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Was

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 826 ratings · 131 reviews

This haunting, magical, wildly original novel explores the lives of several characters entwined by The Wizard of Oz--both the novel written by L. Frank Baum and the iconic, strangely resonant 1939 film. It is the story of the "real" Dorothy Gale, an orphan living a hardscrabble life with abusive relatives on a Kansas frontier settlement, and of the kindly substitute teache...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published May 1st 1993 by Penguin Books (first published 1992)

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Jan 02, 2011 Nancy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: aids, sf-fantasy, made-me-cry, lgbt, favorites

“Was” is a very unusual story that jumps back and forth in time and between a variety of characters, all connected by “The Wizard of Oz”. There was Dorothy Gael, a poor and abused child, growing up in Kansas during the 1880s. Another story introduces Jonathan, an actor dying of AIDS whose love of Oz helped him cope with an unhappy childhood. Then there is the story of Jonathan’s therapist, who discovered early on a talent for helping people and making money. And let’s not forget the young and tr...more

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Apr 09, 2008 Joey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of 'The Wizard of Oz'

Shelves: gay-author, read-again-and-again

Author Ryman is most notably a British sci-fi author and in 1990, he wrote 'Was' for a more mainstream audience. It is an act of brilliant writing for a British author to so clearly describe the brutal Kansas plains of the late 1800s, and with the first few pages, the reader is caught up in the twisted story of a sexually abused Dorothy Gale, the sexually confused childhood of Frances Gumm, and the valiant efforts of a dying actor hoping to make one final stage exit as a Scarecrow.

Although somew...more

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Jul 20, 2010 Will Byrnes rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-time-favorites-fiction, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Several threads interweave around Wizard of Oz themes. The Dorothy here is an orphan who arrives in 1875’s Manhattan Kansas with Toto to live with the impoverished Aunt Em and her less than friendly mate, Uncle Henry, who will eventually abuse her. Dorothy is miserable. Her family is believed to have died of “the Dip”, diphtheria. Her father left the family before that. She befriends a teenager, a boy who longs to get away. He does, but by hanging himself. Dorothy despises Em, but is resigned to...more

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Feb 28, 2007 John rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone who loves fiction and reality combined

Shelves: fiction, queerfiction

Ryman threads the life stories of Judy Gumm (Judy Garland before her name was changed), Frank Baum (the author of the Wizard of Oz, and a fictional modern day actor daying of AIDS until the three plots final weave together.
Ryman has a brilliant, fluid imagination. This book still moves me today. I saw a stage adaptation of this book at Victory Gardens in Chicago and was almost as impressed by how the theatre company brought these different worlds of each character so seamlessly together.

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Feb 16, 2009 Carrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

his was, by far, one of the best books I have read this year. It is basically a mediation on life through the lens of The Wizard Of Oz. The novel consists of a number of intertwined stories, all centered in some way on the Oz phenomenon. The story touches on Jonathan, an actor dying of AIDS who has loved the Oz story since he was a child. It touches on Judy Garland, her life, and the making of the movie version of The Wizard of Oz. Most movingly, it also posits the existence of an actual girl, n...more

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Apr 14, 2007 Res rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sff, slash-interest

The one where a girl named Dorothy loses her parents in an epidemic and is sent out to the frontier, to Kansas, to live with her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. She's abused and driven mad, but not before telling a story to a schoolteacher named Baum. Meanwhile, in the present day, a horror-movie actor named Jonathan is searching for Judy Garland's history while dying of AIDS, and his psychiatrist remembers meeting elderly Dorothy in an asylum.

Memorable, but kind of a mess.

The book begins with Doroth...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Schmacko rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a book I read a few years ago. At the time, I thought it was fantastic enough to keep a paperback version of. Now, even though I still consider it a great book, a bit of the shine has worn off. Since Was was published in 1996, a few novels have since come along and done a better job at what Ryman was trying to do. (Michael Cunningham’s exquisite Pulitzer Prize winning book The Hours pops to mind almost immediately as being more successful.)

Ryman takes a well-known story and riffs on it....more This is a book I read a few years ago. At the time, I thought it was fantastic enough to keep a paperback version of. Now, even though I still consider it a great book, a bit of the shine has worn off. Since Was was published in 1996, a few novels have since come along and done a better job at what Ryman was trying to do. (Michael Cunningham’s exquisite Pulitzer Prize winning book The Hours pops to mind almost immediately as being more successful.)

