Rating: 
Summary: Oz reaches maturity at last!
Review: I read my first Oz book when I was in fourth grade. The next few years of my life were consumed trying to read as many of them as possible. As an adult, I have trouble appreciating the stories in the same way I did as a youth, but I have never forgotten how they made me feel. I cannot tell you how much I appreciated a chance to return to the realm which so consumed my young thoughts, only this time in a manner which thoroughly engaged my adult sensibilities. Some years ago, Philip Jose Farmer wrote "A Barnstormer in Oz" in which the original Dorothy's son finds his own way to the land of Oz. I enjoyed this novel also, as it was quite definitely intended for an adult audience, but it was not as well integrated into the history of Oz as I would have liked. In "Wicked", Gregory Maguire incorporates much of the pre-existing history of Oz, as well as younger versions of certain characters found in the many sequals to the "Wizard of Oz". I found myself constantly charmed by this surprising integration and as I tore my way through the story I found myself experiencing a profound sense of satisfaction. The child within as well as the man I've become both recommend this book very highly.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best novels I've ever read.
Review: Honest to Pete, one like this comes along only once every twenty years or so. The richness of the language is matched only by Maguire's peerless command of imagery and his astonishing way with a plot. His characterization of Elphaba, who becomes (through an interesting combination of coincidence and inattention to her affairs) the Wicked Witch of the West, is so detailed and penetrating that at least one friend said a man could never have created it. Toward the end, Mr. Maguire seems to get a bit weary of keeping the fairy castle in the air, and what he's been building up to as the big moment goes a bit flat. If you're like me, though, you won't really care: it fits the story of a woman nobody, not even herself, can quite figure out. A wonderful, wonderful treasure of a book that rekindles the feeling of unfettered pleasure you have far too seldom as a reader
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Summary: Wicked is in the eye of the beholder - behold a great book!
Review: Did you ever wonder who gave birth to the Wicked Witch of the West? (I know there are some days that I think I did!) Well, inside these pages you will find the answer to that question, as you open the door to a world as fascinating and fantastic as the world of The Hobbit.
Maguire creates a page-turner that is rich with literary prose yet easy to read, vivid with imagery yet filled with action and events. You will find yourself thinking about good and evil, and how each is as much perception as reality.
Most importantly, however, you will never think about the Wicked Witch of the West, or any of the other inhabitants of Oz, in the same away again. And if you're like me, you will enjoy this book so much, you'll fervently hope that Maguire writes a sequel: Ding, Dong, Is the Witch Really Dead?
Rating: 
Summary: Off-road explorations
Review: For those intrigued by the underbelly of fairy tale, GregoryMaguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of theWest offers a "through the mirror" experience refreshingly complex in our Disney-ridden age. Rather than focus on the woman-child figure of a peach complexioned Dorothy skipping along the nothing-can-harm-you-here Yellow Brick Road, Maguire steps into the margins to explore Oz on its own terms -- to tell us the story we've wanted to hear ever since Dorothy returned home and left us wondering.
Reminiscent of Tolkien, Maguire fleshes out the geo-political realities of Oz, a land of geographical and cultural complexity, both larger and more interesting than the Emerald City situated nearly dead-center and, under the rule of the Wizard, intent on controlling all. The story begins in Rush Margins, a rural province to the East, where Elphaba, a green skinned enigma, is born to a highly sensual and self-absorbed mother and preacher father. Nearly, but not entirely unloved and unlovable, Elphaba evolves into a politically concerned and personally troubled young woman. As she does so, the reader willingly surrenders the Edith Hamilton image that has heretofore exclusively defined the Witch of Oz and replaces it with a complex and sympathetic character worthy of identification - especially for those who are emotional or political mavericks.
At University, Elphaba and Glinda are horribly mismatched as roommates, a situation that develops into the mutual respect and complex affection that underpin the relational tensions of the text and moves Wicked beyond pure entertainment and into the category of serious fiction, exploring the deterioration of culture and the impact of power, politics, and personality on the lives of individuals caught within that culture.
