Aah...here it is..my birthday again. I'm..well..old, but not that old. 30 years out of high school does seem like a long time, but only when you say it out loud. My concept of the time continuum has collapsed in a decidedly postmodern way...anything that happened before last Thursday has the feel of 100 years ago. Experiencing self has (temporarily) triumphed over remembering self..... Begone, self-defeating narratives! Ha! If it were only that easy.
Anyway, it's back to Oz for now. When I loved JRRT, I thought Oz was quite puerile. But now I feel that the very realism of Tolkeins works stifled my own creative imagination. For me his world was just too real. The Oz books are full of whimsy and contradiction, qualities that I can appreciate more now. The desire to know the exact details of the imaginary world dominated my thoughts when I explored the worlds of Middle-Earth and Dante's Commedia. Now as I explore Oz, I seek not for detail and consistency, but the experience of the moment.
I guess I like a combination of realism and whimsy. While I enjoy Tolkien, his books never seemed as much fun as Oz. Besides, Baum tends to focus more on everyday life in his fantasy land.
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