Ryman takes a well-known story and riffs on it. His is The Wizard of OZ, the book as well as the movie. Part of his story is a fiction of the little orphan girl who inspired L. Frank Baum’s book. Part of the tale is a thread somewhat based on facts about Judy Garland’s upbringing. And the final part is a fictional story of an AIDS-stricken actor in the 1990s obsessed with the OZ mythology.

Essentially, the structure is all there for a fascinating exploration of the OZ story that has become pure American folk tale. Ryman, however, doesn’t successfully tie all these parts together tightly enough. He chooses to concentrate on the childhoods of the “real” Dorothy, of Garland, and of the actor. His premise is that these three children each had their childhoods and imaginations robbed of them. Ryman seems to hint at the idea that we may all have suffered soemthing like this.

The smallish problem with the book is that so many things are left without closure. We do not know how the Kansas Dorothy spent the largest portion of her life. There is little detail on author Baum. Furthermore, Judy Garland’s childhood and her disappointing relationship with her dad and later her mother are covered, but what of her own relationship with her children as well as her ugly demise?

Essentially, I understand why Ryman wrote his book this way; too much denouncement would seem overwhelming and may take away from the purity of his theme. Still, the author’s thematic focus is why these loose ends do stand out so vividly. In truth, the problem with this book is in its timing. Ryman has written a very good book (even with its lack of closure), but isn’t as clever, it’s characters aren’t as human and engaging, and it isn’t as compactly encompassing as The Hours.
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Jan 11, 2013 Mary Rose rated it 4 of 5 stars

I would have liked to give this book 3 1/2 stars because I think the ending could have been different, but I loved the book as a whole so I went up to 4 instead of down to 3. I'm gonna tell you why but there's gonna be A SPOILER.

I loved the writer's style. His prose about pioneer Kansas, and the plains, was beautiful and sad and I think he captured the American spirit very well. I also liked that each different section had its own stylistic nuances, but was held together with an overall tone.

*TH...more

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Jun 08, 2012 David Rain rated it 5 of 5 stars

The premise of Ryman’s novel is that Dorothy, the heroine of L. Frank Baum’s Oz books, was a real person, a girl that Baum met when he was a schoolteacher in Kansas in 1882. Instead of being magically transported to Oz, the real Dorothy was an abused child who could escape from her misery only through fantasy.

The novel begins in the present day when Jonathan, a gay Hollywood actor obsessed with Oz, is driven to find out what happened to Dorothy. Plunging between present and past (Jonathan’s sto...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Perry Whitford rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Scarecrows and Tin Men.

In 1876 Dorothy takes the train to Manhatten, Kansas, sent to live with her Auntie Em and Uncle Henry in a one room farm house that would turn out to be no place like home for her and her dog Toto.
Ethel and Frank Gumm lead their three daughters through singing and vaudeville routines at their movie-house in Lancaster, California in the late 1920's. Baby Frances would grow up to be Judy Garland and star in The Wizard of Oz, before disowning her parents and descending into a life of drug dependenc...more

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Mar 21, 2011 Karen Brooks rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a surprising, moving and utterly original book that uses story of and behind The Wizard of Oz, the author, the characters and those whose lives were changed by the 1939 movie, namely one Frances Gumm (Judy Garland) to construct an intertwined tale of hardship, hope, human frailty and strength. It segues between the bleak life of Dorothy Gale who lives with her Aunt and Uncle in dire poverty in a shack in drought afflicted Kansas in the 1800s to modern day New York and places and times b...more This was a surprising, moving and utterly original book that uses story of and behind The Wizard of Oz, the author, the characters and those whose lives were changed by the 1939 movie, namely one Frances Gumm (Judy Garland) to construct an intertwined tale of hardship, hope, human frailty and strength. It segues between the bleak life of Dorothy Gale who lives with her Aunt and Uncle in dire poverty in a shack in drought afflicted Kansas in the 1800s to modern day New York and places and times between. I won't spoil things by revealing much plot here expect to say it's completely heart-wrenching at times, and because you're so invested in the characters, difficult to read, even while you appreciate the brilliance of the story.

The novel also follows the life of a young actor dying of AIDS who wants, as his swan-song, to play the Scarecrow in a stage production of the Wizard of Oz. It also introduces us to the life of a substitute teacher who dreams of a different existence as well as the childhood of young and unprepossessing Frances Gumm who follows her father around as he tries to breathe more life into a dying career. Aimless and wonderful, hopeful and yet damned, these people long for what they cannot have and try to create a better life for themselves - mostly with unforeseen results.