Most amazingly, however, is Maguire's skill at connecting his prequel to the story of Oz as we know it. As inverted as the world of Wicked seems to be, it never violates the integrity of the original tale. Unlike many revisionist writers, Maguire does not rewrite the original story through a different lens; rather he constructs a larger context through which Baum's "finale" seems to the reader to be more thoroughly understood. As he expertly pulls the strings of connection throughout the narrative, it is as though everything Maguire has committed to paper was already there in the original tale, but only visible to the most sensitive or discerning eye, like the shadowy and mysterious figure some viewers of the movie have seen through the trees at the end of the Tin Woodsman scene. Although the final chapters are somewhat problematical (perhaps flawed, perhaps only more difficult) the overriding effect is profoundly pleasurable for in the final analysis, nothing in the original tale is "quite as it seems," but didn't we know that all along? Isn't that, in fact, the ultimate message of Oz?
Besides presenting us with an excellent read, which in turn allows us a new "reading" of the original tale, Maguire offers thoughtful contributions to such contemporary issues as our relationship to nonhuman beings, our perception and definition of good and evil, and the complicated motives of individuals, all delivered through a prose style that, likes its content, is both entertaining and challenging.
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Summary: Why utopias aren't
Review: I am a fan of Baum's books going way back. I have every one of his children's novels on my shelves and love them in all their splendid silliness. Baum gave me a heroine and animal heroes and a land where no one dies. However, like most fantasy, Baum relied on a rigid social order to support his beautiful world. Workers, aristocrasy, heroine, heroine's friends. Aside from those on quest, the ones I am supposed to care about, everyone is in his alloted place.
My idea of a perfect world has something to do with justice. I don't find it in Middle Earth or Green. Imagine Shangrila--all those workers slogging up and down hill to support utopia! Is this my egalitarian fanatasy?
Maguire provides a character in Elphaba who is troubled by the essential injustice of her world, a character seeking goodness and thus inevidably misunderstood, feared, and persecuted. Baum's stories become the child's version of Maguire's true political and social history of OZ. This is not a book for children or anyone unwilling to stare into sexual thunder and the violent conflict of body and conscience. The language is rich and the imagery lively and lush. I believe these people and salute the vision which moves this story.
Thank you for "Wicked," which is really about faith in, and the terrible power of, good.
Rating: 
Summary: interesting, but weird
Review: This story erases all conceptions of good and evil previously assumed regarding the land of Oz. It is difficult to accept the idea of the Scarecrow, the tin man and all our friends as gossiping, shallow, or manipulative. It is also difficult to view Oz as a land of political unrest, racism and terrorist activity. There are inconsistancies with the movie that would be obvious to any baby boomer or generation-x-er, but overall the story puts an interesting perspective on the classic tal
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Summary: Wicked:The Life and Times of The Wicked Witch of the West
Review: For a first book by Gregory Maguire on the classic tale of the Wizard of Oz, but form the Wicked Witch's viewpoint, Elphaba, in his story, is a delightful read for any fan of Baum's story.
The reader is acquainted first with Elphaba's parents and some of the strange things that are taking place in Oz. Then a greenskinned girl child is born and rouses fear to those who helped her come into this world. At a very young age, this child discovers that water can burn her so she dons layer upon layer of clothing and wears a man's pair of army boots to protect her feet. She goes to school in the Emerald city, at Shiz University. Her mind is sharp, but from the painful way that people turn away from her, Elphaba does not do anything to gain unwanted attention. At Shiz her already sharp mind takes in more than her head mistress wants the students to know that is happening in Oz.
Though Elphaba isn't pretty, she does make some friends, among them Glenda, Boq and Fiyero. She also helps Dr. Dillard in his labartory until his untimely passing. Elphaba emerges as a champion for Justice.
She decides to carry out Dr. Dillard's unfinished work in private so she leaves her yonger sister, Nessarose, at Shiz with Glenda. Naturally, Glenda, probably resented this responsibility placed on her by Elphaba.
The reader now sees a young adult Elphaba
on her own, self-reliant and a loner as she tries to prove to herself, and hopefully to the Wizard, that Dr. Dillard was correct in his theories about learning and teaching animals to be educated like Animals.
