I really love “The Wizard of the Emerald City”, I love the whole series dearly, for me this is a real magical land from childhood. And every time I feel almost personally offended when I hear about plagiarism: Volkov allegedly stole the idea from Baum. But let's not forget that the attitude towards copyright was different then, and it is unlikely that Volkov deliberately violated the law. And, by the way, the first edition was published with the note “based on the fairy tale by Frank Baum.” Then Volkov rewrote the tale several times, moving further and further away from the original, if not in plot, then in mood and message. Initially, he actually started translating it in order to practice his English, but it turned out so well that it was a shame to work at the desk. And so, based on an interesting plot, but a rather simple text of the original, a bright, emerald fairy tale was born with sun-drenched valleys, shady forests, filled with the ringing of bells, the rustle of oak forests, the aroma of meadows, the shimmer of precious stones... This country did not exist before Volkov, and it is simply necessary I wanted to come up with a place of power for children to be transported to in their fantasies while reading, or to dream about it before bed.
The next five books in the “VIG” series are generally independent works, where echoes of Baum’s fairy tales are only vaguely heard. In the sequels, Volkov does not pour from empty to empty, but invents new fascinating stories, carefully draws characters, creates a unique atmosphere in each book, and he writes in beautiful language, so that all this taken together leaves no room for doubt about his talent and professionalism.
And if we talk about borrowing, then maybe not everyone thought about it, but even Pushkin is Pushkin himself! – I didn’t write a fairy tale about a dead princess from scratch. Pinocchio, The Scarlet Flower, Aibolit and even, it would seem, our Dunno are pure literary borrowings. So what? All these are things of the past, and would it really be better if copyrights were respected, but these fairy tales did not appear? I don't think so. Let linguists and lawyers sort out these issues among themselves, and we, the readers, can simply enjoy the magnificent works of fiction.
leave a comment