The world and times of the characters are so exquisitely drawn and so heart-achingly real - that reading what happens is sometimes more than you can stand. But it's also worth it. For anyone who is a fan of the original Baum story and then all the different manifestations that the story of little Dorothy Gale's journey to Kansas and who she encounters there has inspired (especially the wonderful Wicked, by Gregory Maguire), then this is a book you should read.

Imaginative, beautifully written and always engaging, it's a yellow brick road journey for grown-ups who always wonder, in the way those with a history do, what happens when you take off the emerald spectacles and view the city with your own eyes; those who wonder what might have been - what Was. (less)

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Jan 21, 2011 Airiz C rated it 3 of 5 stars

Dorothy lives in a Kansas farm with Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and her dog Toto.
Sounds familiar? Well, this is not L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is a fictional story leading to the creation of the said masterpiece and its television adaptation. It tells the interconnected tales of Dorothy Gael, a real girl in the 80’s who moves to Kansas after her parents die of diphtheria; Jonathan, an obsessed fan of The Wizard of Oz who is dying of AIDS; Judy Garland, the actress who grows up to p...more Dorothy lives in a Kansas farm with Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, and her dog Toto.
Sounds familiar? Well, this is not L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It is a fictional story leading to the creation of the said masterpiece and its television adaptation. It tells the interconnected tales of Dorothy Gael, a real girl in the 80’s who moves to Kansas after her parents die of diphtheria; Jonathan, an obsessed fan of The Wizard of Oz who is dying of AIDS; Judy Garland, the actress who grows up to play Dorothy in the movie; and L. Frank Baum himself, an itinerant young actor from New York who, after meeting Dorothy, gets inspired and writes the story that is treasured by generations after generations.

It was hard to follow at first, since every chapter the focus would shift from one character to another. I also thought that the pacing was quite slow. As the story progresses, though, you will begin to see thread-like connections between the story lines, and the more pages you turn, the more these connections thicken until you find yourself facing a dense matter of ground-breaking mix of realism and fantasy. I think one element that made me really love this is the surrealist touch in some scenes. It was truly wonderful and a tad scary. Go figure.

For the characters, it’s Dorothy whom I consider my avatar in the book. Ryman gets a thumb up from me for this. Dorothy is a round, well-developed character, and in every scene where she’s involved, you would feel as if you couldn’t help but commune with her story. It’s never a nice feeling to be in her ruby-studded shoes—she’d seen her awful share of people coming and going in her life, giving her something and taking something else. But you’ll know that she grows, you’ll feel that she grows. She changes, even if she’s being molded into just a hollow shell in the end. It’s really terrible. I wept for her.

I won’t go around throwing spoilers about this one (if ever you plan to read it), but you’ll learn why Baum gets inspired by Dorothy and why Dorothy longs for “home”. Poignant, well-written, and ground-breaking, this novel is absolutely worth reading.(less)

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Feb 15, 2010 Juushika rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: status-borrowed

From Dorothy as an abused orphan to Judy Garland as an isolated child star to a fan of the film dying of AIDS, Was retells the mythos of The Wizard of Oz from inspiration through the impact of the film, uniting disparate storylines in a winding study of fantasy, reality, and the nature of home. Objectively, this is a complex and thoughtful book: it reinvents the Oz mythos while staying faithful to its well-known themes and images, a combination with the potential to have a great impact on the re...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Luke Lane rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lost-interest

I actually feel very indecisive about the rating I've decided to give this book, but seeing as I couldn't even bring myself to finish it, one star was all I could justifiably give to it.

It's a real shame too, as reading the blurb on the back cover the story holds so much promise. 'The Wizard of Oz' takes center stage and connects a group of characters stories into one narrative, including the story of the 'real' Dorothy Gale, who didn't have it quite so easy as the girl from the movie.
I probab...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Wanda rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is one of the few books to which I wish I could give a negative star rating. It is ever so loosely based on events and contexts having to do with the Wizard of Oz. When I say loosely, I mean loosely. I think some folks who picked this up were expecting something along the lines of the brilliant "Wicked." Not even close to that.
There are three story lines: the depressing story of Judy Garland and her dysfunctional family and ultimate self-destruction through alcohol and drugs, Dorothy, an o...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Lainy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Time Taken To Read - 5 days

Blurb From Goodreads

This haunting, magical, wildly original novel explores the lives of several characters entwined by The Wizard of Oz--both the novel written by L. Frank Baum and the iconic, strangely resonant 1939 film. It is the story of the "real" Dorothy Gale, an orphan living a hardscrabble life with abusive relatives on a Kansas frontier settlement, and of the kindly substitute teacher who decides to write the story of the life she ought to have had. Was is als...more Time Taken To Read - 5 days

