This was a good story, and it moved at a good pace. I still feel like the stories without the original characters suffer a little bit, but this was probably one of my favorites that didn't star Dorothy, The Scarecrow, The Tin Man, or The Cowardly Lion.
Does the phrase "Old enough to make jelly" sound familiar to anyone? I tried to Google it to see exactly what it means, but nothing came up except "How to make jelly"...
"The more Ann thought about the matter, the more she was convinced it would be easy to conquer the Land of Oz and set herself up as Ruler in Ozma's place, if she but had an Army to do it with. Afterward she could go out into the world and conquer other lands, and then perhaps she could find a a way to the moon, and conquer that. She had a warlike spirit and preferred trouble to idleness."
"Gentle people are always afraid of those that bluster."
The scene from The Rose Kingdom seems identical from another scene in another book of L. Frank Baum's but I'm blanking on which story. But, I suppose, it's possible for the main characters to stumble into the same sub-kingdoms from time to time.
"I do [love you]. I dote on thee! But no true man will neglect his duty for the sake of love."
I find it really interesting they after they go down the tube to the other side of the world, the Private Citizen is treated as the ruler or royalty and the Kings and Queens are treated as average
"One who is Master to himself is always a King, if only to himself."
"It is wise to disregard laws when they conflict with justice."
"'The Land of Oz is not a refuge for all mortals in distress...'
"'The Land of Oz isn't crowded.'"
I'm glad the author finally explained that Toto can indeed talk, he just chooses not to. After all these stories, having every animal talk except for Toto was an inconsistency that was bothering me to no end.
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Monday, January 15, 2018
Sam Reviews "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" by L. Frank Baum (Oz, #7)
It took me a very ridiculously long time to make it through this story. I might just be burning myself out on Oz stories, but so much of this seemed "too good to be true" even for the magic land of Oz. But onward I will go into story 8 very soon.
"The more one knows, the luckier he is, for knowledge is the greatest gift in life."
"Horrid? Why, I'm thoroughly delightful. I'm an Original, if you please, and therefore incomparable. Of all the comic, absurd, rare and amusing creatures the world contains, I must be the supreme freak. Who but poor Margolotte could have managed to invent such an unreasonable being as I? But I'm glad -I'm awfully glad! - that I'm just what I am, and nothing else."
"No one can be unlucky who has the intelligence to direct his own actions."
"Don't bother my head by asking conundrums, I beg of you. Just let me discover myself in my own way."
"It's classical music, and is considered the best and most puzzling ever manufactured. You're supposed to like it, whether you do or not, and if you don't, the proper thing is to look as if you did. Understand?"
"Please don't quarrel, this is a very important journey, and quarrelling makes me discouraged. To be brave, one must be cheerful, so I hope you will be as good-tempered as possible."
"Some are [dignified], and some are not, but I never criticize my friends. If they are really true friends, they may be anything they like, for all of me."
"We have wells, you know, but the're all well lighted, and a well lighted well cannot well be a dark well."
"He said we were lacking in understand, because we had only one leg to a person. I can't see that legs have anything to do with understanding things."
Reading old books like this can be challenging, but the nuggets of information and just the insight into life back then can also be fascinating. This particular story was written in 1913, and one of the characters, the Horners, decorate their houses with radium. I Googled Radium and it is an element, but there's also a ton of information on Radium Girls which is a very interesting story about a very sad reality of life back then. From what I understand consumers believed that the element was almost a life tonic, even though in large doses it was dangerous. So it's interesting to think, did the author believe in the positive qualities of radium? Or was this tidbit of people living among radium, calling it medicine, a kind of social commentary that perhaps we should consider the negative side of the element as well?
"We must turn over a new leaf and call you henceforth Ojo the Lucky. Ever reason you have given [for being unlucky] is absurd. But I have noticed that those who continually dread ill luck and fear it will overtake them, have no time to take advantage of any good fortune that comes their way. Make up your mind to be Ojo the Lucky."
"The more one knows, the luckier he is, for knowledge is the greatest gift in life."
"Horrid? Why, I'm thoroughly delightful. I'm an Original, if you please, and therefore incomparable. Of all the comic, absurd, rare and amusing creatures the world contains, I must be the supreme freak. Who but poor Margolotte could have managed to invent such an unreasonable being as I? But I'm glad -I'm awfully glad! - that I'm just what I am, and nothing else."
"No one can be unlucky who has the intelligence to direct his own actions."
"Don't bother my head by asking conundrums, I beg of you. Just let me discover myself in my own way."
"It's classical music, and is considered the best and most puzzling ever manufactured. You're supposed to like it, whether you do or not, and if you don't, the proper thing is to look as if you did. Understand?"
"Please don't quarrel, this is a very important journey, and quarrelling makes me discouraged. To be brave, one must be cheerful, so I hope you will be as good-tempered as possible."
"Some are [dignified], and some are not, but I never criticize my friends. If they are really true friends, they may be anything they like, for all of me."
"We have wells, you know, but the're all well lighted, and a well lighted well cannot well be a dark well."
"He said we were lacking in understand, because we had only one leg to a person. I can't see that legs have anything to do with understanding things."
Reading old books like this can be challenging, but the nuggets of information and just the insight into life back then can also be fascinating. This particular story was written in 1913, and one of the characters, the Horners, decorate their houses with radium. I Googled Radium and it is an element, but there's also a ton of information on Radium Girls which is a very interesting story about a very sad reality of life back then. From what I understand consumers believed that the element was almost a life tonic, even though in large doses it was dangerous. So it's interesting to think, did the author believe in the positive qualities of radium? Or was this tidbit of people living among radium, calling it medicine, a kind of social commentary that perhaps we should consider the negative side of the element as well?
"We must turn over a new leaf and call you henceforth Ojo the Lucky. Ever reason you have given [for being unlucky] is absurd. But I have noticed that those who continually dread ill luck and fear it will overtake them, have no time to take advantage of any good fortune that comes their way. Make up your mind to be Ojo the Lucky."
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