Was

Rating:
Summary: Incredible, haunting...the REAL Oz
Review: I just turned the last page of "Was," and left the book with a perplexing combination of feelings, ranging from something like euphoria to amazement to utter confusion. This book is perfectly put together, the storylines mesh in breathtaking harmony, and the ending is simply stunning. "Was" is about the loss and redemption of childhood, and its almost insane, stream-of-consciousness style perfectly compliment the childlike magic that holds throughout the entire text. I know this book will haunt me just as the land of Was haunts its characters.

Rating:
Summary: Waiting... Waiting
Review: I kept waiting for this book to get good... It would seem to head that way, then drift off into the boringness it came from. Finally, at 2-3rds of the way in, it got good. What I'd waited for: can't-put-down-good.
Not bad enough for one star (after all, I did keep reading), but not enough payoff to recommend.

Rating:
Summary: A Dire Novel
Review: I know from the start that I'm going to get slammed for reviling this book, since visitors here at Amazon seem not to judge a review by its quality but rather by the opinion of the reviewer. But I don't care----I can't stand this book.

Those of you who are drawn to "Was" because you stumbled across "Wicked," another Oz-themed book from the 90's, beware. That was my reason for wanting to read it, and man am I horribly disappointed. I couldn't put "Wicked" down; I could barely bring myself to pick "Was" up. By the end, I was reading it simply to finish rather than to find out what happened next.

On the last page of "Was," one character accuses another of not being able to remember what it was like to be a child. One could make the same criticism of Geoff Ryman, the author. For a man who decides to stage a huge portion of his novel from the point of view of children, Ryman is completely inept at giving his writing a child's voice. He's not as interested in exploring how children react and develop in response to environmental and physical circumstances as he is in forcing thoughts and behavior on them that satisfy his pre-conceived notion of how things should turn out. I hope that makes sense--I just didn't believe in any of his characters for one second (except for one, who I'll get to in a minute).

This book is a mish-mash of ideas and agendas. Ryman seems to be trying for a deconstruction of themes associated with "The Wizard of Oz," but fails at that. He seems to be trying for a cautionary tale about letting oneself become disassociated from anything resembling a home, and fails. His book seems to be at varying times a criticism of the treatment of children and at the tail end of the treatment of women, but fails. I cannot put it any more plainly--this book failed to do anything other than make me miserable.

Why did I finish it at all you may ask? Because on paper the story sounds so unique and cool, and other readers here kept promising that at the half-way mark it becomes unputdownable. Well, it doesn't.

There were only two moments of genuinely good writing (or at least more interesting writing) and I guess these are what kept me going, even though they occur early on. One involves Judy Garland's makeup artist during the filming of "Oz," and this is interesting only because I'm a film buff and the Hollywood studio setting added a welcome relief from the drudgery of the other stories. The second part is an all-too short soliloquy delivered by Judy Garland's mother, and to give Ryman credit, it's a beautiful piece of writing. The rest is miserable, gloomy, depressing drek.

You know what this reminded me of? "The Hours," by Michael Cunningham, except I love that book. Like Cunningham's novel, "Was" plays with inter-related stories in the same way, and creates parallels between the present and the past and has characters struggling with some of the same universal issues that plague us and have plagued us in both the past and the present. Except that Cunningham is a good writer and Ryman is not.

I guess Ryman is a fantasy writer, and I don't know anything about anything else he's written, and now I don't want to.

I'm sorry to write such a rambling, bitter review, but this book really made me feel lousy, and I'm so glad my reading experience is over.

Needless to say, I'm not recommending this one.

Rating:
Summary: A Dire Novel
Review: I know from the start that I'm going to get slammed for reviling this book, since visitors here at Amazon seem not to judge a review by its quality but rather by the opinion of the reviewer. But I don't care----I can't stand this book.

Those of you who are drawn to "Was" because you stumbled across "Wicked," another Oz-themed book from the 90's, beware. That was my reason for wanting to read it, and man am I horribly disappointed. I couldn't put "Wicked" down; I could barely bring myself to pick "Was" up. By the end, I was reading it simply to finish rather than to find out what happened next.

On the last page of "Was," one character accuses another of not being able to remember what it was like to be a child. One could make the same criticism of Geoff Ryman, the author. For a man who decides to stage a huge portion of his novel from the point of view of children, Ryman is completely inept at giving his writing a child's voice. He's not as interested in exploring how children react and develop in response to environmental and physical circumstances as he is in forcing thoughts and behavior on them that satisfy his pre-conceived notion of how things should turn out. I hope that makes sense--I just didn't believe in any of his characters for one second (except for one, who I'll get to in a minute).