Blurb From Goodreads

This haunting, magical, wildly original novel explores the lives of several characters entwined by The Wizard of Oz--both the novel written by L. Frank Baum and the iconic, strangely resonant 1939 film. It is the story of the "real" Dorothy Gale, an orphan living a hardscrabble life with abusive relatives on a Kansas frontier settlement, and of the kindly substitute teacher who decides to write the story of the life she ought to have had. Was is also the story of Judy Garland and her unhappy fame. It's about Jonathan, an actor now dying of AIDS, whose intense attachment to Oz dates back to his troubled childhood. And it's the story of Jonathan's therapist, whose work at an asylum also unwittingly intersects the path of the Yellow Brick Road.
From the Great Plains to glittering Hollywood, Was traverses the American landscape to reveal the whirling funnel cloud at the core of our personal and cultural fantasies. It is a powerful, moving story about survival, and about the power of human imagination to transcend the bleakest circumstances.

My Review

I think it is safe to say this is the first book I have read like this. We all (or most of us) know the story of the wizard of Oz and this is a tale with some of the characters and the basic information as a back drop. The story splits into 3 main parts, that of Dorothy, Judy Garland and Jonathan. The characters and dates split off into different chapters and go back and forth and will paint you a picture that is very different to the Oz we know, or make you think of it in a different way.

I must admit, I loved some of this book and I struggled with some of it. The bits I liked where fabulous and even after a few days since finishing it - I am still thinking about it. The bits I didn't like were mostly things I was confused on and found some of the time changing and so many characters a bit much for my brain to comprehend, at times. However the story is really good and evokes a host of emotions as you follow the characters lives.

I was captured mostly with the Dorothy and Jonathan side of the story and if I am honest there is a few characters I felt I wouldn't have missed had they been dropped out but that said I am biased because I wanted it to be all Dorothy & Jonathan. I think for those coming in with Oz in mind you need to keep an open mind as this is only some of the characters and not the story of Oz and some of it is a fair bit darker.

I loved that at the end the author has taken the time out to shed some light on what parts are real and the where and how he got his information. This cleared a lot up for me and I am sure a lot of other readers will appreciate it too.

I would definitely read more by this author and for a first attempt I am giving a 3/5, it might not be your cup of tea but then again you might just love it!

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Aug 07, 2007 Clare rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a retelling of the Oz books with some of the movie mythology thrown in. It reimagines L. Frank Baum himself, Dorothy Gael and her family, Judy Garland, and a host of other familar characters. Ryman doesn't just add background to them, he adds real depth to the whole Oz phenomenon. The stories are moving and skillfully interwoven. I loved this book and it's one of the ones that got me actively seeking out parallel novels.

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Jan 19, 2012 Simon rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-masterworks

In the closing chapter, the author opens with: "I'm a fantasy writer who fell in love with realism." That's an illuminating bit of information that sheds light on where the author was coming from when he wrote this book. This is not itself a fantasy novel but rather a novel about how people use fantasy to escape the drudgery, cruelty and tragedy of their everyday lives.

This is actually several separate but connected stories that the narrative chops and changes between. Separated by time and plac...more

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Jun 07, 2007 Dormouse rated it 4 of 5 stars

...I still don't know why, in The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy kept wanting to go home.

Was has a sense of magic, and beauty. And it is full of sad stuff. Well, has very sad things happening in it.

The people in it feel very real, even the ones that I wish didn't.

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Nov 02, 2010 Michael Armijo rated it 5 of 5 stars

What an epic journey 'of a book'!

This book takes you back to a "what if" imaginative look at another side of THE WIZARD OF OZ &/or the Broadway Musical, WICKED. I was a little skeptical about this book. However, I had to read it as friends (Antonio Convit & Tim McGraw) gifted the book to me on my birthday: 5/26/2003). Then I was swept away during a flight from Los Angeles to Miami to Barbados as I completed the book. I really thought the author gave sound advice in terms of living life i...more

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Jul 15, 2009 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jamie by: @forumz

