Great Science-Fiction
& Fantasy Works
science-fiction & fantasy literature:
a critical list with discussions
Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books by L. Frank Baum
Standard Disclaimer:
This is a brief discussion of L. Frank Baum
and, of course, of some books by L. Frank Baum
This discussion and list does not necessarily include every book by Baum: it includes only those books that I both know and like. Just as with the author list
itself, omission of a particular item may mean I didn't think highly enough of the omitted item, or it may simply mean that I have not yet sufficient familiarity
with it. (In a very few cases, I have listed some books merely on the strength of my opinion of the author: all such books are clearly marked below, as throughout
these lists, with a hash mark (#) before the title so you know what's what.)
I don't pretend that this discussion is a deep analysis. My intent is no more than to give you a rough idea of what kinds of tales Baum tells, how those
tales are usually told, and what makes them and Baum worthy; in sum, to help you rank Baum (and the works by Baum listed here) on your
personal literary "to do" list.
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A Few Words About L. Frank Baum
Children are very fond of sweets, and will indiscriminately enjoy both thyme honey and
treacle. But that children enjoy sweets indiscriminately does not--or should not--bar
adults from also being able to enjoy sweets; it only means that we will, or should,
discriminate in our choices. Too many "children's books" are goop: low-quality treacle,
marketed for the child's supposedly equally indiscriminate literary sweet tooth (a
phenomenon in whose existence I myself believe a great deal less than apparently do most
publishers). On those precious few occasions when we find an author who is turning out
the literary equivalent of thyme honey for children, we can and should freely please
ourselves with the product.
Frank Baum wrote entirely and explicitly for children. His works, however, are very much
more of the thyme-honey sort than the treacle sort, which is why they have--clichéd
but true--captured the hearts of generations of readers, and received high praise from
those from whom praise is much to be valued. Those who know no more of Oz than the
dreadful movie (well, it was perhaps pleasant enough, but it was wildly unfaithful to its
source) can scarcely appreciate what joys they have awaiting them. Moreover, Baum created
many other delightful tales, now sadly forgotten owing to the dominance of Oz but still, in
several important cases, in print.
The Oz Books
Oz! What can one say of Oz? A very great deal or a very little: those are the only two
options. If I, or anyone, really knew what accounted for its excellence we'd be selling
it in bottles in drugstores instead of writing web pages. Oz is magical, literally--a
place where pretty much anything can happen. And, generally speaking, anything and
everything is what happens. In most hands, that would be a recipe for disaster; Baum
somehow brings the thing off with nothing clearly visible up his sleeve.
It is, I suppose, a nice balancing of the infinite possibilities with the need for at
least a little coherence in the narrative. (Say that three times, very quickly.) Baum
seems to have a profound sense of what he can and can't get away with. He sets bizarre
propositions, but then follows them out, at least more or less. He apparently grasps or
intuits the exact point at which a small child might say "But why do they do that?"
or "Why couldn't they just . . . ?" and goes that far and no farther.
Oz appeals to the child because the terrors of the place are well matched to the child's
ability to manage fears. There are assuredly evil witches and gnomes and suchlike; but,
under the prevailing magic of Oz, all there (native or, like Dorothy and later many
others, immigrant from our reality) are immortal. None are truly killed or horribly hurt.
Friends and enemies alike can be and frequently are literally taken apart and put back
together again with no pain or ill effects. The wrongs done by the wicked are usually the
usurpation of rightful authority, occasionally the imprisoning of the innocent. That is
the point: no evil in Oz is ever final; there is always time and opportunity for
ultimate relief and succor.
Also, and I think this important, the small children in Baum's tales (and there are many
besides Dorothy) are always real children--they are not adults in pint-sized bodies--yet
possessed of a definite gravity and dignity. They may cry on occasion, but they don't
squeal or run away screaming or make "childishly" foolish choices or otherwise embarrass
themselves.
