Wicked : Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, The

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Summary: A whole new insight of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Review: The book was incredible! We chose this book for our next meeting of our book discussion group, and by far it is one of the best books. I will never look at the story of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz in the same light. The Wicked Witch of the West was not born wicked, but merely driven mad by life's trials and tribulations. The brutal death of her beloved lover sends her in hiding from society in a "nunnery". But the final blow to Elphie's persona was the death of her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. The death of her sister sent her in a fury aimed at the evil Wizard. It was the Wizard that sent Dorothy to kill Elphie, before she could be sent home to Kansas. In fact the ending of the book is suprisingly different from Baum's original story. I recommend reading this book. It will bring back childhood memories of reading the Baum's story for the first time. Maguire did a wonderful job of tying the original names of places, major characters and many subtle refernces found in L. Frank Baum's stories written almost a century ago. Yet Maguire kept the material fresh so that you are hanging on page after page.

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Summary: Interesting concept, I had to read it
Review: I thought the title was catchy, that's what got me to read it. I thought the book was good. Some parts were slow, some parts were a little gross, but all in all I liked the idea of seeing the Wicked Witch of the West point of view. Interesting.

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Summary: Not exactly delving into the true nature of evil.
Review: While this is a highly entertaining look at a possible version of the other side of the Wizard of Oz story, it doesn't exactly provide insight into why the Wicked Witch of the West behaved like she did (which is why I only give it 4 stars). The Wicked Witch of the West of my memory was the one from the movie which was very wicked. In the book however, the scenes didnt quite mesh and it just looked like some sort of revisionist propoganda on occasion. The Witch of the book never seemed very wicked at all. It would have been a much better book if it followed the movie more and been the "flip side of the coin". Still, if you are really into the Wizard of Oz this book would be worth your while. Purists might get a little annoyed near the end.

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Summary: Intriguing, vibrant characters, a fascinating book
Review: We have read most of the Oz books, and this is an excellent addition to the group. Some of the later books do hint at the "dark side" of Oz, and it is obvious that the author was familiar with these works. The movie also contributed to the picture. We loved Elphaba, but agree with some of the earlier reviewers that the ending was rushed and not quite right. We realize that the author was trying to mesh with the existing works, but it didn't quite work. Up until the very end, however, we loved it.

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Summary: brilliant, imaginative--takes you to another world
Review: i had never considered the plight of this mysterious soul, the wicked witch of the west. but she is in fact a human being with her own story. i am so engrossed in this book that i don't want to put it down, and i lose myself in the world of Oz. Maguire writes so well that I forget I'm reading!

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Summary: The best look at the other side of Oz
Review: I read this book because I was the Wicked Witch in a high school musical, and I'd always thought she got a bad rep. reading Maguire's story I felt justified in my opinion. Elphaba is a true victim of her environment. She longs for love and freedom; she searches for her transient soul. Her relationship with her family and friends is a marvelous example of how dysfunctional a life can truly be. When she died I cried for an hour, and I realized that Elphie was what I have always been. A dreamer, and a believer in the need for forgiveness.

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Summary: Fantasy with a heart, a brain and lots of courage.
Review: It is rare that any work of fiction challenges everything you thought you knew about good and evil, and in the most entertaining manner possible. Mr. Maguire has written a book easily the equal of L. Frank Baum's--or Proust, for that matter. This book should be required reading for every little girl who ever yearned for ruby slippers.

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Summary: A very different sort of Oz
Review: So many people have written reviews of this book that another would seem superfluous, but I do want to urge prospective readers to get "Wicked". Although it is set in the land of Oz and has witches and elves and all that, it is really a modern novel rather than a fantasy and has more in common with Margaret Atwood than with Robert Jordan. It tells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, but Maguire's Oz is NOT the Oz of the L.Frank Baum books, but a place of poverty, racism and tyranny. Maguire's feeling for narrative pace and his imagination lighten an otherwise somber work, as does his humor... The Wicked Witch of the West says of her sister, "Say what you like, she's got great taste in shoes..."

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Summary: An Amazing and completely hypnotizing novel!!
Review: I was completly enthralled by this novel. For all the years I have watched the "Wizard of Oz", I never thought of the other people in the land of Oz, let alone, The Wicked Witch of the West. By the end of the novel I did not know whether I should hate Dorothy or not, because I loved Elphaba so much! I have recommened this book to everyone I know. As we say here in Massachusetts, this book was definitly "wicked"!

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Summary: A bit slow
Review: I found this book to be intriguing, although a bit slow in parts. I hadn't really considered that the Wicked Witch of the West was anything but an evil character. This book helped me see her in a different light, albeit a green one.