Fantasy Survey: Can I ask you to take a moment...?

[justcarol67]

Dave Hardenbrook wrote:
<snip>
> What I would like to find out is the general public impression of
> Oz vs. other fantasy series.  I know I'm hardly taking a scientific
> sample: a number of people whose opinions I trust + a number
> of fellow afficionados of one of Oz's rivals (Harry).  But I
> would just like to get a few opinions to get an idea...
> 
> So here's my little survey.  Thanks ahead for your participation. 
It will help me a lot in my speech! --

Carol:
Dave, here are my responses, more detailed than simple yes or no
responses. I'm hoping that you wanted us to respond onlist and not in
a personal e-mail.
> 
> 1. Have you ever read any of the "Oz" books by L. Frank Baum and
other authors? (Y/N)

Yes. About thirty of them, I think, but I was eleven at the time and
am not certain whether it was the whole series. I do remember
especially liking "The Patchwork Girl of Oz" and another book
featuring a dinosaur skeleton named Terrybubble.

> 
> 2. If yes, what did you like about them? They caught my imagination
and took me into a fantasy world unlike anything I'd experienced before.

 What did you not like? After about twenty books, my enthusiasm lagged
a little. IIRC, the later books (by a different author) weren't quite
as good as the first ones. What I *really* didn't like was the Judy
Garland movie, which in my view "ruined" the first book--Judy Garland
was too old for the role and struck me as a crybaby, and the song
lyrics made no sense, and the Munchkins were made to look ridiculous.
> 
> 3. Do you like to read fantasy in general? (Y/N) Only LOTR (more
than twenty time through the "trilogy" and three times through the
Appendices (Silmarillion twice, some of the minor works once--none of
it is on a par with LOTR). and "The Hobbit" maybe five times, of
course. But HP is a different sort of addiction, a living WIP that can
be discussed with other adult readers.
> 
> 4. If yes, what is your favorite fantasy series? (See above.)
> 
> 5. What do you like about that series? On a first reading (I was
fifteen), I liked the excitement of certain chapters, the ones that
actually scared me without being at all gory or disgusting. (I learned
the distinction between terror and horror at that point.) I was
devastated by Gandalf's seeming death but made myself pick up the book
and keep reading, and I wanted to know what would happen to Frodo. But
I was confused by the ending (like Pippin not understanding that
Strider was Isildur's heir) and had to read it again, more carefully
to find out what was happening. I kept rereading it to explore its
depths and recapture the experience of a first reading (impossible!).
I care about some of the characters (Frodo, Boromir, Pippin) as if
they were real people. (For me, the first few chapters are too slow
and the last chapters, with the crowning of Aragorn, etc., are almost
boring, but other scenes still give me shivers or move me to tears.)
> 
> 6. Which of the the following do you believe enhances a good fantasy
> (or fiction in general)? :
> 
>    -- Interesting plotlines? Yes
>    -- Unexpected plot twists? Yes
>    -- Complex, multi-dimensional characters? Absolutely
>    -- Coherent, non-self-contradicting story continuity? Ideally,
yes, but we can't expect perfection
>    -- Science fiction elements? No
>    -- Action / Adventure elements? Yes, but not to the exclusion of
everything else. But peril and good vs. evil are indispensable.
>    -- Romantic Elements? Not necessary but acceptable.
>    -- Sexual Elements / Nudity? No. Or at least, they'd have to be
tastefully and subtly depicted. (Not in children's fiction, please.)

Carol, hoping this is useful and noting that I own the only three Oz
books I could find in recent editions, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,"
"The Emerald City of Oz," and "The Road to Oz," but haven't read them
since I bought them from BOMC!