綠野仙蹤：The Wizard of Oz 英文書評(píng).doc

Book Report -The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Lyman Frank Baum 2008The Wonderful Wizard of Oz World Publishing CorporationBrief introduction of the author:Baum was born in 1856 in Chittenango of New York, the Unitied States. His parents once sent him to Peekskill Millitary School for he was too weak and was madly cling to fairy tales. But that didnt help at all and even led to his mental breakdown. His parents had no choice but to bring him back and let him develop freely. That was just the exact way Baum should go: his newspaper for family readers succeeded to some extend in the locality. His father even bought several theaters for him when he fell in love with drama creation.Baum was amiable, indecisive and always indulged in fantasy. After his fathers death, the whole family was brought down because of Baums misconduct in business. But that didnt affect him much, he still lived a happy, quiet and frugal life.Later, he moved to Hollywood in 1910, lived in a house which he named Oz and spent his remaining years there. His heart stopped beating on May 6th, 1919.Duing his whole life, he had been journalist, editor, actor, office worker, farmer and grocer. It was when he was 40 that he found that he was born to be a storyteller. His most famous works were The Wizard of Oz series which include The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz, etc. Besizes, he wrote other six books for boys under the pseudonym Floyd Akers and twenty four books for girls under Edith Van Dyne. The background of the story: Baum was a master stroyteller. He thought what he had heard in his childhood was monotonous and preaching, so he always made up his own. One night, when he was telling his children stories an exciting idea suddenly caught him- it was the story the first inspiration of the Emerald City story. Baum quickly took down the words in his mind while coaxing his exited children to quiet down. Then the first story about the Oz land came into being. After it was first published, Baum received thousands of letters of appreciation from his little readers so that he started the sequel. All together there were fourteen stories in The Wizard of Oz series.Plot Summary: A farm girl named Dorothy was blown to the land of Munchkins by a a cyclone together with her adorable pet dog, Toto. The girl wanted to go back though the land was far more beautiful and wonderful than her own farm, for she missed her dear Aunt Em and she was the only normal human being like her there. A kind-hearted witch advised her to go and find the greatest wizard Oz in Emerald City. He probably had the power to send her back to Kansas. Having thanked the kind witch Dorothy set out her long and adventurous journey to Oz. Along her way to Emerald City, she met Scarecrow, the straw man without brain, the Tin Woodman without heart and the coward lion without courage one after another. The four comrades resolved to fight together to reach the Emerald City. After they got through all kinds of tests they finally met the Great Oz and got what they desired.My comments:I. General understandingThere is no doubt that there is always some extra information that the author want to convey between his or her words besides the story itself. One of the obvious points the author want to show us is that we always dont know what weve got in our hands.Dorothy sometimes wanted to get away from the gray prairies where her farm located, while she arrived in the colorful wonderful land she longed for home so much that she said, “ east, west, home is the best.”, “there is no place like home.” I do hope everyone can pay more attention to people around him or her especially parents and close friends. Weve got so used to their existences that we even igonore them. We take what we get from them for granted so that we think it unnecesarry to show our appreciation to them. On the contrary, we should let them know how important they mean to us and how grateful we feel for them, which will warm them deep in heart.Another obvious point is that sometimes we just dont know how potential we are and how strong we could be.The Scarecrow thought he couldnt think with the head full of straw, while he could always come up with a great idea to help get through the difficulties.The Tin Woodman thought he couldnt feel and love without a heart, while he showed his sympathy towards those weak animals who would be the diner of the coward lion and even cried for the misfortunes they came across.The lion thought himself useless and cowardly, while it was him that frighten the monstrous beasts and won the time for his comrades to run away.Just as they three did, some of us always underestimate our capability and potential. No matter how weak we are now, we always have got the space to impove. The lower position we are in, the greater progress we can make. The 8th champion of American Idol, Kris Allen, never thought he could reach the height even he has arrived. As the judges described, “you never know how good you are.”The Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Coward Lion gained nothing but comformation from the Oz. They were just made to believe that they finally got things they wanted, which actually they always had.We need others praise; we need others encouragements; we need certain kinds of testimonials; but what we need most is self-confidence.II. Two other personal viewpointsl The Tin woodmans heart.The Tin Woodman was once a flesh man who fell in love with a Munchkin girl. Because of the trick the wick witch played on him, he lost her flesh body. A kind tin smith built him a tin body instead, but he forgot filling the woodman with a heart so that the woodman couldnt feel and love.He wanted to got his love back and marry the girl he had loved for so long. When he finally met the Oz, the Oz told him“You dont know how lucky you are not to have one. Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.”“ ButI still want one.” ( from the film The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by director Victor Fleming 1939 )I was touched by this conversation the moment I heard it. Some of my friends once got hurt badly in love so that they sometimes told me not to take guys too seriously in case I would repeat what they have gone through. They now keep themselves on the safe side so that they would not get hurt again; they can confront almost anything with smile; they forget about everything and run away easily. They make their hearts unbreakable and live a comparatively free and easy life where there are less concerns and more enjoyments. But I always wonder if it is really happy. To me now, the answer is No: That kind of state is just like an insect inside a glassbottle, which keeps off the danger from the outside world, but the sunshine and fresh air as well.l The coward lions fear The lion was born to be timid. He could only roar to frighten away animals like tigers, bears and elephants. He would never run after them. He could never tell other animals how he was actually terrified just in order to protect himself and live with dignity.Just as the cowardly lion, we human beings dont want show the fear and weakness inside, either. But its unavoidably that we all have our weak points. They are part of us, and we cant always conceal inside. We show them unconsciously. What we can do is not trying to hiding and pretending but to accept them, face them and then try to overcome them. Though its not easy, its the only positive way in my opinion.Baums Rich imagination I am overwhelmed by the rich inmagination of the author. Here are some magic, poetic descriptions of the scenery which impress me most:There were lonely patches of greensward all about, with stately trees bearing rich and luscious fruits. Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes.(from Page 5 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz World Publishing Corporation) There were big yellow and white and bule and purple blossoms, besides great clusters of scarlet poppies, which were so brilliant in color they almost dazzled Dorothys eyes. (from Page 43 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz World Publishing Corporation) Before them was a great stretch of country having a floor as smooth and shining and white as the bottom of a big platter. Scattered