Was

Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly good
Review: A few years ago I read Gregory Maguire's take on the Wizard of Oz story in "Wicked" and was entranced with it. When I learned of the existance of "Was" I was excited to see someone else's take on twisting this story. I was not dissappointed. This is an incredibly creative, well written book. It was one of those rare gems in reading where I was completely transported into the pages and felt like I was there with the characters. The parts of the book set in pioneer times were my favorite and made me feel the way I used to feel as a child when I first fell in love with reading. I would recommend this book to everyone. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 was because the entire book was so stellar and then I felt the ending was just too abrupt and anti-climatic.

Rating:
Summary: To Hell and Back
Review: A while back, I read the book "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire and I asn't all that thrilled with it. I'm not sure what it was, but I just couldn't get into the book. It may have had something to do with the fact that I was constantly anticipating the events and trying to match them up with what happened in the original story. Whatever it was, it kept me from enjoying it as much as others have.

So when Was was recommended to me, I approached it not without a little trepidation, but this time I got all the way through without problems.

Not the most glowing of reviews, but there you are.

How about this instead: I didn't like the book, but I couldn't put it down. Allow me to pull out the old "train wreck" metaphor. You know the one -- where you don't want to watch because it's so horrible, but you can't help but stare in fascination.

Ryman's premise is that Baum, the original author, met a Dorothy in Kansas from whom he (Baum) got the inspriation for his story. The problem is that this Dorothy is evil. Or she becomes evil, thanks to her good old Auntie Em. The defining moment of the book was at the end of the second chapter; the very last sentence of that chapter, in fact. I don't want to give it away here, since it would lose its impact, but I think you'll know it when you read it.

As Ryman takes Dorothy from innocent youth to crotchety old woman, it's hard not to watch, with increasing disbelief, at the amazingly horrible life he pushes her through. First her dog (Toto) is killed, then her new friend dies, then she's becomes an outcast at school, and then her Uncle Henry starts sexually abusing her, and then... well, you begin to get the picture.

So, as I sat there, not enjoying, but not wanting to stop reading, I had to wonder. This book was recommended to me by more than one person; what had they seen it it that made it worthy of recommendation? I'm not questioning their taste. Quite the opposite: I'm questioning my own. Why didn't I like this book as much as they did? It's certainly well-written, and the plot is exceptionally well constructed. Ryman does a great job of pulling fragments of coincidences together to make his story work. So, on that level, at least, it's worthy of recommendation.

I've spent several weeks thinking about this book now, trying to come up with "what it all means." And maybe that's a good thing to say about a book -- any book -- that it makes you think. But there must be other ways, other stories, other means by which one can get one's point across.

Maybe Ryman's concern was that, if I enjoyed the story, I wouldn't think about it, or think about what happened to Dorothy and thank any higher being which may exist that it wasn't me.

Rating:
Summary: A marvelous book I stumbled upon . . . .
Review: Although a mild amount of confusion made WAS a little slow to get into, I soon found myself captivated by the story. Ryman has amazing ability to work many seemingly complicated elements into something so beautifully fluid. The characters were all so different; it was amazing to see how they could all share something as simple as The Wizard of Oz. The author's creativity entranced me throughout the stroy.

Rating:
Summary: Actually Toto, we ARE still in Kansas
Review: Brilliant, beautiful and profoundly disturbing. As many people have given excellent insights into the content of Was, I will just mention my own interpretation of this utter classic.

For me, the book (and even the Baum original) exists on many levels. Whereas Oz may be seen as a quantum pocket within the linear story track, it is the human experiences and the very nature of consciousness and identity that really drives the entire concept.

Yet the search for Dorothy's home is as much a bitter-sweet futility as the search for the Holy Grail, and merely takes you deeper into the Illusion and farther away from your true Self.

This multi character odyssey brings in many profound insights from various classic areas - from Dante's Inferno, the concept that the way to Heaven is through the deepest pit of Hell - from Zen, the concept that there is no Truth that exists outside of you, or as Alan Watts put it, "This is it" - and from the Baghavad Gita, the final realization that the warrior Arjuna learns from Krishna, that there is no mutant enemy, except ourselves.

