tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post5064017616917052036..comments2024-03-04T16:50:15.828-08:00Comments on Hungry Tiger Talk: Into OUT OF OZDavid Maxinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12672089188117065118noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-26274943579276342562016-12-14T09:35:58.961-08:002016-12-14T09:35:58.961-08:00Years later, in 2016...
I love this review. I fin...Years later, in 2016...<br /><br />I love this review. I finished the book two days ago after reading the other three within the past few months, and even seeing Wicked on Broadway. I thought this book was amazing, poignant, bittersweet, funny, intelligent. It leaves the audience to keep guessing, and who knows whether the author is going to write another (even though he says this is the last) or not? He said in an interview that he was open to the idea of coming back and writing more, even though he said, for now, this is the last.<br /><br />I'm hoping there's more. For now, I'm composing the next stories in my head.<br /><br />xx<br />GabAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07510121990289338199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-90891823324918046942013-06-23T16:04:13.482-07:002013-06-23T16:04:13.482-07:00I know I'm commenting on a book that came out ...I know I'm commenting on a book that came out quite awhile back, but after just finding it at the local secondhand bookstore and finishing it yesterday, I find myself left feeling a bit empty.<br /><br />Maybe it just fell a bit too close to real life for me to deal with, but finishing out of Oz left me with a deep sense of longing. I wanted resolution and found none-- but I guess the story was about growing up after all.<br /><br />Out of Oz did ramble (The whole series did. I was fond of the rambling.) and I can see how it might have been hard to connect with the characters. After all, they were always distant. But I think it was that distance that made me sympathetic to them, as if they had no one else but the reader.<br /><br />Overall, loved it.michellealvarez96https://www.blogger.com/profile/14236497769427350394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-45390823937248386552012-10-20T15:58:33.457-07:002012-10-20T15:58:33.457-07:00I agree that Out of Oz was good - however I admit ...I agree that Out of Oz was good - however I admit to feeling unsatisfied with the climactic treatment of Tip. I had feverishly anticipated this storyline since that moment in Son of a Witch when Liir comes across 'the old woman and the boy'. However the execution of it was somehow dry. Maguire seems to enjoy withholding catharsis because he believes life doesn't provide it. <br /><br />A Lion Among Men was dire and I skipped through most of it - proof that Maguire's skill with Oz is not instinctive. The synergy of Elphaba/Glinda in Wicked was a happy discovery. Son of a Witch didn't quite match it and Lion was just ill-advised and very selfish. Maguire was NOT able to recreate the chemistry we previously enjoyed. <br /><br />My own experience with storytelling is that a truly great story takes on a life of its own and comes through the writer rather than from the writer. The Wicked books increasingly came FROM Maguire rather than through him, as I strongly feel that they would have evolved very differently had they been allowed to follow the natural course of the story that remained sadly latent.<br /><br />Considering the potential I saw in the Wicked series, I was disappointed by the way it turned out and my heart will always long for a different set of books as they might otherwise have been penned. Maguire is sweet and lovely and I met him once, but I fell out of love with him by the time I finished this series.Andrew Harrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-29365961980458211612012-04-30T18:57:56.775-07:002012-04-30T18:57:56.775-07:00I did read "Wicked", which I was Not Hap...I did read "Wicked", which I was Not Happy with, before seeing the Musical with Mum, which we did enjoy . . . but in comparison to another stage Musical like "Mary Poppins" or other versions of Oz, it's a bit too scary or off and not for me to revisit!<br /><br />I admit when I hear Dorothy mentioned it DOES put in me a bit of interest to MAYBE read "Son of a Witch" and "Out of Oz", but overall I don't like the kind of addition "Wicked" is to Oz . . . and it's something I could be happier without.<br /><br />Your review did show insight and perception, but I'm not willing to put myself through any more 'Wicked'-ness.Samhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397876293747859812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-10059667856770096642012-04-30T17:28:01.490-07:002012-04-30T17:28:01.490-07:00Atticus, I understand your inability to connect em...Atticus, I understand your inability to connect emotionally with Maguire's writing. I think that nails my problem with <i>A Lion Among Men</i> and to a lesser extent with <i>Wicked.</i> I think that problem is nearly, maybe even completely, absent from <i>Out of Oz.</i> I felt for the characters and had an emotional connection to the events, one of the main reasons I found the fourth book so rewarding.ericshanowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08879686211456482942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-75218663020297116422012-04-30T16:49:04.998-07:002012-04-30T16:49:04.998-07:00I haven't picked up Out of Oz although it'...I haven't picked up Out of Oz although it' is on my to buy list. I enjoyed Wicked, and didn't Son of a Witch, I agreed about Lion Among I was bored stupid throughout that book.