The story is also filled with political propaganda, the age old riddle of what is truely good and evil, the questions of soul and conscience. Knowing wrong from right.
As I read this tale, I did not see Elphaba as evil. I did see Glenda as evil in her selfishness and her freely giving Dorothy the Ruby slippers to Dorothy when her house hit Nessarose on the head.
I also saw Dorothy, though not with green skin, as a young version of Elphaba.
Nor did I think Dorothy knew that water could harm Elphaba.
In overall goodness, I found Lir to be pure and Manek to be quite evil indeed. I am sure that if the grace of forgiveness was bestowed upon Elphaba, she could have forgiven Dorothy easily enough.
The last chapter, in its ending, left unfinished business for the secondary characters.
Overall, I did enjoy this read through the land of Oz! I am sure this novel, too, will be deemed a "classic", too
Rating: 
Summary: I feel cheated
Review: I don't know why people are raving about this book. There were too many loose ends, too many character contradictions to make Elphaba believable, and a depressingly shoddy ending. We all know how that Wicked Witch of the West dies, we all know she's supposed to be evil. This book was supposed to explain why she appeared that way. I admit that I was quite intrigued, so I devoured this book in a weekend.
Silly me, I expected the book to live up to the glowing praises quoted on the cover. (I should have remebered the movie trailer rule: the better the trailer, the worse the movie.) The book started out promising but ended with a whimper. I read the final chapter not out of enjoyment but just to finish. Why did Maguire bother to re-write the Wizard of Oz if he have nothing new to add? I feel suckered into buying an unfinished book.
The idea of the story was fascinating and the desciption was irresistable. But we were promised something that was never delivered.
WHAT WERE THE EDITORS THINKING?!
I would send those editors back to basic training. They should never have considered this book finished. It's a great draft but there are entirely too many unanswered questions, dangling plot threads, gratuitous characters (lesbian, gay man dying of AIDS, noble savage, etc.) that do not further any plot, not to mention unexplained personality changes in the main character (including Christ-like capabilities). There are events and issues alluded to which should be integral to the plot, but which are never brought to light. And while the book description promised this great discussion in the philosophy of good and evil, this NEVER happens! We muddle through some half-baked bits here and there, but there is no argument, no reasoning, nothing to show that the author really knows what point he's trying to make.
Unless you like feeling gypped, don't expect this book to give you an "alternative" view to the Wizard of Oz or even an interesting debate in "what is evil?" because you'll just end up feeling like you've wasted your time. I also thought the text was set too small with too thin a typeface--difficult to read on public transportation or late at night, and I don't have vision problems. The only reason I am giving this book a 4 is because Maguire's writing style is beautiful and despite the story's failure to gel into anything truly amazing, it is quite entertaining in parts--just remember to skip the last chapter and imagine your own.
Rating:
Summary: This is a wonderful, but adult, book.
Review: There are places so familiar that to be orginal requires a tremendous act of strength and creativity on the part of the author. Certainly few fictional locations are as well-known to us as is OZ, both Baum's and Hollywood's. Gregory Maguire's feat is that much more amazing for it's ability to transform us to a new and exciting world with (vaguely) familiar characters and locales. I thoroughly enjoyed the characterizations, especially Glinda as an effete, spoiled, intellectual lightweight. The illustrations are few but beautifully rendered in a woodcut-like style. I did not care for the typeface nor its size (too small), but the book was well worth the effort
Rating: 
Summary: This is not your basic yellow brick road...
Review: I love the Wizard of Oz and everything about it - for many, many years. Imagine my excitement when I read the premise for this book - how clever and what fun !!
But alas, when we enter the City of Emeralds Fiyero and Elphaba get to the, pardon me, root of the situation. What a bummer. Why did we have a great plot, imaginative characters, and then ruin it with obligatory sex? This ain't Peyton Place - please ....
Why couln't this book have been as decent and true as the original Wizard? Leave the sex stuff to book of that genre. The Fiyero and Elphaba scene ruined the book for me
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