On Thu, 16 Oct 1997, Michael Haas wrote:
> Mike Frank might perhaps ask Michael Sugarman why he believes that The Wizard
> of Oz conveys a happy message.  The book on which it is based is, of course,
> profoundly pessimistic.
 
Hmmm...I read the book many times, and I must have read it wrong, because
I did not get a pessimistic message. I thought it was a wry, ironic and
yes, pragmatic book: seeing people and situations as they are rather than
glorified pap doesn't in my book :-) spell pessimism. A dose of reality
tempers the American Dream and sundry quest initiatives (sometimes called
Empire, sometimes personal voyages of self-discovery).
 
Liora Moriel
Comparative Literature Program
University of Maryland
2107 Susquehanna Hall
College Park, MD 20742-8825
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"We have cooperated for a very long time in the maintenance of our own
invisibility.  And now the party is over."                - Vito Russo
 
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