking myself the reader of the book because i took the book at face value and tried to shove the scenes from the movie into the pages of the book and they just don't belong there . Credit to the movie for what it was and the classic it always will be in my mind will always remain a beloved story of mine . In addition credit and kudos to the author of the book for expanding and giving depth and meaning to the story and bringing it to life remains in its own glorious category .I have learned my lesson and it was a good lesson too ,never judge a book by its movie , even when that movie is awesome in its own right .
