There's no place like home.

"No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home."- Dorothy

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is one of the most widely beloved and well known stories in modern American culture. I have loved this story since I was a child because of watching the fantastic 1939 film adaptation staring Judy Garland. I had never taken the time to actually read the original novel, but it made my top 100 list. The book was short and sweet, but surprisingly very different from the movie that I love so dearly. The basic gist of the story is the same, but there are numerous changes that were made for the movie version most likely for the sake of time and continuity. There are way too many characters, obstacles, and journeys in the novel to fit into a brief movie unless someone wanted to make it into a Lord of the Rings type epic film. I would say anyone who is a fan of the movie but has not read the novel should take a little time to read it and draw their own comparisons. I made a list of all the things I remember being different in the novel from the movie.

“Oh, I see;" said the Tin Woodman. "But, after all, brains are not the best things in the world."
“Have you any?" enquired the Scarecrow.
No, my head is quite empty," answered the Woodman; "but once I had brains, and a heart also; so, having tried them both, I should much rather have a heart.”

First some fun facts!!

The “L” in L. Frank Baum stands for Lyman.

Baum wrote 14 total Oz books

The original book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was published in 1900.

Baum had 4 sons and no daughters; the character of Dorothy Gale was inspired by his niece Dorothy Gage who died in infancy.

The title was first shortened to simply, “The Wizard of Oz” for the 1902 stage version.

MGM changed the magic slippers from sliver as they are in the original novel to ruby red because they wanted to take full advantage of the new Technicolor that was being used to shoot the 1939 film.

“Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't you think?”- The Scarecrow

Differences between the book and the movie:

Glinda is not the Good Witch of the North, but the Good Witch of the South in the original novel. The Good Witch of the North is said to be a little old lady who only appears at the beginning of the story.

The shoes owned by the Wicked Witch of the East and given to Dorothy by the Good Witch of the North are silver and not ruby red.

Dorothy and Toto are given food and a place to sleep by a Munchkin named Boq at the beginning of the journey who explains to Dorothy more about the rulers of the land of Oz.

The Tinman is never called the Tinman in the book, but is instead referred to as the Tin Woodman. His real name was Nick Chopper before his ax was cursed by the Wicked Witch of the East and systematically chopped off all of his extremities and eventually cut through his heart. He had each limb replaced with a tin version by a blacksmith until he was completely made of tin.

Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the cowardly Lion are chased by terribly Kalidah monsters, and forced to ford a raging river on their quest to the Yellow Brick Road.

They are helped out of the Deadly Poppies by the Queen of the field mice and her servants.

Once they reach the Emerald City the man at the huge entrance gate forces them to wear green glasses to protect their eyes from the brightness. It is later revealed that the Emerald City is not truly Emerald but only appears that way through the green glasses.

The Wizard of Oz actually takes off the Scarecrow’s head and stuffs it with pins and needles so that he will be “sharp” instead of giving him a diploma that says he is smart.

He gives the Tin Woodman a soft heart filled with sawdust by cutting out a piece of his metal chest, placing it inside, and then patching over the cut out.

To give the Cowardly Lion courage he pours out a green liquid into a bowl and has the Lion drink it, “liquid courage” he calls it.

The winged monkeys are not the pets of the Wicked Witch of the West, but are enslaved to her for 3 favors because of a magic Golden Cap she possesses.

The Wicked Witch of the West also does nothing to stop Dorothy from reaching the Emerald City with her sister’s slippers. It is not until the Wizard of Oz sends Dorothy and her companions to the West to kill her that the Witch sends out her wolves, crows, bees, soldiers (the Winkies) and the winged monkeys to stop them.

The Witch of the West takes one of the Silver slippers from Dorothy and then Dorothy grabs a bucket of water to throw at her in anger, and not to put out a fire as in the movie.

Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion have to find where the Winged Monkeys left the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman during the attack and repair them before they can return to the Emerald city.

After the Wizard of Oz leaves in his hot air balloon without Dorothy by mistake the Scarecrow is left in charge of the Emerald City.

Dorothy and her companions have to travel to the South to see Glinda and find a way for Dorothy to get home to Kansas. Glinda tells Dorothy that all she has to do to get home is use the Silver slippers and wish for where she wants to go.

On the dangerous journey South they encounter fighting trees, Hammer-Heads on a rock covered mountain, a giant spider, and a country made of delicate china people.

