Hey...what's going on? This post was supposed to be Catch and Kill Part 2. Don't leave us is suspense. How did everything turn out for that nice Farrow guy? Where's the investigation at now, and what is the next step for Harvey Weinstein? More importantly, how are all the strong women today - the women who stepped forward despite the dangers that accompanied doing so?
My personal "catch and kill" mission geared up again last weekend when I decided the time had come to tackle the shelves in the basement office. That's when I ran across this gem, just in time for Halloween - the reason this week's blog post took a little side trip. Years ago, when the challenge of memorizing lines still interested me, and before I developed a terrifying case of on stage phobia, I was in a show called Talking With which was a series of monologues spoken by women at a pivotal points in their lives. My character, who had a vivid imagination and lacked the ability to cope with too much reality, slipped into an alternative life to escape a mundane and vacant marriage. She began playing, in her head, that she lived in OZ. Tthe problem - well, she went so deep and so dark, that eventually she could not get back. Among the lines she spoke were references to befriending Jack Pumpkinhead. That's long way for me to get to why this book interested me.
I don't know where or when I picked up this first edition, published in 1929, but the inscription reads "To Ted, from the Easter Bunny."
L.Frank Baum wrote fourteen Oz novels, and 26 others were published subsequent to his death, nineteen of which were written by Ruth Plumly Thompson. This book is number 23 in the series. Jack first appeared as the main character in Baum's second book The Marvelous Land of OZ. He is tall, skinny, and made of tree limbs with a large jack-o-lantern head. Mombi, a character with magical powers, brings him to life. He's a bit like the scarecrow in that he isn't known for his intelligence, but depending on the number seeds in his head at any given time, he might utter random bits of wisdom.
An awful lot happens to a poor boy Jack, and much of it confused me - probably because of twenty-one unread books previous to this one. Basically, a boy named Jack who was living in Philadelphia, finds magic gold coins and wishes himself to OZ, landing in the front yard of Jack Pumpkinhead. Together they get lost in Quadling Country, find a magic dinner bell, and meet Baron Belfaygor who has been cursed with a rapidly growing beard. I know, it's weird, right!
Oh, there's more. There's a princess named Shirley Sunshine, and a smack talking Sauce Box. A group of local villains plot to take over OZ but Jack comes to the rescue and somehow reduces the would be conqueror and his troops of warriors no bigger that brownies. I'm assuming the author means little elves, not gooey, chocolate goodies.
And yes, there's still more, but I will spare you the details. My advice, stick with the first book in the series and, when those gloomy days of winter have you in a funk and you're looking for an escape - OZ may not be the safest place to go. As for me, I just might revisit that old monologue. I suspect my character might be even more twisted now that I know about the world she chose to inhabit.
Thanks for stopping by.
No comments:
Post a Comment