bd44ed2c   
   XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.books.childrens, alt.books.cs-lewis   
   XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: b.scott@csuohio.edu   
      
   On Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:43:38 -0700 (PDT), Moriarty   
    wrote in   
      
   in   
   rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.books.childrens,alt.books.cs-lewis,   
   lt.books.inklings,rec.arts.books.tolkien:   
      
   [...]   
      
   > I read the article and nearly choked on this line:   
      
   > 'Baum promised one interviewer, "You'll never find   
   > anything in my fairy tales which frightens a child." '   
      
   > Baum created a world where no-one could die.  That didn't   
   > stop them being smashed to bits, pulverised, cut to   
   > pieces, burned, etc and yet still remain alive.  As a   
   > kid, I thought _The Scarecrow of Oz_ had some pretty   
   > horrific fates for admittedly off-screen characters.   
   > King Kynd was IIRC thrown into a lake, covered with   
   > stones and remains there still, alive, unable to die or   
   > get out.   
      
   No, King Kynd was thrown into the Great Gulf, which is said   
   to have no bottom.  The culprit was his Prime Minister,   
   Phearce, who then became King.  *His* Prime Minister, Krewl,   
   subsequently tripped him into a deep pond, covered with him   
   heavy stones, and became King.   
      
   > In another book (_Tik Tok_ I think), a Nome reminisces the   
   > time he met another Nome who'd survived an encounter with   
   > a dragon.  This unfortunate Nome consisted only of part   
   > of a face containing an eye and mouth so he could relate   
   > his story.   
      
   > Pretty scary stuff I think!   
      
   I suspect that most kids don't find it so; Baum's overall   
   tone just isn't frightening.  The one that I thought   
   genuinely scary is by Jack Snow, _The Magical Mimics in Oz_.   
      
   Brian   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)