The Tin Woodman is appointed to rule over the Witch of the West’s former slaves, the Winkies.

The Cowardly Lion is chosen to rule over all the creatures of the forest as King of the beasts.

When Dorothy returns to Kansas the old house is not there, but Uncle Henry and Aunt Em have built a new one. There is no mention of Dorothy’s experience beings a dream or her hitting her head in the tornado. 

"Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.”- The Wizard of OZ

5 down 95 to go!

Water for Elephants

Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen

This book was good, but not great for me so I won't pay it the same respect in summarizing as say To Kill a Mockingbird deserved. I had not seen the movie version prior to reading the book, so that did not contribute to my opinion. I have to admit though, that I had seen enough of the movie's previews to have this constant picture of the weird kid from the Twilight movies (read Robert Pattinson) in my mind as Jacob Jankowski that I definitely could have done without while I was reading.

So anyways...the book follows the story of Jacob Jankowski looking back on his life at age 23 as either a 90 or 93 year old man in a nursing home; he can't remember his exact age. When the story begins Jacob is preparing to take is final exams in his last semester in Veterinary school at Cornell. He is called from his class and given the devastating news that his parents have both been killed in a car crash. He travels back to his home only to find that his father, who was also a veterinarian, had taken out loans and mortgaged their family home to pay for his college tuition. His father had also been accepting payment in goods and livestock from his rural clients in order to continue caring for any sick animal that was brought to him and had thus fallen behind on payments. Jacob is told that everything his parents had in their home or in the veterinary practice is now the bank's property leaving him penniless and alone.

He tries to return to Cornell to complete his exams and graduate, but the stress of the circumstances are too great. He runs away following the course of the nearby train tracks just to escape it all. After wandering too far away from town he decides his best option is to jump on one of the open cars of a passing train. When the train stops the next day Jacob finds out that he is aboard the "Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth" circus train. One of the circus workers help Jacob get a job shoveling manure, but once the circus owner, Uncle Al, and the head animal trainer, August, discover that Jacob is a Cornell educated veterinarian they hire him on to take care of the animals. The major conflict of the story arises when Jacob falls in love with the wildly uneven tempered and paranoid schizophrenic August's wife, Marlena. Marlena is the circus' star performer with her Arabian horses. The story is very predictable (again this could possibly be because of all the movie previews I saw) but still had its enjoyable parts. Taking a look back into the history of depression era circuses and even just life in general as a performer or someone who was different in this time period is a thought provoking concept. The animals of the circus were treated poorly, but even more disturbing was the way the sideshow "freaks" were treated by the people who effectively owned them and the people they were displayed in front of at each showing.

By far the most interesting character, and in some ways the hero of the story, is Rosie the elephant. She is acquired by the Benzini Brothers circus after another rival show is forced to close. The trainers and especially August think that Rosie is dumb and untrainable because she refuses to follow his commands. Marlena is even injured when Uncle Al tries to force Rosie into the show before she is ready to perform. Eventually is it Jacob who discovers that Rosie is, in fact, very intelligent, but she only knows commands in Polish. (How convenient then that he is Jacob Jankowski and not Jacob Garcia! lol) The funniest scene in the book comes when the roustabouts discover that Rosie is removing the wooden stake from the ground that is supposed to keep her in place, walking over to the concessions tent, drinking all of the lemonade before the crowds arrive, and then replacing herself in the original position stake and all without being caught while the rousabouts get the blame for the stolen lemonade.

          In the end Jacob considers leaving the show for a more conventional life and a traditional practice, but he decides that it is the circus life for him to the last. The book was good; I guess it definitely had its high points. It is very clear that Sara Gruen put a vast amount of effort into researching the time period and circus life. It was a fast, easy read so I would still recommend it.

Another book off the list! 96 to go!

To Kill a Mockingbird

 “Shoot all the bluejays you want, if you can hit 'em, but remember it's a sin to kill a mockingbird… Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

        Harper Lee (1926--) was born in Monroeville, Alabama and has only published one novel. I suppose when your first attempt is a Pulitzer Prize winning best seller, that is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest literary work of the 20^th century you don’t really need a follow-up.  Many details of To Kill a Mockingbird are based on aspects of Lee’s life as a child in Alabama. She was a tomboy, much like Scout,  who was very close to her father, who was a lawyer and a member of the state legislature. She also grew up as a neighbor and friend of Breakfast at Tiffany’s author Truman Capote, who is the model for the character Dill. Capote even mentioned in an interview that the character of Boo Radley was based on a real man who lived on their street and who left them items in a tree when they were young. Lee began studying law in her junior year of college, likely because of her admiration for her father, but dropped out after she realized that writing was her true passion. I think it’s safe to say she made an excellent decision. In 2007 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush for her literary contribution to American culture.  Harper Lee is now 85 and spends time her time between Alabama and New York. She reportedly deeply values her privacy, doesn't make public appearances for anyone but the President, and never makes speeches. I really like knowing that she and I are from the same state and that she could have been only a few hours away from me while I was glued to every page of her masterpiece.