As the song Tin Man by America suggests, The Wizard of Oz never gave anything to the Tin Man that he didn't already have.

Was and WOZ are both about the concept of Home, of belonging. Like Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, they are about Return. The return to the Cosmic Womb of the Great Mother.

I believe what Geoff Ryman is trying to tell us is that when you have finally found yourself, Oz is Kansas.

Rating:
Summary: Incandescence
Review: Everyone loves the Wizard of Oz! Geoff Ryman returns us to childhood, the time when the distinction between art and reality was not so clear. He reminds of the time when seeing a movie like the Wizard of Oz was so powerful that it changed our lives, by crawling up into our tiny heads and never coming down. The Wizard of Oz and films like it are to our culture what the Ramayana is to India; it is a narrative shared by the whole culture together, an epic, a source of references that can lead to mutual understanding, an art form that endlessly gives rise to more and more beautiful art. What is in this book? The true, tragic story of Dorothy; real Munchkins and their make-up artist; a man trying to complete a pilgrimage to the sacred sites of Ozism before the disease he carries kills him. Geoff Ryman writes like a delirious angel. I read this book more than three years ago and it still haunts me.

Rating:
Summary: In a Perfect World, This Will Be a Classic
Review: Geoff Ryman's Was is amazingly good. It tells the story of several trips down the Yellow Brick Road from the tale of the abused orphan, Dorothy Gael, in nineteenth century Kansas to Judy Garland making a movie of a life little Dorothy never had to Jonathan, dying of AIDS, returning to Kansas and his belief in Oz. All of these stories speak the truth about fantasy (if such a thing is possible) and the power of these other worlds to sustain, taunt, and guide us, particulary in childhood. There are many themes throughout this tangled and deliciously written narrative and it will touch any reader who has every felt the power of escape take hold of them as a child and whisk them away for just a little while, like Dorothy in the cyclone. A touching, beautiful tale that easily ranks in my eternal top ten. A book to be treasured and re-read over the years.

Rating:
Summary: Half Way Through, I Couldn't Put It Down
Review: Having long been a fan of the original book by Baum and the movie that inspired me to read the book, I was hugely impressed with Ryman's take on this classic.

Why did I like it?
--A narrative that doesn't follow conventional linear tale telling, but instead moves back and forth revealing glimpses of the characters' lives, only giving you the complete picture near the end.
--The richness of the language. Ryman can certainly weave a vision of locales and characters, even when those locations are the middle of a cyclone and the characters are suffering from dementia.
--I cared about what happened to everyone in the book. Even the abusers and the whiners.
--Ryman's ability to link together stories of vastly different people via a zillion Oz metaphors and in-jokes. Especially wonderful is how the Oz themes permeate Jonathan's life.

I recommend this book wholeheartedly!

Rating:
Summary: not really.
Review: i bought this book thinking it would be some kind of masterpiece. i found the name of the book from the bibiolography of "the witch must die" by sheldon cashdan. the description sounded SUPER SUPER interesting, and when i bought it i could hardly wait to start reading. that's when the trouble started. it was a VERY good story, it just never took off. the good ideas were there, but the writing style just left a sour taste in my mouth. i can't really put my finger on what it was, but it just wasn't *right*.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful combination of fantasy and reality
Review: I bought this book when it was first released because I was intrigued by its premise, but put it away and forgot about it. I recently read "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire (a 'biography' of the Wicked Witch of the West)and it reminded me to get out "Was". What a superior concept! Every bit of the beauty and fantasy of The Wizard of Oz is ripped apart and destroyed, then replaced with cold, hard reality. Mr. Ryman's 'reality' shows incredible imagination and talent, and, in the end, still retains the importance of the fantasy. This book is a pure delight!

Rating:
Summary: This book made me cry - in a good way
Review: I have always loved the Wizard of Oz; I watched the movie every time it was on t.v. and read all the books from our public library. This has been my favorite "Oz" book. It is a sad, but hopeful, story of a real Dorothy. She does not have a happy ending. Most of the characters don't. What keeps it from being a real downer is that everyone discovers something that saves them. They find some magic in the heart of Kansas. I can't explain it all without ruining it. This book might make you cry. I highly suggest you read it.