Product Description
Neill, John R. (illustrator). (1920) In Near Fine condition. Fully bound in pictorial, colorfully-stamped cloth. Decorative red and black endpapers. 286pps., lavishly illustrated. This is a later printing, circa. 1960: t… More >>
Glinda of Oz
Written by admin on August 29th, 2010 in Literature & Fiction.
Tags: Glinda
This is Baum’s last contribution to the wonderful series of Oz books. Having had this book for many a year it is good to see it back in hardcover. True there is the Del Ray paperback, but this one is the edition to get your children. Baum’s books are still wonderful and magical today. His writing has a wonderful warmth and originality to it that one doesn’t get very often. Even if your children only know of the film it’s ok to get this for them. Dorothy and Glinda as well as all the other favorites from the MGM film are here with the new creations of Baum. Don’t think this book is dull…far from it. Baum has written a very tightly plotted story with plenty of adventure. With all the original color plates and B/W illustrations from John R.Neil it makes a handsome edition to add to your collection.
Rating: 5 / 5
Some time ago, I decided I would collect and read all 14 of the “Oz” books by L. Frank Baum. It took me a few years to find them all, but I finally finished my little project with “Glinda of Oz,” Baum’s final outing. Not one of the best books in the series but not one of the worst, either, “Glinda” falls somewhere in the middle. While visiting the good witch Glinda, Ozma and Dorothy learn of two factions living in a remote corner of Oz that are planning to go to war. Wanting to prevent such discord in her paradise, Ozma and Dorothy travel to this land to prevent the Skeezers and Flatheads from coming to blows, but wind up becoming prisoners in an island beneath a lake.
The biggest problem I have with this book, as with many of the “Oz” books, is that just because the title has a character’s name in it doesn’t mean he or she is the star. While this is one of Glinda’s bigger roles, it’s not really her book but more of an ensemble piece. Baum, as if he knew this would be his last outing, crams nearly every character he’d created into the rescue party that sets out to free Ozma and Dorothy (but no Hungry Tiger, sadly), and most of the characters featured in that rescue don’t have much to do but stand around befuddled.
The story has a fair amount of magic and introduces a few new characters, but no particularly memorable ones. Though there’s nothing really bad about it, the book is noteworthy mainly because it’s Baum’s last before he died and Ruth Thompson took over the series.
Wow. All this time and I’ve finally finished reading Baum’s “Oz” books. Heh. Time to start looking for the ones written by everyone else…
Rating: 4 / 5
The last by the original author of the series, this shows how peacekeeping ambassadors (Ozma and Dorothy) can become involved in a dispute and detained, their mission pushed aside by evil dictators. The Su-Dic and Queen Coo-eh-oh are vain, evil adversaries, causing a “war” between two of Ozma’s populations. When Ozma and Dorothy try to reason with both parties they are rejected by one group, and taken prisoner by the other. Glinda and an entourage from the Emerald City must rescue the group, aided by three enchanted fish, who must first endure the odd cabin of Reera the Red, the Yookoohoo.
A great end to the original series, and these facsimile editions were long missing from juvenile libraries. Two generations missed the original Oz series when it was out of print for 25 years.
Rating: 5 / 5
“In which are related the Exciting Experiences of Princess Ozma of Oz, and Dorothy, in their hazardous journey to the home of the Flatheads, and to the Magic Isle of the Skeezers, and how they were rescued from dire peril by the sorcery of Glinda the Good.”
Always one of my favorite Oz books, Glinda was Baum’s last and posthumously published. I cannot count how many times I have actually re-read it over the years– that should be enough of a review in and of itself.
Rating: 5 / 5
…come to an end, so perhaps it’s fitting that the last Oz book to be penned by L. Frank Baum was about Glinda, the good witch. This book always left me a little sad as a kid, thinking that it was the last of the original series. Baum seemed to really find his stride with in the last few books of the series, with such excellent installments at “The Lost Princess of Oz”, “The Tin Woodman of Oz”, “The Magic of Oz” and–of course–this one. Baum shows a lot of ingenuity in this book and the sinking of the city underwater reminds me of a work of science fiction–but of course, Baum has showed glimmers of this before, with the introduction of such characters as the robotic Tik-Tok. In many ways, Baum just seemed a bit ahead of his time, which is why, I suppose, his books remain so timeLESS.
Rating: 5 / 5