        If only the world were full of men like Atticus Finch, it would be a much better place to live. The truth is what makes a man like Atticus so special is that the world is not full of them, that he is one of a special kind of men. I love the line in the book when Miss Maudie says Atticus is special because he is the exact same way in his home as he is in the town and the same way in town that he is in the courtroom. It seems like a simple statement but it is also so rarely true. Harper Lee created Atticus Finch with influences from her father and it is easy to see how a person who grew up with the ideas of such an outstanding man has never married. Could any real person ever measure up to Atticus Finch? He took on the defense of Tom Robinson even though he knew that there was no way he could win the case, and even though he knew that it would cause his peers to look down on him. He was the senior lawyer and it would have been so easy for him to just turn down the case. He could have refused to defend Tom because he was different, because he was black, but he didn’t even when everyone said that he should. Atticus did what he knew was right.  

 “They're certainly entitled to think that, and they're entitled to full respect for their opinions... but before I can live with other folks I've got to live with myself.  The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience.”

         He raised his children the way that all children should hoped to be raised, with love and respect. He treated them always with kindness and never shied away from teaching them. He made Jem read to Mrs. Dubose even though she was cold and criticized Atticus in front of his children. Jem didn’t realize that Mrs. Dubose was sad and dying and fighting for her freedom in her own way. He used the experience to teach his children an important lesson about how to live courageously.  

 “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”

        Atticus didn’t win his case, but he fought for an innocent man with all of his being. He sacrificed so much over the course of the novel and in the end the ramifications affected his whole family, but you have to believe he never regretted his decisions. He fought for what he believed was right and he knew that he could always walk proudly and with respect from his children. Every man should be so lucky, well really every man should be an Atticus Finch.

“Some Pig”

Salutations! From Charlotte’s Web.

“The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been born very small at birth, would you have killed me?”- Fern

 “Trust me Wilbur. People are very gullible. They’ll believe anything they see in print.”- Charlotte

Wilbur- “Charlotte, why did you do this for me?”

Charlotte- “You’re my friend, Wilbur. That in itself is a tremendous thing.”

E. B. White (1899-1985) worked as a contributor for The New Yorker magazine for nearly 60 years. He started writing children’s books for his niece in the 1930’s. The first children’s book he published was Stuart Little (1945); the second was Charlotte’s Web (1952).  Both books went on to critical and commercial acclaim, and in 1978 E. B. White was awarded the honorary Pulitzer Prize for his work.

White had previously published in 1948, an account of his failure to save a pig that had been purchased for butchering, and Charlotte’s Web is often seen as White’s way of going back and saving the pig.

The scientific name for an orb-weaver spider is Araneus cavaticus, but the proper name will always be Charlotte. Fern saved Wilbur on the day he was born, but Charlotte gave him life; she was his friend when no one else was. Charlotte not only saved Wilbur from being slaughtered but she gave him a reason to live. Wilbur was some terrific, radiant, humble pig because Charlotte gave him the confidence to be. I’m much more embarrassed to admit that it took me 23 years to finally read this book than I am to admit that when Wilbur took the egg sac back to the barn and Charlotte was left behind to die there alone I had tears in my eyes. I was already familiar with the story before reading the book, but it relieved me to no end when I read that Charlotte’s daughters Joy, Aranea, and Nellie were staying in the barn with Wilbur.

“Wilbur never forgot Charlotte. Although he loved her children and grandchildren dearly, none of the new spiders quite took her place in his heart. She was in a class by herself. It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both.”

 I really hate spiders, but the next one I see I will probably let it live in honor of Charlotte; oh and I won’t be able to eat pork for at least a week.

2 down, 98 to go.

2+2=5

1984, by George Orwell (1903-1950) The novel was published in June 1949 just 7 months before Orwell’s death at age 46, making 1984 his last published novel.