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This came on several high recommendations from trusted people over on my favorite forum (yes, I'm a nerd). I'd never heard of the novel, nor of the author, but their gushings sent me right to half.com to find a used copy. I sunk my teeth in a little over a week ago, and sped through the first hundred pages; then found myself slowing down; then was interrupted by an apartment-hunting trip in my new city; then hurried to the finish line. I was, needless to say, rather underwhelmed. While I can app...more This came on several high recommendations from trusted people over on my favorite forum (yes, I'm a nerd). I'd never heard of the novel, nor of the author, but their gushings sent me right to half.com to find a used copy. I sunk my teeth in a little over a week ago, and sped through the first hundred pages; then found myself slowing down; then was interrupted by an apartment-hunting trip in my new city; then hurried to the finish line. I was, needless to say, rather underwhelmed. While I can appreciate what Ryman was doing, and found his idea peculiarly innovative (especially, I suppose, compared to something like Maguire's "Wicked" which works from a pretty simple premise, and which I do, in fact, love), I didn't have the profound emotional connection to the novel that the recommenders proclaimed. The opening chapter with Dorothy Gael pulled me right in--that idea of a child "learning how to hate" was so beautifully and terrifyingly done wrapped me right around its little finger. Ryman's ability to convey all of this confusion and terror from a child's perspective was brilliant.

After this, however, I often found his style either so simple as to be bland, or so in-your-face as to be maudlin. No offense intended, but I've seen incest and rape handled in much more powerful ways--though I'll confess that Dorothy's transformation into a vile monster was a surprising move. Generally, though, the Dorothy chapters proved the most fascinating. What I found challenging, in terms of 'connecting' to the rest of the book, was that so much of it seemed a big mess. Why did we see only the briefest of glimpses into Judy Garland's life? The chapter on her working on the film version of Oz was one of the strongest of the novel; even the chapter with her mother was pretty damn good. Then it's dropped, just like that. Jonathan was a vaguely fascinating character, but we never saw him in his 'prime' so to speak--I didn't latch onto his autistic childhood, nor did I find myself invested in his dying days (though they were interestingly written, perhaps not entirely unlike the way Faulkner might have handled AIDS). I needed to 'know' him at some point where I could 'love' him--and thus be affected much more intensely by the other glimpses into his character. Bill Davison was a prop piece to me--and when Dorothy reappears, he is functional, and I enjoy revisiting her through his lens; beyond that, though, I didn't care about him.

I think the bottom line is that I think this is a good novel, but not a great one. If I had authored it, I would have shifted the frame over just so slightly--and if it were a bit more tightly woven, I think even that might have helped without shifting the frame, so to speak. It's the sort of novel where you want to shriek at the author because of the missed opportunities. The first hundred pages, though, are worth the entry fee. It's a matter of patience as to whether or not you can trudge through the rest--and as I said, it's obvious not everyone feels this way (take a look at the glowing goodreads reviews, for instance!). For me, however, I needed something slightly different from it--for it to move from likable to profound in my mine, I suppose I just wanted something more. Still worth the read, though, if you've got a couple of days to kill.(less)

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Nov 04, 2011 Allison Means rated it 5 of 5 stars

I LOVE this book. I'm going to have to re-read it, it's been about five years, but I borrowed it from a friend and immediately went out and bought my own copy upon finishing because I knew that I'd be revisiting.

This is a version of The Wizard of Oz that has things thrown in there about Frank L. Baum, Judy Garland, and another way to see Dorothy's life in Kansas. I won't go into spoilers but it's very depressing and some parts were truly upsetting to me. But don't let that diminish the beauty of...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 30, 2010 David added it

Shelves: liminalfiction, gayreadinggroup

This book was an imaginative telling of three concurrent stories: the life of Dorothy Gael before and after she went to Oz, the life of Judy Garland surrounding the time she played Dorothy, and the end of AIDS victim Jonathan's life. It was about feeling the distress of disturbed lives and the narratives layer on each other very poetically drawing connections through each character's pain and images from Oz. Ryman's weaving together of Dorothy's story with Jonthan's was seamless with the couple...more

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Aug 06, 2009 Tabatha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought this book started off a bit slow and bleak. I never like it when an author takes several chapters just to introduce characters. But about halfway through it began to seem like every sentence was moving and there was so much going on behind what the author was telling you. Like the references to Oz in the characters real lives. I really relished every chance to read it, like eating fine chocolates. Although the story isn't dramatic and the ending isn't as happy as we normally see, I tho...more

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Sep 11, 2009 Alarra rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporaryfiction, gblt

