Rich, Tasty Courage (original) (raw)

The Cowardly Lion of Oz, by Ruth Plumly Thompson – I reread this one for its hundredth anniversary, and I also wrote an essay on some aspects of it for the OzCon International program book. I don’t want to repeat too much of what I already put into that, but a certain amount is inevitable. It’s the fourth Oz book I ever read, and the first by Thompson, so I have some fondness for it for that reason; but it’s not one of her best. The plot involves Mustafa, the King of Mudge, wanting to add the Cowardly Lion to his already sizable collection of lions. A circus clown named Notta Bit More tries an impromptu trick in a Pennsylvania circus, somehow hitting on a spell that works and transporting an orphan boy named Bobbie Downs (the clown renames him Bob Up) and himself to Mudge, where Mustafa uses magic to coerce the two of them to capture the Lion. Meanwhile, the cowardly cat himself, in a plot that’s likely inspired by the Little Wizard Story “The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger,” sets out to eat a brave man in order to gain his courage. This is a presumably facetious suggestion from the Patchwork Girl, and I’ve seen indications that cultures that practiced cannibalism sometimes believed that they could gain the traits of people whose body parts they ate, although I don’t know how common it ever actually was. Regardless, the Lion soon meets up with the Americans and joins them, not immediately knowing that they’re being forced into hunting him.

Oz books are rarely that tightly plotted, but this one seems particularly thin, like the Lion’s mane (at least according to him). I’d say the story can largely be described as chaotic, partially because of Notta himself, who feels the need to clown around all the time, and stubbornly stick to a set of arbitrary rules that never work and are largely just an excuse to perform even more. But Oz in this book is also a place where everybody, including signs and doors, seems to want to argue with the protagonists.

It also has them entering a door through a keyhole and getting caught in a floating net by a tree that knits, as well as growing feathers for a little while.

Even the Emerald City is hostile to Notta when he insists on arriving dressed as a witch, although to be fair to him, it doesn’t really make sense that the city would have rules against simply LOOKING like a witch. I did appreciate the Fiddlestick Forest, because a bunch of trees playing violins could be played in a creepily absurd way, as the knitting tree is, but instead everyone finds it quite pleasant.

I also liked the two weird vehicles introduced in the book, the goose-shaped Flyaboutabus and the Fiddlebow Boat.

NITPICK: Notta should be wearing his witch costume at this point. I hope someone was slammed for that.
There actually was a boat shaped like a violin introduced in Venice two years ago, and of course I thought of the Ozian equivalent when I read about it.

What I didn’t especially like was how the Lion is restored from stone simply by his friends crying over him, which felt a bit lazy.

I don’t think this one is quite worth a roar, but maybe a growl or two.

This entry was posted in Animals, Book Reviews, Characters, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Names, Oz, Oz Authors, Places, Ruth Plumly Thompson and tagged bob up, cannibalism, clowns, cowardly lion, doorways, emerald city, fiddlebow boat, fiddlestick forest, flyaboutabus, king mustafa of mudge, lions, little wizard stories of oz, mudge, notta bit more, patchwork girl, signs, the cowardly lion and the hungry tiger, the cowardly lion of oz, trees. Bookmark the permalink.