Glinda of Oz

1920, undated probably 1970s Reilly & Lee edition
L. Frank Baum
Illustrated by John R. Neill
Glinda of Oz
Bought new for unknown, but probably $7.95 like other Baum Oz hardcovers
Hardcover with stains
B


This time the "To Our Readers" is by the publishers, and after a summary of the book it tells of how "in May, nineteen hundred nineteen, [Mr. Baum] went away to take his stories to the little child-souls who had lived here too long ago to read the Oz stories for themselves."  They promise more stories by Baum, although that's not what would happen.

It's a good story to end with, if still flawed.  It's nice to see both Ozma and Glinda get off their thrones and have adventures, like back in the old days.  Ozma contradicts herself on what magic she specializes in, compared to when she broke Mrs. Yoop's enchantments in Tin Woodman, since there she brewed and here she acts like she just relies on her fairy wand.  We meet another Yookoohoo, Reera the Red, who's always been one of my favorite minor characters.  We're again reminded that only Glinda and the Wizard can work magic according to Ozma's laws.  (Well, Ozma herself is an exception.)  Reera transforms the Three Adepts into themselves after they've been turned into fish, but Reera doesn't get in trouble because she's done it on condition that no one tell who did it.  As for the Three Adepts, they claim they didn't know about Ozma's laws, and they are allowed to work magic to rescue Ozma, Dorothy, and the Skeezers on the sunken island.

On their journey north, Dorothy thinks it would be a good idea if everyone could perform magic, "and satisfy all their needs without so much work and worry," but Ozma believes that then no one would be happy, because there'd be nothing to strive for.  If J. K. Rowling has read any Oz books, she must've read this one.  Ozma's argument would work coming from Dumbledore, and it's similar to something Hagrid says to Harry.  Also, Glinda features giant talking spiders and magic tents.

Ironically, it's Dorothy who solves the mystery of Queen Coo-ee-oh's magic, by figuring out that the three magical acts that the queen performs each require a syllable of her name.  There's also some technology involved, so we're a long way from the sylvan weaving of Zixi.  This is possibly the oldest book I own that mentions submarines, but then I don't own much Verne.  My favorite gizmo is the skeropythrope, partly because of the name and partly because of the illustration.  It doesn't work but the sparks look awesome.

This is another book where Ozma gets involved in politics, but the Skeezers and the Flatheads are residents of Oz, and so her interference seems more justified than in Ozma.  It's a bit odd that her diplomatic team is just herself and Dorothy, when the rescue team is huge, again, like in Lost Princess, too large.  For instance, Button-Bright is included mostly so that he can get lost, but there's no pay-off like him finding the enchanted peach.  I am glad that the Patchwork Girl is along, and that Baum points out that Scraps's silliness often makes people dismiss her clever ideas, since that's what happens when she makes the same suggestion twice and is dissed the first time.  No wonder Neill draws her as making faces at the reader.

Uncle Henry is also one of the rescue party, out of his concern for his niece, which is sweet, even if they haven't interacted in the books since he settled in Oz.  No mention of Aunt Em.

The rulers of the Skeezers and the Flatheads, Coo-Ee-Oh and the Su-dic (Supreme Dictator), are both vain and selfish, in different ways than the interregnum Princess Languidere of Ev.  At the end, Ozma reinstalls the Three Adepts as rulers of the Flatheads (whom Glinda has made into normal-headed people, with brains inside), and appoints Lady Aurex as ruler of the Skeezers, with clever young Ervic as Prime Minister.  Ervic is for his few chapters the unsung hero of the book, outsmarting Reera and saving the Adepts.

I'm glad that Glinda got a book named after her, but this story isn't about her in the way that Tin Woodman is about Nick Chopper.  Glinda is brave and clever, but she doesn't really stand out among so many brave and/or clever people.  She's not even the only, or the best, magician.

I do like the cover with its vaguely goddess-trinity arrangement of Glinda, Ozma, and Dorothy, although it's a "mother" and two maidens rather than Maiden, Mother, and Crone.  The back cover shows Scraps and Jack cozying up, although there is an illustration inside of Scraps with her arms around the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman.  Maybe now that she's a regular, she's gotten past the infatuation stage with the Scarecrow and is just affectionate with everyone.

I'm not happy with the way that Neill generally does Ozma's hair in this book.  On the cover, it's the usual length, but mostly he gives her a weird compromise length, like a bad 1960s bouffant.  Sometimes he draws Dorothy's like this, too, only blonde rather than brunette of course.  Even stranger, he gives Coo-ee-oh ringlets that look vaguely like a British judge's wig, especially since he usually forgets to make them the black color mentioned in the text.  He does well with Reera, particularly in the picture of her, Ervic, and her pets on p. 215.  Not everyone can rock a chef's hat while lounging, but Reera does.