I'm not a big fan of The Wizard of Oz, so I went into this retelling with scepticism, but I loved it. It interweaves three strands of the legend - a Dorothy in Kansas who comes to live with her aunt and uncle, the childhood of one Frances Gumm (ie. Judy Garland), and the adult pilgrammage of a fan of the Wizard of Oz - into this involving, tight novel about the loss of innocence, hope, and the pleasure that escapism into Oz allows. It's a painful read at times, and I cried at some point in all t...more

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Nov 23, 2012 Laura Williams rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book follows the journeys of three characters: a real life Dorothy Gael with a troubled life, an actor named Jonathan who is dying of AIDs, and Judy Garland as she takes on her star-making role. Each character is struggling to find happiness and a place that feels like a home. The author uses the fantasy of the Wizard of Oz to bring their stories together. It makes for a very interesting and powerful novel. I found Dorothy's story particularly heart-breaking, as her life spun more and more...more

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May 19, 2012 Thomas rated it 5 of 5 stars

A truly amazing novel for fans of "Wicked" or "The Hours". With a story structure similar to "The Hours" (three individual novelettes of different characters from different eras that entwine into a single story), this book tells a different kind of back story for the Wizard of Oz. The first section tells the story of the "real" Dorothy that inspired Baum to write the "Wizard of Oz". The second section is about Judy Garland during the filming of the movie. The third ties it all together in a sect...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Cat Chiappa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If I could give this book 3.5 stars I would. Overall it is very cleverly written and a very interesting read, but as engaging as it is...it will also confuse the hell out of you. It jumps back and forth in time (which I generally like) but there are so many characters and interwoven threads that it can be a bit hard to follow. It was also extremely depressing in some parts. The concept if very smart, but I think some of the characters and content could've been trimmed down a little. However, if...more

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Apr 15, 2013 Kim DeCina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: abuse, adolescence, beautiful-language, drama, fairy-tales, glbt, hate-these-characers, mental-health, not-as-good-as-everyone-says, problematic, social-commentary, worse-than-expected

My rating when reading this went from four stars to two stars and then back up to three depending on what was happening and my mood. The structure of this book is fascinating. The concepts are smart. The writing itself is good. And yet I'm meant to feel the harrowing nature of what happens to these characters, to empathize with their retreat into fantasy to escape the damage that reality has done, and instead I'm so busy rolling my eyes at their perceived slights as kids that when real, truly aw...more My rating when reading this went from four stars to two stars and then back up to three depending on what was happening and my mood. The structure of this book is fascinating. The concepts are smart. The writing itself is good. And yet I'm meant to feel the harrowing nature of what happens to these characters, to empathize with their retreat into fantasy to escape the damage that reality has done, and instead I'm so busy rolling my eyes at their perceived slights as kids that when real, truly awful things happen to them I can't bring myself to care.

Interlaced in those problems are the less subjective problems of how our history, especially the history of the West, is simultaneously revered, reviled, subverted and looked at with profound sympathy. Native people, particularly the Kansas tribe the state is named for, get it the worst. The "real-life" Dorothy's fascination with "Indians" is a look at the damage we do as adults to what in childhood is an icon of fascination and a symbol of wildness. Except, y'know, they're really a bunch of people with a unique culture who had a horrible thing done to them, not pixies in the woods, so embodying that with headdresses and buffalo comes across as unwittingly insulting.

This book thinks it's about childhood, its loss, its transformation into adulthood. It neglects the period of life that it really shares a mindset with: adolescence. Where every hurt is felt a thousand times deeper than it actually is, where you are desperate to be away from childhood and idolizing it at the same time, where you no longer idolize authority figures but haven't yet come to empathize with them or treat them as human beings. Where the world is a dark, awful, horrifying place with no redeeming qualities, and there's no possible way to live like you did in your idealized past years without essentially going insane.

It's easier to write about what you don't like than what you do like. And this book is written so well, has so much going on, that I really want to like it a lot more than I did. I think I summed it up to my girlfriend best: "It's not a bad book. I just think he's wrong."(less)

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About Geoff Ryman

Geoffrey Charles Ryman (born 1951) is a writer of science fiction, fantasy and slipstream fiction. He was born in Canada, and has lived most of his life in England.

His science fiction and fantasy works include The Warrior Who Carried Life (1985), the novella The Unconquered Country (1986) (winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the World Fantasy Award), and The Child Garden (1989) (winner...more

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Quotes from Was

“It is necessary to distinguish between history and fantasy wherever possible. And then use them against each other.” — 5 people liked it

“There is no man so unsuited for the task of speaking about memory as I am, for I find scarcely a trace of it in myself, and I do not believe there is another man in the world so hideously lacking in it.” — 3 people liked it

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