Wizard of Oz... Russian Style...

5fish

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I learned the the Russian translated but mostly rewrote much of the original Wizard of OZ book(s)... It was very successful in Russia and in many other Soviet block nations.


snip...

The Wizard of the Emerald City (Russian: Волшебник Изумрудного Города) is a 1939 children's novel by Russian writer Alexander Melentyevich Volkov. The book is a re-narration of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum's name is sometimes credited in the book (in the appendix by Volkov, which is found in some editions, where Volkov describes the origins of his book). The names of most characters are changed, some elements of Baum's novel are removed, and some new elements are added. In 1959 a new edition of the book was published, significantly revised by the author.[1] This edition first featured illustrations by artist L.V. Vladimirsky and became quite popular in the 1960s, leading to five sequels: Urfin Jus and his Wooden Soldiers (1963), The Seven Underground Kings (1964), The Fiery God of the Marrans (1968), The Yellow Fog (1970), and The Secret of the Abandoned Castle (1975, published in 1982). These sequels were written by Volkov himself and are not based on Baum's plot elements, although we do encounter the powder of life, a character called Charlie Black who is not unlike Cap'n Bill, intelligent foxes, and the use of a Sandboat similar to Johnny Dooit's, albeit with wheels.

Volkov's Magic Land series, as it was called, was translated into many languages and was popular with children all over the Eastern Bloc. Volkov's version of Oz seems to be better known than Baum's in some countries, for example in Russia, China, and the former East Germany. The books in the series have been translated into English by Peter L. Blystone, and were published by Red Branch Press in three volumes (two books per volume) in 1991 (revised edition 2010), 1993, and 2007. A very important reason for the success of these books were the illustrations by Leonid Vladimirski.

Did the books subvert communism... read the article and see did the author subvert communism...


snip...

The story I read as a child growing up in the USSR in the 1980s begins in Kansas, in a community of poor farmers. An eight-year-old named Ellie Smith lives with her mother and father in a wagon, its wheels removed. Ellie is too young to go to school, but her mother reads her fairy tales about wizards and her father teaches her to read and write. When she gets bored, she takes her dog Totoshka to visit her neighbors: two boys, Dick and Bob, to play with and an old man, Rolph, who gives her toys.

It’s a happy and peaceful life, if occasionally disturbed by cyclones. Beyond an impassable desert and mountain range, in the Magic Land, is a cave decorated with a stuffed crocodile carcass, rodents and reptiles. There, a wicked witch named Ginghema is brewing a storm. She hates the enterprising farmers who, in the name of progress, have destroyed the forests and killed all the delicious frogs and snakes. These creatures provide her sustenance and also serve for her magic. As humans rein in nature, her livelihood has become threatened.
 

5fish

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It seems no one want the truth that a kids book toppled communism....
 

O' Be Joyful

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I learned the the Russian translated but mostly rewrote much of the original Wizard of OZ book(s)... It was very successful in Russia and in many other Soviet block nations.


snip...

The Wizard of the Emerald City (Russian: Волшебник Изумрудного Города) is a 1939 children's novel by Russian writer Alexander Melentyevich Volkov. The book is a re-narration of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Baum's name is sometimes credited in the book (in the appendix by Volkov, which is found in some editions, where Volkov describes the origins of his book). The names of most characters are changed, some elements of Baum's novel are removed, and some new elements are added. In 1959 a new edition of the book was published, significantly revised by the author.[1] This edition first featured illustrations by artist L.V. Vladimirsky and became quite popular in the 1960s, leading to five sequels: Urfin Jus and his Wooden Soldiers (1963), The Seven Underground Kings (1964), The Fiery God of the Marrans (1968), The Yellow Fog (1970), and The Secret of the Abandoned Castle (1975, published in 1982). These sequels were written by Volkov himself and are not based on Baum's plot elements, although we do encounter the powder of life, a character called Charlie Black who is not unlike Cap'n Bill, intelligent foxes, and the use of a Sandboat similar to Johnny Dooit's, albeit with wheels.

Volkov's Magic Land series, as it was called, was translated into many languages and was popular with children all over the Eastern Bloc. Volkov's version of Oz seems to be better known than Baum's in some countries, for example in Russia, China, and the former East Germany. The books in the series have been translated into English by Peter L. Blystone, and were published by Red Branch Press in three volumes (two books per volume) in 1991 (revised edition 2010), 1993, and 2007. A very important reason for the success of these books were the illustrations by Leonid Vladimirski.

Did the books subvert communism... read the article and see did the author subvert communism...


snip...

The story I read as a child growing up in the USSR in the 1980s begins in Kansas, in a community of poor farmers. An eight-year-old named Ellie Smith lives with her mother and father in a wagon, its wheels removed. Ellie is too young to go to school, but her mother reads her fairy tales about wizards and her father teaches her to read and write. When she gets bored, she takes her dog Totoshka to visit her neighbors: two boys, Dick and Bob, to play with and an old man, Rolph, who gives her toys.

It’s a happy and peaceful life, if occasionally disturbed by cyclones. Beyond an impassable desert and mountain range, in the Magic Land, is a cave decorated with a stuffed crocodile carcass, rodents and reptiles. There, a wicked witch named Ginghema is brewing a storm. She hates the enterprising farmers who, in the name of progress, have destroyed the forests and killed all the delicious frogs and snakes. These creatures provide her sustenance and also serve for her magic. As humans rein in nature, her livelihood has become threatened.

Say it ain't so, Toto. :eek: I'm heading to the storm cellar, I see some crazy B**** on a bicycle.
 
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