This book is a mish-mash of ideas and agendas. Ryman seems to be trying for a deconstruction of themes associated with "The Wizard of Oz," but fails at that. He seems to be trying for a cautionary tale about letting oneself become disassociated from anything resembling a home, and fails. His book seems to be at varying times a criticism of the treatment of children and at the tail end of the treatment of women, but fails. I cannot put it any more plainly--this book failed to do anything other than make me miserable.

Why did I finish it at all you may ask? Because on paper the story sounds so unique and cool, and other readers here kept promising that at the half-way mark it becomes unputdownable. Well, it doesn't.

There were only two moments of genuinely good writing (or at least more interesting writing) and I guess these are what kept me going, even though they occur early on. One involves Judy Garland's makeup artist during the filming of "Oz," and this is interesting only because I'm a film buff and the Hollywood studio setting added a welcome relief from the drudgery of the other stories. The second part is an all-too short soliloquy delivered by Judy Garland's mother, and to give Ryman credit, it's a beautiful piece of writing. The rest is miserable, gloomy, depressing drek.

You know what this reminded me of? "The Hours," by Michael Cunningham, except I love that book. Like Cunningham's novel, "Was" plays with inter-related stories in the same way, and creates parallels between the present and the past and has characters struggling with some of the same universal issues that plague us and have plagued us in both the past and the present. Except that Cunningham is a good writer and Ryman is not.

I guess Ryman is a fantasy writer, and I don't know anything about anything else he's written, and now I don't want to.

I'm sorry to write such a rambling, bitter review, but this book really made me feel lousy, and I'm so glad my reading experience is over.

Needless to say, I'm not recommending this one.

Rating:
Summary: Left Me Breathless
Review: I must start by telling everybody that this bookhelpedme get through a terrible time in my life. Johnathan is easily the most moving and endearing character I have ever encountered. I left feeling almost closer to him thanI was to my own family. It left me thinking about it for at least 5 or 6 months. I read this when I was 12 years old, because I was an Oz fanatic. Most Oz traditionalists (an oxymoron if I everheard one) hate this book with a passion. They seem to hate anything that opposes what L. Frank Baum tells us. It tears down the story that an entire world has come to love into little pieces, and then puts it back together again. I am still simply astonished, 2 years later.

Rating:
Summary: Great As a Novel, Not So Great for a Genre
Review: I opened this book with a great anticipation of an amazing story, and closed it feeling slightly depressed, slightly mislead, and slightly jaded. I've come to love "spin off" novels about fairy tales and folk lore, and I have to admit this isn't the best I've read of the genre. I DO support its value as a great NOVEL, but if you're looking for a book that gives you an alternate view of Oz, this wouldn't be the one I'd recommend. It has a very disturbing and very personal view of incest in it, so a reader should be prepared to take on a great many controversial issues in a very intense voice. Anyways, its a good book if you're just looking for something interesting to read and occupy your time.

Rating:
Summary: One of my all-time favorites
Review: I read this book YEARS ago, and have never forgotten it. I am an admitted fan of the Wizard of Oz and Judy Garland, but this book's intricate weaving of "fact" and fiction will make it a stand-out even for readers without these interests. INCREDIBLE BOOK. I never remember books, but I can't imagine forgetting this one.

Rating:
Summary: Waiting... Waiting
Review: I would really, really have enjoyed this novel if it weren't SO real, and if Jonathan were less annoying. He's too whiny, too inactive, for me to care very much about him, and almost everything having to do with him slowed my reading of the novel. Dorothy's part, and also Bill's (however brief), were captivating, and I also enjoyed the Judy Garland stuff. It's just that a bit more than a third of the novel is devoted to someone I didn't like. Otherwise, I'd recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Hampered by Realism
Review: I would really, really have enjoyed this novel if it weren't SO real, and if Jonathan were less annoying. He's too whiny, too inactive, for me to care very much about him, and almost everything having to do with him slowed my reading of the novel. Dorothy's part, and also Bill's (however brief), were captivating, and I also enjoyed the Judy Garland stuff. It's just that a bit more than a third of the novel is devoted to someone I didn't like. Otherwise, I'd recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: a favorite read, and great book group selection
Review: I've read this book several times, and while other authors have tried similar treatments of re-imagining classic works, I think "Was" stands head and shoulders above. It has compelling layers of narrative, from the "true" Dorothy, to the "true" Frances Gumm/Judy Garland, to the "true" "friend of Dorothy" who investigates the story in the present time. It is a haunting story that doesn't leave you.