Oz Postcard Project: 2015

OzReceived #53

Received from Laura P. (UK)
(Not exactly intended for the project,
I guess....)

OzSent

OzS #34
Sent to Servane Morel (Belgium)

"Did you ever sail a ship?"

"I've seen one sailed," said the shaggy man.

"Good. Sail this boat the way you've seen a ship sailed, and you'll be across the sands before you know it."

The Road to Oz

OzSent

OzS #32
Sent to Stephanie Wrobel (Germany)

Leonid Vladimirsky

Eduard left this comment on the blog:

The author of illustrations to the Russian book The Wizard of Oz - Leonid Vladimirsky. Died April 18, 2015 at the age of 94. It is possible that this is the last interview with him: http://www.alexnews.info/archives/15469

Had you idea that Dorothy's shoes had been stolen? I mean Judy Garland's shoes. Anyway: there is one million reward offered for the slippers stolen from the museum in Minnesota ten years ago.
Read here.

OzSent

OzS #33
Sent to Jon Foster (the USA)

To be individual, my friends, to be different from others, is the only way to become distinguished from the common herd. Let us be glad, therefore, that we differ from one another in form and in disposition. Variety is the spice of life, and we are various enough to enjoy one another society; so let us be content.

The Lost Princess of Oz

OzSent

OzS #31
Sent to Dorothy (the USA)

OzReceived #52

Received from Ania (Hungary)

OzSent

OzS #29
Sent to Llian Pacheco (Brazil)

"Very true, Your Majesty," said Colonel Plum, eagerly. "There are many kinds of bravery and one cannot be expected to possess them all. I myself am brave as a lion in all ways until it comes to fighting, but then my nature revolts. Fighting is unkind and liable to be injurious to others; so, being a gentleman, I never fight."

Tik-tok of Oz

OzReceived #51

Received from Phillip Lerche (the USA)

OzSent

OzS #30
Sent to Eric (France)

On and on they walked, and it seemed that the great carpet of deadly flowers that surrounded them would never end.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

OzReceived #50

Received from Phillip Lerche (the USA)

I bought you a gift...

That was nice of you, what is it?

A pair of comfy slippers...

The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz?

Oz Is Everywhere

Before reading the Oz books I had not realise that it is such big referent in literature. Maybe because Oz is not so popular in my country. Then, and especially when I started this postal project, Oz started to appear everywhere.

Yesterday, for instance, I was reading Prague fatale, by Philip Kerr. This is a noir novel, so really you do not expect to find the Wizard of Oz among its pages. But in chapter 13 we meet him:

"On the radio that night the Leader eulogized the dead Heydrich, describing him as the man with the iron heart, which I assume he meant to be a compliment. Then again, its possible that our own wicked wizard of Oz might simply have confused the Tin Man with the Cowardly Lion."

Then I read in the Wikipedia:

"Prague Fatale was originally announced under the title The Man With the Iron Heart. The name had to be changed shortly before publication, when the publishers discovered there was already a novel with the same title, also about Reinhard Heydrich, by author Harry Turtledove."

OzReceived #49

Received from Dorothy (the USA)

OzReceived #48

Received from Stephanie Wrobel (Germany)

OzLost

Sent by Ana Merari (Brazil)

Lost in way?

OzLost

Sent by Phillip Lerche (USA)

Lost in way?

OzSent

OzS #28
Sent to Dorothy (USA)

Oz Stamps | Montserrat

Oz Stamps | Tajikistan

OzReceived #47

Received from Phillip Lerche (USA)

Oz Stamps | Turkmenistan

OzSent

OzS #25
Sent to Eduard Egorov (Russia)

I'm an Original, if you please, and therefore incomparable.

Don't bother my head by asking conundrums, I beg of you. Just let me discover myself in my own way.

"Never give up, Ojo," advised Dorothy. "No one ever knows what's going to happen next."

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

Oz Stamps | Niger

OzSent

OzS #27
Sent to Juana Rivera (USA)

I never criticize my friends. If they are really true friends, they may be anything they like, for all of me.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

Thanks to a comment in this blog, I discovered that there was a Russian version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. A lot of people grew up with The Wizard of the Emerald City a re-narration of Baum's work written by Alexander Melentyevich Volkov in 1939.

The names of most characters are changed, some elements of Baum's novel are removed, and some new elements are added.

Taken from this site:

One of the main differences is in the names of the characters. Baum’s Dorothy has become Ellie, and the Wizard is now James Goodwin. Of the heroine’s three friends, the Cowardly Lion is much the same, but the Scarecrow is called Strasheela (derived from a Russian word meaning 'terrifying'), and the Tin Woodman is now the iron Woodman. All four of the witches, good and bad, have new names.

Some other differences, according to Wikipedia:

In the original book, Winkies' favorite color is yellow. In Volkov's version, it's purple.

In the original book, the characters at one point have to run away from beasts called Kalidahs. In Volkov's version, Kalidahs are replaced with saber-toothed tigers.

The Fighting Trees and the China Country are omitted in Volkov's version. Instead, the main characters have to cross another river by making another raft, and things go awry when a storm begins.

In Volkov's version, just before meeting the Cowardly Lion, Ellie gets kidnapped by an ogre, and Scarecrow and the Woodman save her.

In Volkov's version, Munchkins, Winkies and Quadlings (renamed as Chatters, Russian: Болтуны) have different tics involving their people's names: Munchkins constantly move their jaws as if they were munching, Winkies blink a lot and Chatters can't stop talking.

The armless Hammer-Heads with stretching necks were replaced in Volkov's version with an anatomically correct and physically strong nation of Leapers.

In Volkov's version, as soon as Ellie and Toto arrive in Magic Land, Toto gains the ability to speak, which he retains until they leave. In Baum's version, this is not the case, and Toto behaves exactly like a normal dog.

In Baum's version, Dorothy is an orphan and lives with her uncle Henry and her aunt Em. In Volkov's version, Ellie lives with both of her parents, John and Ann.

In the original version, the Good Witch of the North kisses Dorothy on her forehead, blessing her, and the Wicked Witch of the West doesn't dare hit her because of the blessing. In Volkov's version, Villina doesn't kiss Ellie, and Bastinda is afraid of hitting Ellie because she wears the silver shoes.

In the original version, Dorothy was unaware of the Wicked Witch of the West's aquaphobia until the latter melted. In Volkov's version, Ellie knew Bastinda was afraid of water, and often left the kitchen floor wet to annoy the witch.

An additional subplot in Volkov's version during Ellie's imprisonment in Bastinda's castle involves Ellie and the cook Fregoza motivating other Winkies to prepare a coup against Bastinda.

The prologue in Baum's book tells the story solely from Dorothy's point of view. The prologue in Volkov's book tells the story first from Ellie's prospective, then switches to Gingema then back to Ellie who is running away from the cyclone.

In Baum's book, Kansas is presented as a gray, dull place as opposed to the Land of Oz. In Volkov's book, the contrast isn't shown, which lets the reader guess Kansas is not a bad place for Ellie to live.

You can read here the plots of the six books by Volkov.

The Patchwork Girl of Oz

OzReceived #39

Received from Juana Rivera (USA)