The books appeal deeply to children: that is indisputable historical fact. That they
also appeal to adults is due in good part to their being something for which a term has
only recently been coined (for "children's" TV cartoons aimed as much as or more at
adults): bi-modal--capable of simultaneous appeal, but on different planes, to
children and adults. For example, Baum is fond of puns, many of which appear to have been
(like some other elements) tossed in with a wink and a nudge to the adults in the audience
to enliven their visit.
"Go slowly, for now there is no danger of pursuit," said Tip to his steed.
"All right!" responded the creature, in a voice rather gruff.
"Aren't you a little hoarse?" asked the Pumpkinhead, politely.
The Saw-Horse gave an angry prance and rolled one knotty eye backward toward Tip.
"See here," he growled, "can't you protect me from insult?"
(Notice that there are two puns in that.) I think that now all there is left for
me to do is to give you a quotation--as usual, pretty much randomly selected--to present
the flavor of Baum's writing. I will make it a little longer than the usual snippets
because here one is standing for all.
"I am completely ruined!" declared the Scarecrow, as he noted their astonishment. "For
where is the straw that stuffs my body?"
The awful question startled them all. They gazed around the nest with horror, for not a
vestige of straw remained. The Jackdaws had stolen it to the last wisp and flung it all
into the chasm that yawned for hundreds of feet beneath the nest.
"My poor, poor friend!" said the Tin Woodman, taking up the Scarecrow's head and
caressing it tenderly; whoever could imagine you would come to this untimely end?"
"I did it to save my friends," returned the head; and I am glad that I perished in so
noble and unselfish a manner."
"But why are you all so despondent?" inquired the Woggle-Bug. "The Scarecrow's clothing
is still safe."
"Yes," answered the Tin Woodman; "but our friend's clothes are useless without
stuffing."
"Why not stuff him with money?" asked Tip.
"Money!" they all cried, in an amazed chorus.
"To be sure," said the boy. "In the bottom of the nest are thousands of dollar
bills--and five-dollar bills--and tens, and twenties and fifties. There are enough of
them to stuff a dozen Scarecrows. Why not use the money?"
The Tin Woodman began to turn over the rubbish with the handle of his axe; and, sure
enough, what they had first thought only worthless papers were found to be all bills of
various denominations, which the mischievous Jackdaws had for years been engaged in
stealing from the villages and cities they visited.
There was an immense fortune lying in that inaccessible nest; and Tip's suggestion was,
with the Scarecrow's consent, quickly acted upon.
They selected all the newest and cleanest bills and assorted them into various piles.
The Scarecrow's left leg and boot were stuffed with five-dollar bills; his right leg was
stuffed with ten-dollar bills, and his body so closely filled with fifties, one-hundreds
and one-thousands that he could scarcely button his jacket with comfort.
"You are now," said the Woggle-Bug, "the most valuable member of our party; and as you
are among faithful friends there is little danger of your being spent."
Well! Even in that little passage, we can find plenty of food for thought. Note first
that for something from a "children's book," the passage has a pretty rich vocabulary.
Note next that, in a very unostentatious way, the prose is quite clean and literate; there
are lots of "adult" fantasies being published today with less euphonious (and even less
grammatical) writing. Then there is the sustained tone--possibly above children's heads,
possibly not--of gentle irony (as, for example, with the decidedly lively Scarecrow
bidding an oratorical farewell to his fellows). There is the little matter of knowing
that even in Oz--magical, marvelous Oz--there is the almighty dollar to be reckoned with.
And there is the acceptance of the small child as an equal partner in all the adventures
(a status his perspicacity shows he deserves). And, as so often, there is the punning.
There are fifteen Oz books by Baum (fourteen novels and one short-story collection); my
reckoning is that the entire series is well worth reading, but they are perhaps not quite
all on a par. There is a general common excellence in the first five books. The fifth
ends with a stupendous gala party to which Baum sends every fictional character he had
ever created, in or out of Oz--from his version of Santa Claus to John Dough, the
gingerbread man; all in all, it looks very much like an envoi to the series. It wasn't,
but the sixth book is perceptibly weaker in some respects than its predecessors, somewhat
forced, and at the end of that one, Baum announces that Oz has been forever
magically sealed off from our world--so no more Oz stories. Like Conan Doyle when he
threw Sherlock Holmes over the Reichenbach Falls, Baum had tired of being considered a
Johnny One-Note, and wanted to move on to other projects; but, again like Conan Doyle, he
was eventually obliged to un-end his definite ending and carry on. The ensuing books are,
on the whole, perhaps not quite as inspired as the first five, but all are pleasing. Get
the lot: read them all. Again and again.
