10.26.06
Posted in Biography at 2:50 am by Rosepixie
Baum’s work in the Oz Film Manufacturing Co. is so interesting. Given how innovative his movies were for the time in technical ways, style, tone and intended audience it’s such a shame that no one in the industry would give them more of a chance! He made groundbreaking films, but nobody got to see them because distributors refused to show children’s movies, no matter how amazing. It’s really too bad! I would have loved to see what Baum could create with a successful movie company! It could have been amazing!
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Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 1:39 am by Rosepixie
This book is pretty good so far. Like all of the American Girl books, the story is told simply and in a very straightforward manner. This makes the story very basic, but also works well in some ways too. The characters are appealing, although the secondary characters tend to adhere to stereotypes a bit more than I would like them too. Annabelle is a good example, since she is exactly what a little sister imagines an annoying older sister to be and never overcomes that with more human qualities. Nevertheless, the story is quite enjoyable.
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Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 12:18 am by Rosepixie
This book ended wonderfully well. Everything turned out better than Miri imagined, but not too far beyond what one could believe. I like that it ended with a real sense of future - Miri and Esa are planning to open a school, Peder is going to carve linder for a season and see if it brings a good price, Peder and Miri are beginning a relationship and Katar may actually get a position that lets her move off the mountain. There is resolution, but also a real sense that things will continue to move forward. I very much enjoyed this book!
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10.25.06
Posted in Biography at 2:07 am by Rosepixie
Baum continued to produce great children’s books and seems to have always been experimenting with something new. Not only was he always trying new types of stories, but new technologies and projects as well. The Fairylogue and Radio Plays was a marvelous experiment and I’m sad that the author dismissed the project as quickly as she did in this biography. I found her hatred of Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz to be almost funny, since her chief objection to the book is that the cat in it is a singularly disagreeable character who is punished for her crimes, all offenses which Rodgers claims show that Baum simply was prejudiced against cats for no good reason. Rodgers seems to be far overracting to me. Eureka is quite unpleasant throughout the book and is only punished for eating a piglet belonging to the wizard, which is a pretty serious offense in a country where piglets can speak and discuss their complex thoughts and emotions with others, and for which her punishment is very lenient! It just seemed very silly to me!
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Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 1:02 am by Rosepixie
The ambivilence the girls are having about the prince is really nice to see. It’s very realistic. It’s also very realistic that some of the girls feel no ambivilence and that each has her own reasons. I also like that in the meantime they are teaching the rest of the village from what they have learned in the academy. It’s wonderful! I’m very interested to see how this all ends.
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Posted in Biography at 12:51 am by Rosepixie
There are a number of books by Baum that I really wish I could get ahold of and read. Some of them are fairly easy to get, so I know I could find them if I wanted them, but a few (like some from the Aunt Jane’s Nieces series) do not seem as easily avalible and finding them is likely to be much more difficult. If they haven’t been republished since Baum’s lifetime, it may be nearly impossible for me to get ahold of copies now.
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10.24.06
Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 2:44 am by Rosepixie
Why on earth would the prince and his entire entourage show up at the academy just to leave again so quickly? Why make such a journey for no reason? Something really doesn’t make sense here. I hope that this get explained, because at the moment it’s very confusing. Why make the journey twice and pay for the school to continue for another six months or more with no clue of what they are continuing for? It’s very confusing! What is going on?
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Posted in Biography at 1:37 am by Rosepixie
The fact that Baum was initially wary of making The Wonderful Wizard of Oz into a musical because of rights disputes with Denslow suggests that he had learned from his prior experiences and learned to be wary. The problem is that he was talked into it and the result is that the dispute over creative rights only got worse! Baum should have followed that first impulse and stuck to his guns, success or no! It was far more trouble than it was ever worth!
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Posted in Childrens, Fiction at 12:58 am by Rosepixie
I’m really enjoying this book. Miri is a sweet character who is complicated and interesting, which definitely makes her fascinating to read about. She is appealing, but far from perfect. I liked that the girls managed to used their education to help their village, and I wonder if they will help them more once one of them is a princess.
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10.22.06
Posted in Biography at 12:50 am by Rosepixie
Baum knew that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was the best thing he had written, but he was still surprised at its success. Denslow sort of confuses me. He tried so hard to claim credit for the characters and parts of the book, but his part of the book was the more dispensible. He knew it would be a success and just wanted credit for it! I don’t quite understand why one would do that, it’s rather sleezy. Besides, he got a ton of credit and aclaim as it was! It’s just dumb!
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