(Read from The Complete Stories of Oz)
Started: March 17, 2022
Finished: March 31, 2022
(This review is written using my new format for book reviews.)
Background Information
Originally published in 1918, this is the 12th book in the Land of Oz series by L. Frank Baum. The story of this book is based upon an unresolved plot thread from the first Oz book.
So, to set this book up, it's necessary to go back to some comments I made in my video review of the first Oz book: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Specifically from 17:53:
...speaking of the Tin Woodman, his origin story is a little bit bizarre, and I actually don't remember how they explained it in the movie, but here in the book he says that he was in love with a Munchkin woman and then what happened, somebody got jealous or something, and so the wicked witch enchanted his axe, so he cut one arm off and then he had it replaced with tin and then he cut another arm off with his axe so the axe was enchanted so whenever he would swing it, it would fly so it would cut off a piece of his body, and then he lost his limbs, and then it cut off his body, so he had to get his body replaced and then he had to get his head replaced ...and then the the Tin Woodman, because he's all made out of tin he's no longer in love with that Munchkin woman who he had been in love with, and she just is waiting for him and he has completely no desire for her anymore, so he thinks that if he gets the heart then maybe he'll remember his love for this Munchkin woman he was once in love with...but then once he gets the heart at the end, then there's there's never any mention made about that Munchkin woman again. She's mentioned in his origin story, but then once he gets his heart in fact he goes off to become the ruler of the Winkies and and has no desire to... I don't know, maybe that will be addressed in one of the later books. Maybe, you know, near the end of the series, book 15, he'll remember his Munchkin lover or I don't know...
...it turns out, I was right. This unresolved plot thread from the first book is now finally being picked up in book 12 (18 years later). Apparently I wasn't the only one who noticed this plot whole, because L. Frank Baum opens up the book by saying:
I know that some of you have been waiting for this story of the Tin Woodman, because many of my correspondents have asked me, time and again what ever became of the "pretty Munchkin girl" whom Nick Chopper was engaged to marry before the Wicked Witch enchanted his axe and he traded his flesh for tin. I, too, have wondered what became of her, but until Woot the Wanderer interested himself in the matter the Tin Woodman knew no more than we did. However, he found her, after many thrilling adventures, as you will discover when you have read this story.
Plot Summary (***SPOILERS***) and Evaluation
A boy named "Woot the Wanderer" (a new character) shows up at the Tin Woodman's palace, and asks about his origin story. The Tin Woodman tells the story about the enchanted axe and the girl he was in love with, and Woot asks why the Tin Woodman never returned to her.
The explanation for this (something that was never explained in the first book) involves a bit of retconning. It's explained that the Tin Woodman was given a kind heart, but not a loving heart, so even after getting his heart from the wizard, he still wasn't able to return the love of the Munchkin girl he left behind. (The continuity in the Oz books is so fluid that at this point in the series you just have to accept it. The cast of characters is largely consistent, but every book re-imagines their shared history, and you just have to go with it.)
Woot the Wanderer points out that even someone with a kindly heart wouldn't abandon the girl that was waiting for him. The Scarecrow says that Woot is right, and the Tin Woodman, the Scarecrow and Woot the Wanderer decide to go on a journey to try to find the Tin Woodman's lost love.
As with (almost) all of the books in the Oz canon, this is a journey story. Our main characters journey along the road, and then they encounter many obstacles and strange things. Most of them have no relationship to the overall plot, they're just fun little side adventures. (Or, as the case may be, boring little side adventures.)
There's a little side adventure into the land of the balloon creatures, which I found funny and imaginative.
The characters also encounter the castle of Mrs. Yoop. (Mrs. Yoop is a call-back to book 7: The Patchwork Girl of Oz, in which our characters had encountered Yoop the giant. Mrs. Yoop is his wife.) Mrs. Yoop transforms the Tin Woodman into a tin owl, the Scarecrow into a straw bear, and Woot into a green monkey.
(They also encounter Polychrome, the rainbow's daughter--from book 5--who has been transformed into a canary).
They escape from Mrs. Yoop's castle into the forest, but then have to escape a hungry jaguar in the forest, and then a den of dragons under ground. It's all a bit ridiculous, and none of it advances the main plot at all, but... it's fun. There's a bit of madcap energy to it, and it's fun to imagine this group of misfit characters--a green monkey, a tin owl, and straw bear, and a canary with fairy powers.
The plot slows down a bit after this.
There's an interlude with Dorothy and Ozma as they get changed back to their original forms.
Then there's the introduction of a second tin man, and a rather bizarre scene in which the tin woodman encounters his original head again (and has a conversation with it.)
The last part of the journey (going through the invisible country and encountering the Hip-po-gy-raf that likes to eat straw) bored me, but then we get to the end soon after that, and the ending was suitably clever.
There are some fun call backs to previous books. In addition to the one's I've already mention above, we encounter Jinjur (from book 2) and the mother and father of the 9 little piglets (from book 4).
Of course, there are a lot of inconsistencies. (Jinjur had a husband in book 3 who is now missing. The origin of the 9 little piglets in book 4 was from outside of Oz, but now it is changed to be from within Oz.)