After Baum's death, the Oz series was carried on by many different authors.
Ruth Plumly Thompson was the next "Royal Historian
of Oz" and produced nineteen tales, more than Baum himself; after her, seven others
produced seven more "canonical" Oz books--books accepted by Oz devotees as "real" parts
of the history of the place--and many, many more produced books of widely differing tone
and quality which are not "canonical." Ms. Thompson's facility might lead the unwary to
assume that the trick was an easy one to learn, but see how quickly the art ended after
her; we, the English-speaking world, were just very lucky in her.
Some Other Delights
Baum shares with some other writers the disability of having created a work or cycle of
works so immensely popular that other often equally praiseworthy works by him are quite
lost in the glare (or--pick your metaphor--in the shadow) of the famous work. Baum wrote
dozens of other books; like the Oz books, they are somewhat variable in quality, but the
best are at least as good as Oz and the weakest no worse than any Oz book. Had Baum
never written of Oz, he would likely still be remembered and read today.
Particularly noteworthy, I think, is The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, which
manages to put the Santa Claus legend into a coherent--and moving--whole, explaining many
of the old fellow's now-famous characteristics and adjuncts with a surprising degree of
logic (which yet remains readily accessible to a child's understanding) and of emotion.
Here is a brief sample, which I think you will find quite different from most Santa Claus
pap:
"Who are you that call on us?" demanded one, in a gruff voice.
"The friend of your brothers in Burzee," answered Claus. "I have been brought here by my
enemies, the Awgwas, and left to perish miserably. Yet now I implore your help to
release me and to send me home again."
"Have you the sign?" asked another.
"Yes," said Claus.
They cut his bonds, and with his free arms he made the secret sign of the Knooks.
Yes, it is not Homer; but for a children's book on Santa Claus, it is surprisingly fine.
Books also noteworthy are The Magical Monarch of Mo and Queen Zixi of Ix (as
you see, Baum had a fancy for two-syllable characters in one-syllable lands); the latter
tale is, though original, a classic fairy tale with all the protean elements well
displayed.
Also do not overlook The Sea Fairies and Sky Island, books distantly related
to Oz (some common characters), or the charming tale of The Enchanted Island of
Yew.
Other L. Frank Baum Resources
L. Frank Baum Resources On the Web
There are a couple of good Baum websites:
The
Wonderful Wizard of Oz Website--which focusses almost exclusively on the Oz cycle but
includes a good number of links to further Baum resources on the web--and
Jim's
L. Frank Baum Page. If you want just a bibliography, and have either a high-speed
connection or a great deal of patience, you can visit a
Baum
Bibliography (the reason it takes so very long to download is that it includes
decent-size images of the covers of almost all of Baum's books, which is pleasant); that
page will thoroughly dispel any idea that Baum was a one-trick pony.
(The link to Baum Bibliography listed above does not
work--the host site, Missouri State University, having been greatly reorganized; I am
seeking a correct new link address for the page, if it still
exists.)
The "Author's
Calendar" is its usual reliable self in providing a
Baum page with full biographic
information and some discussion. Oh, and here's a bizarre but amusing little jot of
oddity.
L. Frank Baum Resources In Print
Although it is nominally listed here as another edition of The Wizard, the reality
is that The Annotated Wizard of
Oz "centennial edition"--annotated by Michael Patrick Hearn, though that
irrepressible annotator Martin Gardner did write a preface for it--is an invaluable
illuminator of Baum and Oz; the book is so large that its title work, The Wizard
proper, is only a small fraction of it.
Notable Science-Fiction and Fantasy Books by L. Frank Baum *****
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