Orwell’s 6 rules for writers:

1-      Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2-      Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3-      If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4-      Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5-      Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

6-      Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Principles of the English Socialism Party.

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

1984 tells the story of Winston Smith a middle class working man during the rule of Big Brother and the English Socialism Party . The novel is one of the first to portray the idea of a dystopian society where an elite ruling class, or Inner Party, controls not only the present conditions of the world but also all the records of the past. Winston challenges the ideas of the Party and refuses to accept the propaganda and lies he knows them to be perpetuating.  He discovers that he is not the only one who rejects the ideals of the Party and finds a true confidant and love in Julia. The two of them go on for a little while meeting secretly and avoiding the ever present eye of Big Brother, or so they think. (***Spoiler Alert***)All homes in Oceania have telescreens which not only allow the Party to transmit endless messages and propaganda but also allow them to see and hear everything that is going on in citizen’s homes. Big Brother is nothing more than a facade invented to be the indestructible, uncompromised leader of the Party to be idolized and feared by the middle class. Despite several months of secret meetings and even Winston’s belief that he was entering the outer edges of the Brotherhood, a secret group  meant to destroy the Party, In the end he is betrayed. After he begins reading the Brotherhood’s book he is ambushed and it is reavealed that Mr. Charrington and O’Brien, the only other two people in the world who knew of Winston’s treachery, were undercover agents of the Thought Police. Winston is imprisoned and forced to endure merciless torture until he confesses to every potential crime against Big Brother, even those he did not commit. By the end of an intense re-teaching process, during which O’Brien was his instructor, Winston has abandoned all his previous convictions and  submitted to the idea that he was misguided and undisciplined before and that the Party is the only truth. The novel ends with Winston’s confession that he no longer loves Julia and instead feels love and devotion only for Big Brother.(***Spoiler Alert Over***)

The year 1984 came and went without the presence of any harsh totalitarian take over, but it is impossible to look at the world today and specifically our culture in America and not see similarities between with the world of Oceania and English Socialism. The largest thing that stood out to me is that the Party tried to erase God from the lives of the people. By removing God the Party removed all the ideas that people were made equal and had certain rights given to them by God. The Party set up Big Brother to be the figure of perfection and admiration for the people and forced them to accept all of his teachings. Unlike God who actually has the power to force men to accept Him and His will, Big Brother is a created image and a tool for manipulation by the Party. God knows that man is a free moral agent because He gave him that gift and that it is man’s choice to serve and accept God that truly pleases Him. The Party seeks even to control the thoughts of the people and control their lives at any cost to freedom and justice.  It’s not altogether unlike the idea today that citizens need the government to look out for them. We don’t need to be told what foods to eat and not to eat, what exercise programs we should be doing, what kind of light bulbs we should buy, what movies we should watch or what books we should read. It is the people who should determine the path of government. We are blessed in America with a system of government which believe it or not gets all of its power from the people, and not the other way around. The main source of hope in 1984 is the same hope we have today in 2011; that no matter how overbearing a government may be, it can never control our thoughts and memories. As long as people are willing to fight for freedom and not forget the price that was once paid so that we can live free and die free, we will always have hope.

1 down, 99 to go.

100 Things to read before I die...

My name is Mary and I’m addicted to making lists. I have about 3 different lists I’m working on right now just to get me through the last few weeks of the semester. I need lists to keep me on track and keep me sane. There is just something therapeutic about putting all the things I need to accomplish on paper and getting them out of my head. I find it so cathartic to be able to check things off my list, it even gives me a sense of fulfillment. And can I just say that there is nothing in the world like the feeling of finishing the last thing on a list and being able to throw it away into the trash, free of it forever. It’s definitely one of my favorite things.

The other day in between my long day at the hospital, studying for an exam and working on a paper (all on a current list mind you), I turned around and realized that I was 23 years old and that my life is nothing like how I imagined it would be by now. Realistically 23 years is more than a quarter of my life lived and I’m not sure I’m on track with where I should be. I’m not sure I know who I am and where I want to go yet, and I’m not sure I like that. If there is anything the last 23 years have taught me it is that I can no more plan out how my life will go than I can control the weather. I guess writing 'to do' lists is my way of taking hold of the smaller things. That being said, I realize there are a lot of big things in my life that I can control and I think it’s time for me to start. So the decision I’ve reached is to start making lists for my life. As much as I love lists I’m not sure why it took me so long to start doing this. I want to make lists to help guide what I do and where I go and maybe someday they will help me figure out who I want to be. I wanted to take this journey on a blog because I thought it would be neat to have a record of the changes that I experience throughout the process, and maybe find some other people who want to take the journey with me or give me a little push along the way.

