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Dorothy- This Side of the Rainbow
Dorothy Gale. We all know her story and we all think we know her. But do we? What do we really know about Dorothy? Many were introduced to Dorothy in L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." But most of what we know about Dorothy comes from the MGM movie classic.
Imagine, though, that Dorothy was actually a real character who just happened to have an amazing journey that defies explanation. Who would this real Dorothy be? Who were her parents? How did she get to Kansas? Who were the Gales? And what could have happened to her once she got home again?
Dorothy-This Side of the Rainbow is Dorothy's story told in the first person as a memoir of a life well-lived. It takes Dorothy out of the pages of fiction and places her right into the pages of history.
Dorothy answers all our questions as she tells us about her life and her journey along a different Yellow Brick Road. Along the way she not only finds she has a good brain, a big heart and more courage than ten other people.
In this historically accurate memoir Dorothy meets many famous real-life characters...as well as some other fictional characters.
And why did Dorothy write her memoirs? Because as she said "I'm going to write my life story not because I'm famous or even accomplished, but because I believe every life is a story and every story should come to life."
Imagine, though, that Dorothy was actually a real character who just happened to have an amazing journey that defies explanation. Who would this real Dorothy be? Who were her parents? How did she get to Kansas? Who were the Gales? And what could have happened to her once she got home again?
Dorothy-This Side of the Rainbow is Dorothy's story told in the first person as a memoir of a life well-lived. It takes Dorothy out of the pages of fiction and places her right into the pages of history.
Dorothy answers all our questions as she tells us about her life and her journey along a different Yellow Brick Road. Along the way she not only finds she has a good brain, a big heart and more courage than ten other people.
In this historically accurate memoir Dorothy meets many famous real-life characters...as well as some other fictional characters.
And why did Dorothy write her memoirs? Because as she said "I'm going to write my life story not because I'm famous or even accomplished, but because I believe every life is a story and every story should come to life."
358 pages, Nook
First published January 1, 2002
41 people want to read
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November 27, 2024
Alright. Well, I have lots of thoughts on this one. Both good and bad.
First, let's start this off with the good.
This book was recommended by Oz historian, Tori of TheOzVlog, who has gone to great lengths to teach people about both the 1939 film and the books, so anything from her, I always try to check out.
The book itself has an interesting concept, where did Dorothy originally come from, how did she get to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and what happened to her after Oz?
All is addressed and is very believable, Dorothy coming from a poor Irish family in New York, living on the street with her brother, the living conditions and the orphan train, it made sense. I do like that Dorothy has other family then just her aunt and uncle, and her relationship with Em and Henry was charming, as well as the build-up to becoming a family.
There are little nods to both the original story, the 1939 film and the history behind both, such as Dorothy being named after a woman named Dorothy Gage, the name of L. Frank Baum's niece and the cemetery workers being named Bert, Jack and Ray after the actors who portrayed The Cowardly Lion, The Tin Man and The Scarecrow in the MGM film.
The author also has done their research in painting us a picture the late 19th century for immigrants, as mentioned, Dorothy's parents being from Ireland, their living conditions, the treatment of children and the early days of the the suffrage movement and the fight for child labor laws, as well as the appearance of Alice Roosevelt (which I am always, always for) and her father, TR. I did like her relationship with him.
It is also not surprising that Dorothy got involved in women's rights given Baum's stance on women's suffrage.
The book is written well and has much thought put into it.
And now, onto the bad.
Sweet Oz!
Dorothy is as interesting as sandpaper, she suffers from the same characteristics as Alice in the 2010 Tim Burton film, where as children, they create this fantastical world but as adults, they lose every single ounce of creativity that you can't even imagine they're the same character; but at least Alice had the Looking Glass film where she finally developed a personality as cunning and innovated, Dorothy had a whole life and the only thing I can think to describe her is how poor she was and how much she loves God.
Oz is simply a footnote in the book, it hardly affects her and her life, she'll mention it here and there, they'll be a paragraph from the novel, but for a book that's trying to convince us that Dorothy really did go to Oz, it's more like she went to the store, heck, she mentions the blasted circus she snuck off to more than the time her house was whisked away to a magical land with talking animals, living scarecrows, and witches. I heard more of talking about God than anything else, and it made me want to throw the book at the wall and good grief, Dorothy if I wanted to be preach at, I'd go to my old church. Having a relationship with God is fine, but she started sounding like those old ladies on Facebook who only repost Bible quotes and comment, "amen 🙏".
Another thing to note, Dorothy doesn't earn anything.
Everything from the day she's born is given to her, she has jobs but gets fired but happens to get money from her deceased fiance's parents so she can attend college, or makes a friend who insists she goes on a trip and gives her money for the voyage. I was reading Meet Rebecca, one of the American Girls who lives in 1914 while reading this book and she did more to earn money in a month than Dorothy has her entire life, and Rebecca is nine. NINE YEARS OLD. It kind of frustrated me because for a woman who talks about how poor she was, she never seems grateful nor tries to make her way in life, but that's how Dorothy is, "Dancing through life, No need to tough it, When you can slough it off as I do, Nothing matters, But knowing nothing matters, It's just life, So keep dancing through."
Dorothy also infatuates every man who comes in contact with her, to quote the 1999 film, Ten Things I Hate About You, "does this girl have beer flavored tits or something?"
I also will never ever forgive this character of how much of a non-reaction she gave when her supposed beloved dog, Toto was literally STOLEN from her hotel room, and she doesn't even tell the police. Like if that was my pet, you would see me using every resource possible to find them, Dorothy clearly has them especially after one of her many admirers gives her money immediately after.