<br /><br />I can confirm, that to chunter or someone chuntering is indeed used over here often. This main root to someone chuntering is a Northern England term and is particularily from the Yorkshire area.Colin Ayres British Fan Of Ozhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10260760079727438736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-42744692259401877922012-04-30T15:50:29.625-07:002012-04-30T15:50:29.625-07:00Thanks for the response, Eric. I actually wouldn&#...Thanks for the response, Eric. I actually wouldn't say I was offended, but I suppose in my years of doing "The Oz Bookshelf" I've become particularly oriented toward/sensitized to even-handedness in reviews. It's interesting. One of my favorite authors is Nabokov, who was as ostentatious a writer as they come and whose books require having a large dictionary at hand constantly. But I found I could connect with his writing emotionally. I never felt that with Maguire.Atticus Gannawayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14753022817401179163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-55677164517706914392012-04-30T05:55:38.057-07:002012-04-30T05:55:38.057-07:00Atticus, a couple things. You're absolutely ri...Atticus, a couple things. You're absolutely right that I was being snide. I thought it was humorous enough that no one's nose would be put too out of joint, especially after I told how I didn't understand some words in the book.<br /><br />But I wasn't calling anyone else's intellect into question, I was calling his or her literacy into question. It was a matter of vocabulary, not comprehension. I thought that was clear.<br /><br />But maybe it wasn't and I guess I did bend your nose a little with my being snide. Sorry for giving offense.ericshanowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08879686211456482942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-49975083032813995442012-04-30T05:31:21.108-07:002012-04-30T05:31:21.108-07:00Thanks, David.
Saintfighteraqua, the only other M...Thanks, David.<br /><br />Saintfighteraqua, the only other Maguire book I've read is <i>Mirror, Mirror,</i> the Snow White retelling. It didn't capture me.<br /><br />But I loved his long short story "The Silk Road Runs Through Tupperneck, N.H." in the anthology <i>How Beautiful the Ordinary.</i> (And I'm not saying that just cuz I have a piece in it too.) I wanted my that story, or something very close to it, to be part of my own life.ericshanowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08879686211456482942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-38475478767217322772012-04-30T05:14:46.110-07:002012-04-30T05:14:46.110-07:00"I'd guess Maguire's style is a matte..."I'd guess Maguire's style is a matter of taste. If it's to yours, it works beautifully. If not, then maybe you ought to read above your level more often."<br /><br />While your review is very interesting, Eric, I find the quotation above to be rather snide and certainly judgmental about other people's differing viewpoints. If nothing else, it's a false dichotomy. Maguire's style is indeed a matter of taste. I found it to be insufferably ostentatious and dreadfully dull in many sections of Wicked, so much so that I had no interest in reading the sequels. It has nothing to do with not "reading above my level." But I would never call anyone else's intellect into question because they disagree with my own opinion.Atticus Gannawayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14753022817401179163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-18685760625124887782012-04-29T16:20:56.317-07:002012-04-29T16:20:56.317-07:00I agree with you on Lion Among Men. It's not ...I agree with you on Lion Among Men. It's not only the worst of the series it is one of the worst books I've ever read.<br />Out of Oz was the best in the series, beating out Wicked which in my opinion was far too slow and depressing.<br />I didn't really care for Son of a Witch either. It wasn't bad, it's just I couldn't care about anyone other than Liir himself.<br />Everyone was so self centered or just dull.<br />It was very enjoyable reading your review though and I found myself agreeing with most of what you said.<br /><br />If you've never read his other books, they are pretty good too. <br /><br />While I didn't love the Wicked books...I could never love something so dark and depressing, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the last one...if only for Dorothy and all the Oz/Baum references.saintfighteraquahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16195760262262189059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-21171694920976337612012-04-29T07:39:24.670-07:002012-04-29T07:39:24.670-07:00A very well-written review, Eric. I've enjoyed...A very well-written review, Eric. I've enjoyed reading Maguire's Oz books - less for the stories than for his prose, his turns of phrase and the moods he creates. I don't much care for his Oz but it's his Oz not Baum's. It's a place more inspired by the MGM movie and mainstream/classic non-fantasy literature than the whimsical fairyland of the books. It's a place where characters do act heroically but where there are no real heroes. Everyone who is decent is lost and broken. <b>Out of Oz</b> is the perfect way to end the series.David Lee Ingersollhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06960750033882386122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8930190065426288711.post-60403801259399262132012-04-29T05:28:10.804-07:002012-04-29T05:28:10.804-07:00I liked "Son of a Witch" myself. For som...I liked "Son of a Witch" myself. For some reason, I liked the even-numbered books in the series, though given how long ago and how old I was when I read "Wicked," I likely owe it a re-read.Jayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03766446206846532440noreply@blogger.com