So as is my usual style I will have many different lists going at the same time, and I will jump back and forth between them. The first thing I realize when looking at my life is that I don’t read enough. Well let me preface that, I read a ton of textbooks, case studies and journal articles, but I read very rarely for enjoyment. My field as you may have gathered is medical, and in my entire 4 years of undergrad I never once had to take an English lit. class (I tested out of them because at the time they seemed like a waste of money and semester hours). I regret that now because no one has forced me to pick up any great books since high school. I think it’s definitely time for that to change. There are so many pieces of literature that shaped the development of art and society and the world and I just haven’t read them. I have a list of 100 works of literature I want to read before I die, and it’s entirely possible it will take me just that long to finish them all.  

Here is my list of 100 things I want to read before I die. They are not in the order that I will read them or in any order of importance. In all honesty I had a list of about 125 things that were contenders for the top 100 so I reserve the right to make substitutions as time goes on.

1.       1984, George Orwell

2.       Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

3.       To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

4.       Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

5.       The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien

6.       Les Miserables, Victor Hugo

7.       Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck

8.       Catch 22, Joseph Heller

9.       A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens

10.   Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White

11.   The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

12.   Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe

13.   A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

14.   The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

15.   War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

16.   Moby Dick, Herman Melville

17.   Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

18.   Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

19.   Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austin

20.   Emma, Jane Austin

21.   Persuasion , Jane Austin

22.   Watership Down, Richard Adams

23.   East of Eden, John Steinbeck

24.   The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

25.   Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

26.   Dracula, Bram Stoker

27.   The Iliad, Homer

28.   The Odyssey, Homer

29.   The Republic , Plato

30.   The Call of the Wild, Jack London

31.   The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas

32.   Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift

33.   The Time Machine, H.G. Wells

34.   The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath (as Victoria Lucas)

35.   Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen

36.   Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

37.   James and the Giant Peach, Roald Dahl

38.   Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neal Hurston

39.   The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis

40.   Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg

41.   Tess of the d’Urbevilles, Thomas Hardy

42.   My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult

43.   Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk

44.   The Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle

45.   Animal Farm, George Orwell

46.   The Cider House Rules, John Irving

47.   The Jungle, Upton Sinclair

48.   The Sound and the Fury, William Faulkner

49.   The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison

50.   Old yeller, Fred Gipson

51.   Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert

52.   The Prince and the Pauper, Mark Twain

53.   Alas, Babylon, Pat Frank

54.   Franny and Zooey, J.D. Salinger

55.   Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Truman Capote

56.   Ivanhoe, Sir Walter Scott

57.   The Jungle book, Rudyard Kipling

58.   Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier

59.   Redeeming Love, Francine Rivers

60.   Utopia, Sir Thomas More

61.   Howard’s End, E.M. Forester

62.   The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

63.   The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

64.   A Walk to Remember, Nicholas Sparks

65.   The Yearling, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings

66.   Peter Pan or ‘Peter and Wendy’,  J.M. Barrie

67.   Little Men, Louisa May Alcott

68.   As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

69.   David Copperfield, Charles Dickens

70.   Marley and Me: love and life with the world’s worst dog, John Grogan

71.   A Time to Kill, John Grisham

72.   The Green Mile, Stephen king

73.   The Shawshank Redemption, Stephen King

74.   The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Victor Hugo

75.   Dawn, Elie Wiesel

76.   Big Fish, Daniel Wallace

77.   The Fox and the Hound, Daniel P. Mannix

78.   Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe

79.   The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells

80.   Paradise Lost, John Milton

81.   The Age of Reason, Thomas Paine

82.   The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith

83.   The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje

84.   For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway

85.   Cry the Beloved Country, Alan Paton

86.   The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli

87.   The Divine Comedy, Dante Aleghieri

88.   Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

89.   The Pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman

90.   Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy

91.   Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

92.   Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut

93.   Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

94.   20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne

95.   The Rights of Man, Thomas Paine

96.   Absalom, Absalom!, William Faulkner

97.   Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

98.   The Color Purple, Alice Walker

99.   The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame

100.                        The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum