The Wizard of Oz

I finished reading L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz a few nights ago.  After being disappointed by Through the Looking Glass, I thought about taking a break from my reading list, but I already had the book bought and was interested in reading a good 10 years ago.

Regarding the book itself, it was a quick read.  The movie embellished some parts, but left out major plot points (as movie renditions tend to do).  My primary interest in the book was how it supposedly was an allegory for the populist movement of the late 1800’s.  I can’t pretend to be an expert on that part of history, but it feels like a stretch to definitively connect some of the dots.  I can see how one might consider the green standard vs. the gold standard (the Yellow Brick road that leads to the Emerald City, the Golden Cap that summons the Flying Monkeys, etc.), but I don’t think the characters in the story relate to actual people or events surrounding the movement, and there aren’t enough connectives in the story to support a metaphor for Populists.

That being said, it’s worth reading for yourself for the sake of ingesting a piece of Americana, and perhaps you’ll disagree with my assessment.  It did, however, cause me to do a little research about the Populist Movement, and so I assume I grew a little.