EVERYONE Has Read This but Me - The Catch-Up Book Club discussion

This begins a group discussion of our Classics book selection, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, nominated by Rachel.
Here you can comment, without spoilers, on any aspects of the book, either before, during, or after reading it.

I'm curious who plans to read it who doesn't know the basics. It seems that so much has permeated our culture, at least in the US, even for people who haven't seen the movie.

Even for those who do know the basics, the movie leaves out a lot. The book is darker.

I wasn’t going to read it……until an article came across my newsfeed listing a few of the differences between the book and the movie. Since my curiosity is piqued, and I want to read Wicked before I see the movie or play, I have decided to check it out. Should be interesting.

I just re-read this a few years back and still consider it a true classic that can be enjoyed by both children and adults. As much as I LOVE the movie version with Judy Garland (our adult son and I watch the movie every few years!) there is so much more to this story then is covered in the movie adaptations. As a child our library had all of the sequels and I devoured them.
On a side note I didn't care much for the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West although I highly recommend seeing the live musical adaptation. In my opinion much better then the novel.

I also loved the Judy Garland movie version, but it is a pale reflection of the book, which I finally read a few months ago for the first time. To me, it is like comparing a Disney fairy tale movie with the original Grimm’s Fairy Tales.

I agree. It is like comparing a Disney fairy tale to a Grimm's Fairy Tale version. I would love to watch the Judy Garland version with my niece. I would not allow her to read the original book nor watch any of the movie sequals until she is older. I consider Return to Oz a bit more true to the source though I am currently watching Tin Man on Tubi for Inspiration.

I had never read the book before, but had watched the movie and several musical renditions. I really enjoyed the book, and am now reading the series. I wasn't as enthusiastic about The Marvelous Land of Oz or The Woggle-Bug Book, but I'm now into Ozma of Oz, and having a bit more fun with it.

I recently completed my read through this month. This was the first time I did a read through on audiobook. For anyone looking for an unabridged audiobook version, I sampled over a dozen narrations and decided to go with the one narrated by Anna Fields. I highly recommend it.

There is also a very popular narration by Anne Hathaway. I found some of her voices too grating, however I do recommend sampling her narration, especially if you are group listening with children, as it has a lot of appeal for the younger crowd.

So glad this was the pick for March!

I enjoyed it. I agree the book is much darker like a Grimm’s fairy tale.
I actually preferred it to the movie.

I haven’t read Wicked but loved the Broadway musical. Great reimagining of the story.

So much of this has permeated our culture. I tore thru Wizard of Oz in one day and now I am comparing it to Wicked. Thus far, only the prequel has any relation to Dorothey. Wicked is all about how the witch became who we know.