Title: The Marvellous Land of Oz
Author: L. Frank Baum
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 242
Rating: 4/5
I picked this book up because I was doing a buddy read of it with my friend Joel Swagman, who has a BookTube channel. The plan is for us to slowly but surely read all of the Oz books, one every two weeks.
Having re-read The Wizard of Oz via audio book before picking this up, I was in the perfect place to enjoy this one. And it was very enjoyable, even though the plot was pretty bonkers. We get to meet a couple of new characters, as well as to catch up with some old ones including the Tin Woodman, who’s given a name here.
Probably the most interesting aspect of this one is the fact that it has a lot to say about gender. Some of it is good and some of it maybe not so much, but then this was written right at the start of the 20th century. The fact that there’s basically some vague transgender representation is nothing short of astonishing, even if he does also spout a load of dumb generalisations about women.
Overall then, I’m definitely glad that I picked this up and continuing the series, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next. It’s also a pleasure to be doing this as a buddy read with Joel.
Learn more about The Marvellous Land of Oz.
