March Laumer Madness
Mar. 24th, 2006 12:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatI recently read two more Oz books by the controversial March Laumer, The Magic Mirror of Oz and The China Dog of Oz.
and then finish it in the body of the text that's acutally cut, so that, if you go directly to the post itself, it contains what appears to be a nonsensical sentence fragment?
Magic Mirror is another example of Laumer's tendency to come up with complicated solutions to contradictions in the original Oz series. Probably due to the maps on the endpapers of Tik-Tok of Oz, where east and west are reversed for some reason, some of the Oz books refer to the Munchkin Country as being in the west of Oz and the Winkie Country in the east, which is the opposite of how L. Frank Baum originally placed them. I prefer to think this is a simple mistake, and I usually just mentally reverse the directions while reading the books that refer to Munchkins in the west. In Laumer's explanation, however, the switch was due to a magic mirror placed in the sky by Till Orangespiegel. Till was a character in The Frogman of Oz, and while reading that, I wondered somewhat why everybody seemed to hate him. Magic Mirror, which describes more of Till's past (he's apparently descended from a character in German folklore), gives me more of an idea as to why he's not held in very high regard. He launches his mirror in order to turn all of Oz orange, and ends up temporarily reversing directions in the country. He repents toward the end, but I can see why other Ozites might not be so fond of him. The book also introduces another element that would come into play in Frogman, which is that of Glinda being attracted to Button-Bright. Fortunately, Laumer has Button-Bright grow up before doing anything with this, but I still think becoming romantically involved with someone you knew when they were a kid is kind of creepy. I tend to agree with someone (I forget who it was) on an Oz forum, who suggested that Laumer was trying to come up with the least likely relationship possible. [1] The only significant interaction between Glinda and Button-Bright I can remember in the original books is in Glinda of Oz, when the boy wanders off from the main group, and the Sorceress has to go out of her way to save the boy from wild animals. As I recall, she was pretty annoyed at him.
Anyway, the book is pretty good overall. I like how Laumer uses a good mix of familiar Oz characters and his own, and has the plots of other books going on in the background while his own story is unfolding. For some odd reason, Laumer decided that his own personal canon ended with John R. Neill's books, which is a little weird. [2] That's presumably why, in The Careless Kangaroo of Oz, he contradicts Snow's explanation for the origins of the Love Magnet. I do like that Laumer correctly identifies and explains the difference between the Comfortable Camel and the Doubtful Dromedary. I believe Neill was known to draw Doubty (or "Med," as Laumer calls him) with TWO humps, even though a dromedary is actually a ONE-humped camel.
China Dog contains even more direct tie-ins and references to the original Oz series. We learn how the people of the China Country react after Dorothy and her friends leave their territory in the first Oz book, and what the Glass Cat and the Woozy do after being left behind in The Patchwork Girl of Oz. We also see some familiar characters question decisions made by Ozma, who comes off as abusing her power. Even though I don't like all of Laumer's ideas, I do like how he manages to work a lot of aspects from the original books into his own stories. Also in China Dog, we see Laumer's explanation for some of the unusual communities that show up in most of the Oz books, which is interesting.
Let's see. What else do I have to report? Yesterday,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bethje and I went out to eat at Applebee's. This particular Applebee's had recently closed for a few days for renovation, which involved getting rid of their high tables. I ask you, can it really be Applebee's without those tables? Anyway, I had some good shrimp pasta, and I also quite enjoyed their mango banana smoothie. I'm usually not a big fan of smoothies, so I was glad to find one that actually tasted really good.
Speaking of food, I should probably get something to eat, and then get going. I'll see you in the next entry! Well, not LITERALLY, you understand, but...yeah.
Okay, let's see. No soul? Well, I'm a little iffy on the general ideas of souls per se, but this thing seems to think I'm cruel and heartless, which I'm SO not. Chaotic mess? Yeah, I suppose so. Social phobia? Definitely. And I definitely AM obsessive-compulsive, so this quiz isn't as accurate as it seems to think! {g}
[1] I guess that, in some ways, Laumer's work is somewhat of a precursor to Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy slash, and the like.
[2] Oddly enough, China Dog contains a reference to Pineville, a location introduced in Jack Snow's The Magical Mimics in Oz. Laumer has his characters visit it before it would have actually been there.
and then finish it in the body of the text that's acutally cut, so that, if you go directly to the post itself, it contains what appears to be a nonsensical sentence fragment?
