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The Wizard of Oz (BFI Modern Classics / BFI Film Classics)
For Rushdie The Wizard of Oz is more than a children's film, and more than a fantasy. It's a story "whose driving force is the inadequacy of adults," in which the "weakness of grown-ups forces children to take control of their own destinies."
Paperback, 96 pages
Published
May 27th 1992
by British Film Institute
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J.E. Remy
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As I was reading this book, one of my initial impressions was that he had never read the OZ books, despite brief trivial mentions of Baum's history and some of the inconsequential differences between the film and the book. If he had, some of the discrepancies he blames on Hollywood could have been cleared up as simplifications for script development purposes. The essay goes on for 57 pages presenting a variety of personal anecdotes that are only slightly more interesting than Rushdie's analysis-...more
I really like the British Film Institute's series on classic films (Wizard of Oz being, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest movies Hollywood ever released), and I was very interested in reading such an acclaimed and erudite writer's take on its cultural influence. Rushdie does make some interesting observations, such as seeing the film as a metaphor for the immigrant experience, and how its ultimate denouement isn't really that there is no place like home, but that home no longer exists, a...more
When I saw the movie when I was REALLY little Ii think 2nd or 3rd grade I'm not sure I fell in love with it but when I saw the book I was not that interested in it because it looked kind of long well for 3rd grade standards. I decided to read it because it actually wasn't that long and it kind of reminded me of a lion the witch and the wardrobe a little because there were witches in it and what not. So Dorthy is the main character and she lives in Kansas but after a tornado she wakes up in anoth...more
I loved this book!
I can't speak to the series, but Salman Rushdie is fantastic, and I appreciate his commentary on one of my favorite films. I'm ready to watch the movie again. FYI: If Toto is your favorite character of this tale, prepare to be offended. Rushdie's hatred of Toto really made me laugh. It only gets 4 stars because as much as I loved it, I was left wondering what the purpose of this series was. (It didn't make me want to read every book in the series...it just made me THIN...more
I can't speak to the series, but Salman Rushdie is fantastic, and I appreciate his commentary on one of my favorite films. I'm ready to watch the movie again. FYI: If Toto is your favorite character of this tale, prepare to be offended. Rushdie's hatred of Toto really made me laugh. It only gets 4 stars because as much as I loved it, I was left wondering what the purpose of this series was. (It didn't make me want to read every book in the series...it just made me THIN...more
I wish all of the BFI Film Classics monographs were like this one. Rushdie manages to combine personal reminiscence, sophisticated but jargon-free analysis, and film history anecdotes to give us an effortless but engrossing read. As almost an appendix to the main text, Rushdie adds an interesting short story about an auction for the ruby-red glass slippers. The story is completely out of place, but I admire Rushdie all the more for including it.
This was actually my first experience of Salman Rushdie outside of his cameo on Bridget Jones's Diary and I found his "voice" quite entertaining. I had recently read the original story, was in the play in high school, and of course I've seen the film like everyone else.
Most of this is a discussion of the film's triumph over too many writers, too many directors, and how Hollywood basically Forrest Gumps its way into good movies. They were going to cut "Somewhere Over ...more
Most of this is a discussion of the film's triumph over too many writers, too many directors, and how Hollywood basically Forrest Gumps its way into good movies. They were going to cut "Somewhere Over ...more
Both personal and analytical, this short book looks at the movie and tangenitally at the book. Rushdie has been a long-time fan of both and this book had some interesting ideas that he has been mulling over for a long time. The book also includes a short story that I found pretty darn interesting, but not very enlightening.
when i read this book i was expecting a brilliant storyline like the movie that would grap hold of me and refuse to let me go. Unfortunatly that did'nt happen. Its not the worst book i've read but it was very boring and i would'nt recommend it .
A slight little trifle of a book, but it was fun to read Rushdie's thoughts about The Wizard of Oz and how it had influenced him.
Short, somewhat interesting essay to read in conjunction with his essay (included in _Step Across the Line_), "Out of Kansas."
Jennifer Torres Perez
added it
I read this in 4th grade for a project it was kind of fun making the cover of the cereal like the cover of the book.
Ok children's book. Interesting to compare to movie. The notes in the Barnes and Noble Classics edition were interesting and gave some good context.
Angie
marked it as to-read
loved the movie now i have to read this book
good book for kids
Think I was expecting deeper analysis, but he's a fiction writer so I don't know why I thought that's what I was going to get. Still, I enjoyed his observations on the film. I learnt that Rushdie sees the Wiz of Oz as the source, along with another film that I'm damned if I can remember now, of the 'magical realism' of his own work. Mostly it just made me want to watch the movie again, with slightly fresher eyes, and what're books about films for if not that?
Found this obscure book [British Movie Classics] in City Lights in San Francisco [my nephew, who was w/ me in S.F., was impressed that I knew of the former haunt of Kerouac and Ginsberg -- people my age aren't supposed to know anything even remotely cool] and enjoyed not only Rushdie's style [never read him before] but also the inside scoop on the movie. Esp. liked his comparison of the Oz movie to Bollywood films!
I've now ordered several more from the series.
I've now ordered several more from the series.
rushdie much on the mark about the film. favorite points: the film as an authorless text and his challenging the main theme of "no place like home." the latter especially resonates given rushdie's international/on-the-move living status amid the fatwah. plus you get a neat apocalyptic short story at the end. will send me back to haroun.
First published in "the New Yorker" as "Out of Kansas," I think it is one of the best essays on "the Wizard of Oz" ever written. When I was a little boy, I would always cry when the wicked witch melted. With this essay Rushdie comes to her defense and defines my childish wonder!
I've felt an affinity for Salman Rushdie since I was 12--long before I ever actually read any of his fiction--because of this essay, in which he writes that The Wizard of Oz (the movie rather than the book) was his first literary influence.
This book makes me want to read more stuff by Rushdie. I loved reading his take on a movie I'm researching the hell out of. Enlightening, interesting, and bizzare. I'll be using this as a handbook and crediting him appropriately.
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I love Salmon Rushdie and I love the Wizard of Oz. Trying to stay completely unbiased, this is still one of the best pieces of criticism I've ever read. If you can find it, read it!
I'm no Rushdie fan, but this is one of the best pieces of film criticism I've ever read.
A fascinating reading of Oz by Rushdie while he was enduring the fatwah.
Nostalgic, but fun.
He hated Toto!!!
Vernard
marked it as to-read
Merve Gonca
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Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is a novelist and essayist. Much of his early fiction is set at least partly on the Indian subcontinent. His style is often classified as magical realism, while a dominant theme of his work is the story of the many connections, disruptions and migrations between the Eastern and Western world.
His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, led to protests from Muslims in ...more
More about Salman Rushdie...
His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, led to protests from Muslims in ...more
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