The way the continuity appears to work in these Oz books is that L. Frank Baum likes to bring back characters from previous books for cool call-back scenes, but the characters also get slightly re-imagined with each new book.
Extended Quotation
The Tin Woodman had just noticed the cupboards and was curious to know what they contained, so he went to one of them and opened the door. There were shelves inside, and upon one of the shelves which was about on a level with his tin chin the Emperor discovered a Head—it looked like a doll's head,210 only it was larger, and he soon saw it was the Head of some person. It was facing the Tin Woodman and as the cupboard door swung back, the eyes of the Head slowly opened and looked at him. The Tin Woodman was not at all surprised, for in the Land of Oz one runs into magic at every turn.
"Dear me!" said the Tin Woodman, staring hard. "It seems as if I had met you, somewhere, before. Good morning, sir!"
"You have the advantage of me," replied the Head. "I never saw you before in my life."
"Still, your face is very familiar," persisted the Tin Woodman. "Pardon me, but may I ask if you—eh—eh—if you ever had a Body?"
"Yes, at one time," answered the Head, "but that is so long ago I can't remember it. Did you think," with a pleasant smile, "that I was born just as I am? That a Head would be created without a Body?"
"No, of course not," said the other. "But how came you to lose your body?"
"Well, I can't recollect the details; you'll have to ask Ku-Klip about it," returned the Head. "For, curious as it may seem to you, my memory is not good since my separation from the rest of me. I still possess my brains and my intellect is as good as ever, but my memory of some of the events I formerly experienced is quite hazy."
"How long have you been in this cupboard?" asked the Emperor.
"I don't know."
"Haven't you a name?"
"Oh, yes," said the Head; "I used to be called Nick Chopper, when I was a woodman and cut down trees for a living."
"Good gracious!" cried the Tin Woodman in astonishment. "If you are Nick Chopper's Head, then you are Me—or I'm You—or—or— What relation are we, anyhow?"
"Don't ask me," replied the Head. "For my part, I'm not anxious to claim relationship with any common, manufactured article, like you. You may be all right in your class, but your class isn't my class. You're tin."
The poor Emperor felt so bewildered that for a time he could only stare at his old Head in silence. Then he said:
"I must admit that I wasn't at all bad looking before I became tin. You're almost handsome—for meat. If your hair was combed, you'd be quite attractive."
"How do you expect me to comb my hair without help?" demanded the Head, indignantly. "I used to keep it smooth and neat, when I had arms, but after I was removed from the rest of me, my hair got mussed, and old Ku-Klip never has combed it for me."
"I'll speak to him about it," said the Tin Woodman. "Do you remember loving a pretty Munchkin girl named Nimmie Amee?"
"No," answered the Head. "That is a foolish question. The heart in my body—when I had a body—might have loved someone, for all I know, but a head isn't made to love; it's made to think."
"Oh; do you think, then?"
"I used to think."
"You must have been shut up in this cupboard for years and years. What have you thought about, in all that time?"
"Nothing. That's another foolish question. A little reflection will convince you that I have had nothing to think about, except the boards on the inside of the cupboard door, and it didn't take me long to think of everything about those boards that could be thought of. Then, of course, I quit thinking."
Links
Dane and I are doing this series as a buddy reads. Dane's written review is here. He makes the point: "It’s also potentially the first book in the whole series that isn’t mistitled, so there’s that." Which is actually a good point.
Dane's video review is here:
And, once again, I'm relying on the analysis of Mari Ness in her Oz re-read series. Her review for this book is here: Transformations in Fairyland: The Tin Woodman of Oz
Mari Ness's review is useful for getting at the themes underlying this book. (Something I confess I didn't fully appreciate until I read her review). To quote from part of it:
Beneath the ongoing puns (and an extremely silly encounter with balloon people), The Tin Woodman of Oz is a surprisingly serious book, dealing with issues of identity and fidelity. Throughout the book, the Tin Woodman and his companions are forced to confront assumptions about who and what they are.
Mari Ness doesn't mention it, but there's also a part in chapter 11 that perfectly fits her thesis about this book:
The Bear and the Owl gravely watched this operation and nodded approval when Woot's silky green fur shone clear and bright in the afternoon sun. The Canary seemed much amused and laughed a silvery ripple of laughter as she said:"Very well done, my good Jinjur; I admire your energy and judgment. But I had no idea a monkey could look so comical as this monkey did while he was being bathed.""I'm not a monkey!" declared Woot, resentfully;154 "I'm just a boy in a monkey's shape, that's all.""If you can explain to me the difference," said Jinjur, "I'll agree not to wash you again—that is, unless you foolishly get into the fireplace. All persons are usually judged by the shapes in which they appear to the eyes of others.
This reminds me of something further. I'm reminded of comments Chomsky made in the documentary Is the Man Who is Tall Happy? Chomsky talks about the story of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (W) and uses it as an example of how children use language to assign identity to things--Sylvester is still considered a donkey even when he is transformed into a rock. That same identity issue is brought up several times in The Tin Woodman of Oz.
Like a lot of these stories in the Oz series, a flawed story, but one that definitely has its charms. 6 out of 10 stars.
March 20, 2022 p.1206-1208
March 27, 2022 p.1208-1250
April 3, 2022 p.1250-1305
Video Review (Playlist HERE)
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