Magic Mirror is another example of Laumer's tendency to come up with complicated solutions to contradictions in the original Oz series. Probably due to the maps on the endpapers of Tik-Tok of Oz, where east and west are reversed for some reason, some of the Oz books refer to the Munchkin Country as being in the west of Oz and the Winkie Country in the east, which is the opposite of how L. Frank Baum originally placed them. I prefer to think this is a simple mistake, and I usually just mentally reverse the directions while reading the books that refer to Munchkins in the west. In Laumer's explanation, however, the switch was due to a magic mirror placed in the sky by Till Orangespiegel. Till was a character in The Frogman of Oz, and while reading that, I wondered somewhat why everybody seemed to hate him. Magic Mirror, which describes more of Till's past (he's apparently descended from a character in German folklore), gives me more of an idea as to why he's not held in very high regard. He launches his mirror in order to turn all of Oz orange, and ends up temporarily reversing directions in the country. He repents toward the end, but I can see why other Ozites might not be so fond of him. The book also introduces another element that would come into play in Frogman, which is that of Glinda being attracted to Button-Bright. Fortunately, Laumer has Button-Bright grow up before doing anything with this, but I still think becoming romantically involved with someone you knew when they were a kid is kind of creepy. I tend to agree with someone (I forget who it was) on an Oz forum, who suggested that Laumer was trying to come up with the least likely relationship possible. [1] The only significant interaction between Glinda and Button-Bright I can remember in the original books is in Glinda of Oz, when the boy wanders off from the main group, and the Sorceress has to go out of her way to save the boy from wild animals. As I recall, she was pretty annoyed at him.
Anyway, the book is pretty good overall. I like how Laumer uses a good mix of familiar Oz characters and his own, and has the plots of other books going on in the background while his own story is unfolding. For some odd reason, Laumer decided that his own personal canon ended with John R. Neill's books, which is a little weird. [2] That's presumably why, in The Careless Kangaroo of Oz, he contradicts Snow's explanation for the origins of the Love Magnet. I do like that Laumer correctly identifies and explains the difference between the Comfortable Camel and the Doubtful Dromedary. I believe Neill was known to draw Doubty (or "Med," as Laumer calls him) with TWO humps, even though a dromedary is actually a ONE-humped camel.
China Dog contains even more direct tie-ins and references to the original Oz series. We learn how the people of the China Country react after Dorothy and her friends leave their territory in the first Oz book, and what the Glass Cat and the Woozy do after being left behind in The Patchwork Girl of Oz. We also see some familiar characters question decisions made by Ozma, who comes off as abusing her power. Even though I don't like all of Laumer's ideas, I do like how he manages to work a lot of aspects from the original books into his own stories. Also in China Dog, we see Laumer's explanation for some of the unusual communities that show up in most of the Oz books, which is interesting.
Let's see. What else do I have to report? Yesterday,
bethje and I went out to eat at Applebee's. This particular Applebee's had recently closed for a few days for renovation, which involved getting rid of their high tables. I ask you, can it really be Applebee's without those tables? Anyway, I had some good shrimp pasta, and I also quite enjoyed their mango banana smoothie. I'm usually not a big fan of smoothies, so I was glad to find one that actually tasted really good.Speaking of food, I should probably get something to eat, and then get going. I'll see you in the next entry! Well, not LITERALLY, you understand, but...yeah.
| You Are 40% Abnormal |
 You are at medium risk for being a psychopath. It is somewhat likely that you have no soul. You are at medium risk for having a borderline personality. It is somewhat likely that you are a chaotic mess. You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection. You are at high risk for having a social phobia. It is very likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom's basement. You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer. |
Okay, let's see. No soul? Well, I'm a little iffy on the general ideas of souls per se, but this thing seems to think I'm cruel and heartless, which I'm SO not. Chaotic mess? Yeah, I suppose so. Social phobia? Definitely. And I definitely AM obsessive-compulsive, so this quiz isn't as accurate as it seems to think! {g}
[1] I guess that, in some ways, Laumer's work is somewhat of a precursor to Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy slash, and the like.
[2] Oddly enough, China Dog contains a reference to Pineville, a location introduced in Jack Snow's The Magical Mimics in Oz. Laumer has his characters visit it before it would have actually been there.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 06:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-25 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-26 03:44 am (UTC)Yeah, I
Date: 2006-03-25 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-08 09:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-01-10 03:41 am (UTC)I like a lot of what Laumer wrote, but it does seem like he sometimes got carried away in trying to make his books more "adult." In Careless Kangaroo, he states that the Shaggy Man is secretly in love with Dorothy, which I think ruins his character. It sort of goes along with the pervasive idea nowadays that adults (especially men) who hang around with kids HAVE to have some perverse ulterior motive. I think part of the reason that characters like Shaggy and Cap'n Bill work is that there's nothing at all disturbing about their interactions with children. So, yeah, I wasn't too fond of that idea.
Adults in Oz
Date: 2007-01-10 05:04 am (UTC)Shaggy was simply thrown in with kids as he encountered them, as I recall, and I think Cap'n Bill very much became Trot's surragate father. People who question those relationships need to remember that they were made in simpler times.
Of course, *everyone* loves Dorothy! Just not in the way laumer apparently meant.
Re: Adults in Oz
Date: 2007-01-11 04:13 am (UTC)Re: Adults in Oz
Date: 2007-01-11 10:17 am (UTC)