The book also got weirdly horny about 79% the way in, she ends up meeting a man while visiting Ireland on you guessed it, someone else's money and her first introduction to him is seeing him naked, his honest goods exposed to the world and she's immediately turned on and the way she goes into great detail of it all got very uncomfortable, and Donal is extremely pretentious but at least the book admits it. I do keep in mind that she's finally opening her heart up to another after she lost her fiance suddenly way back but it felt like I was reading an erotic novel for a second.
And lastly, Dorothy begins to write this book because she's dying which like her dog being stolen is given a non reaction. I understand some people seem more accepting of death than others, that's fine but she acted more like it was a minor inconvenience, like can we please get something, Dorothy? Anything?
I definitely was happy to be done with this book, and I'm sad because I really do see the ideas there, I can tell the author was really trying to give us something, but it wasn't for me. I think it is because of how dull the main character was and as it is about Dorothy, that's where it falls apart. Definitely a disappointment.
First, let's start this off with the good.
This book was recommended by Oz historian, Tori of TheOzVlog, who has gone to great lengths to teach people about both the 1939 film and the books, so anything from her, I always try to check out.
The book itself has an interesting concept, where did Dorothy originally come from, how did she get to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry and what happened to her after Oz?
All is addressed and is very believable, Dorothy coming from a poor Irish family in New York, living on the street with her brother, the living conditions and the orphan train, it made sense. I do like that Dorothy has other family then just her aunt and uncle, and her relationship with Em and Henry was charming, as well as the build-up to becoming a family.
There are little nods to both the original story, the 1939 film and the history behind both, such as Dorothy being named after a woman named Dorothy Gage, the name of L. Frank Baum's niece and the cemetery workers being named Bert, Jack and Ray after the actors who portrayed The Cowardly Lion, The Tin Man and The Scarecrow in the MGM film.
The author also has done their research in painting us a picture the late 19th century for immigrants, as mentioned, Dorothy's parents being from Ireland, their living conditions, the treatment of children and the early days of the the suffrage movement and the fight for child labor laws, as well as the appearance of Alice Roosevelt (which I am always, always for) and her father, TR. I did like her relationship with him.
It is also not surprising that Dorothy got involved in women's rights given Baum's stance on women's suffrage.
The book is written well and has much thought put into it.
And now, onto the bad.
Sweet Oz!
Dorothy is as interesting as sandpaper, she suffers from the same characteristics as Alice in the 2010 Tim Burton film, where as children, they create this fantastical world but as adults, they lose every single ounce of creativity that you can't even imagine they're the same character; but at least Alice had the Looking Glass film where she finally developed a personality as cunning and innovated, Dorothy had a whole life and the only thing I can think to describe her is how poor she was and how much she loves God.
Oz is simply a footnote in the book, it hardly affects her and her life, she'll mention it here and there, they'll be a paragraph from the novel, but for a book that's trying to convince us that Dorothy really did go to Oz, it's more like she went to the store, heck, she mentions the blasted circus she snuck off to more than the time her house was whisked away to a magical land with talking animals, living scarecrows, and witches. I heard more of talking about God than anything else, and it made me want to throw the book at the wall and good grief, Dorothy if I wanted to be preach at, I'd go to my old church. Having a relationship with God is fine, but she started sounding like those old ladies on Facebook who only repost Bible quotes and comment, "amen 🙏".
Another thing to note, Dorothy doesn't earn anything.
Everything from the day she's born is given to her, she has jobs but gets fired but happens to get money from her deceased fiance's parents so she can attend college, or makes a friend who insists she goes on a trip and gives her money for the voyage. I was reading Meet Rebecca, one of the American Girls who lives in 1914 while reading this book and she did more to earn money in a month than Dorothy has her entire life, and Rebecca is nine. NINE YEARS OLD. It kind of frustrated me because for a woman who talks about how poor she was, she never seems grateful nor tries to make her way in life, but that's how Dorothy is, "Dancing through life, No need to tough it, When you can slough it off as I do, Nothing matters, But knowing nothing matters, It's just life, So keep dancing through."
Dorothy also infatuates every man who comes in contact with her, to quote the 1999 film, Ten Things I Hate About You, "does this girl have beer flavored tits or something?"
I also will never ever forgive this character of how much of a non-reaction she gave when her supposed beloved dog, Toto was literally STOLEN from her hotel room, and she doesn't even tell the police. Like if that was my pet, you would see me using every resource possible to find them, Dorothy clearly has them especially after one of her many admirers gives her money immediately after.
The book also got weirdly horny about 79% the way in, she ends up meeting a man while visiting Ireland on you guessed it, someone else's money and her first introduction to him is seeing him naked, his honest goods exposed to the world and she's immediately turned on and the way she goes into great detail of it all got very uncomfortable, and Donal is extremely pretentious but at least the book admits it. I do keep in mind that she's finally opening her heart up to another after she lost her fiance suddenly way back but it felt like I was reading an erotic novel for a second.
And lastly, Dorothy begins to write this book because she's dying which like her dog being stolen is given a non reaction. I understand some people seem more accepting of death than others, that's fine but she acted more like it was a minor inconvenience, like can we please get something, Dorothy? Anything?
I definitely was happy to be done with this book, and I'm sad because I really do see the ideas there, I can tell the author was really trying to give us something, but it wasn't for me. I think it is because of how dull the main character was and as it is about Dorothy, that's where it falls apart. Definitely a disappointment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review