Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing
Review: "Lost," which examines, deconstructs, and riffs on English children's stories (to say nothing of Dante's Inferno) begins with a blocked hack writer named Winifred Rudge leaving her native Boston for a visit to her step-cousin's flat in London-a flat in a house that, we are told, was built by one of her ancestors, a man who may have been the inspiration for Dickens's Scrooge.On her arrival Winnie finds her step-cousin absent and the apartment in the possession of two looney contractors, who are building an illegal stairway to the roof. Winnie tries to cope, ordering the contractors about and making myriad and unsuccessful efforts to find her step-cousin, John Comestor, and meeting a series of eccentric people. Unlike the "Alice" stories, however, Winnie is less mentally competent (and far less likable) than Lewis Carroll's practical little girl, while the professor of medieval history, the spiritualist, the dotty old lady, and the woman who casts children's hands for a living are clever for the most part, and more than somewhat sympathetic. And, if this weren't enough, the place is quite possibly haunted. And the ghost is possibly Jack the Ripper's. Well now! Author Gregory Maguire, best-known for his clever "Wicked," a re-write of "The Wizard of Oz" told from the witch's point of view, ventures forth here without a safety net, concocting a story that's all his own. Without the constraints of having to hew to the plot lines of a tale familiar to us all (he couldn't have let the witch survive, now could he?) this time out Maguire creates something that's all his. And in doing so he manages to make what at first seems hauntingly terrifying in the end quite explicable, if no less disturbing. It frightens, but maybe not in the way you'd expect. Notes and asides: The cover design and illustrations by Douglas Smith are stunning. Yes, this edition comes complete with the now apparently obligatory reader's group questions ("in what way is fantasy a distraction from the real world?"). Those of Maguire's readers who complain that this book is _not_ like "Wicked" would be advised to recall Joni Mitchell's famous admonition that nobody ever asked Van Gogh to paint "Starry Night" again.
Rating: 
Summary: Unfortunately disappointing.
Review: Yes, yes I have read Wicked & Stepsister. Yes Wicked is one of my favorite books. But this review is about Lost. And that is exactly what it is. It wasn't until the last 1/10th of the book that I got interested in the story at all. And even that didn't last, as I thought the ending was dreadful. This book does not live up to the storytelling and writing that Gregory Maguire is known for. The story is halfhearted and not fully explained. Many of the long, rambly descriptive paragraphs in the book are confusing and leave the feeling that Maguire has either lost his mind himself or has lost grasp of the English language all together. I finished Lost feeling cheated and disappointed. Lost does not live up to it's own author.
Rating: 
Summary: A Magical and Mysterious Journey
Review: Gregory Maguire has a gift for interweaving tales we have known in childhood into the lives of modern day characters, and the outcome here is once again magical. Put into a genie's bottle the following: supremely well-crafted prose, love of the mysteries of life and human beings, and a deep understanding of legends that shine within our collective consciousness, and out of the genie's bottle will emerge this intriguing novel. Replete with references from beloved stories of childhood, such as Alice in Wonderland and A Christmas Carol, this story chronicles the journey of a guarded and ultimately wounded heroine, who, perhaps unconsciously, is seeking to exorcise what haunts her life. As the main character travels from Boston to London, she also travels more deeply into the past and into her own imagination, and even as she is thwarted outwardly, she attempts to make contact with her inner characters and her inner pain through her writing. Thus we are given a double exposure, and sometimes a triple exposure, of her struggle: on the surface, she is armored and acerbic, engaging in conversations that are both funny and touching; beneath, through her own novel excerpts, which sometimes parallel the outer story, we glimpse what has caused her this deep reserve and what has brought her not only to England but also to a place that seems haunted and mysterious. Still beyond this, we are given the overlay of historical references of the past (she is researching Jack the Ripper) and of allusions to familiar voices we have known from a different era. And finally, the sure and steady narrative voice combines beautifully descriptive phrases on every page ("Thunder blurted, a distant throat-clearing of one of the more cautious gods") and insights into the human situation ("When you're haunted by any variety of effective nonsense, like love or guilt or poetry or memory, which are anyway at their bitter root the same thing -- the primary symtom is paralysis.") As with Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Gregory Maguire has once again brewed his magic and given his readers a novel of wonder.
Rating:
Summary: I am "Lost"
Review: Unlike all of the other reviewers, I have not yet read "Wicked", but I did read "Confessions" prior to "Lost". I really enjoyed "Confessions" and Mr. Maguire's writing style. I am an avid reader and read all types of novels with an open mind, but "Lost" just plain confused me ! I was intrigued early on, then got impatient, then bored and finally lost. This novel jumped around so much that I could not get a grip on it. It was compared to "Possesion" by A.S. Byatt which I also disliked for some of the same reasons. The story within a story format could be interesting, but it just was not clear to me in "Lost" where he was going with anything. Scrooge? Peter Pan? Jack the Ripper? Their connection(s) did not make sense to me really. It just did not click with me. I can actually say I did not like nor did I dislike Winnie. I just felt that I never really got to know her. By the end of a novel one usually hates or loves the main character, but here I was, disappointed at the end. I did not know whether to be happy for Winnie or sad for her. This book made me laugh a couple of times, but I was not gripped with suspense at all, or intrigued. None of the characters seemed real to me. I will not let this stop me from reading "Wicked" which I intend to do, but I have to say that I was very disappointed, and that does not happen very often.
Rating: 
Summary: The fun is "Lost"
Review: I bought "Lost" hoping it would be as clever and interesting as "Wicked". I ripped through the book looking for the fun, but finished before it appeared. Best to choose a differnt book.
Rating:
Summary: Eh.
Review: I picked up this book because there are such rave reviews of everything else Maguire has written everywhere I turn. I figured that this would be the same. Unfortunately I was very disappointed in this. The story seemed so fragmented! I never developed any sort of feelings for Winnie, I just wanted her to shut up and get over it. She didn't believe in ghosts, but yet she kept saying there was a ghost in the house. The complete fool she made of herself at Rasia's left me cringing. The end of the book left me angry. Was it Irv that she wanted or John? There were so many loose ends left dangling. And usually when there are loose ends it implys a sequel. Please Mr. Maguire, leave Winnie Rudge well enough alone.
Rating:
Summary: truly lost
Review: I read and enjoyed WICKED years ago so I was looking forward to Mr.Maguire's latest offering with anticipation. However I must admit that this novel truly lost me, even though I fought hard to stay in the tale. I found LOST to be silly, lacking in a compelling plot or even good situations. The references to Jack the Ripper, Dickens, Scrooge and others seem as if coming from somebody who knew nothing about these subjects. I am surely that is not the case, and I attribute this to the poor crafting of the novel. The London setting, as well as a normandy tip, have the feel of a bad tourist guide. The self-consciousness of the "american abroad" theme teams up with a sense that Mr.Maguire seems incapable of "getting" the brits, the french or anything beyond suburban Massachussets. Something went wrong with this novel from the beginning. The humor isn't funny, the storyline reads like a rushed and hollow mishmash of literary references and the general tone and writing leave one with the impression of having sat through a TV sitcom of "american lady abroad" spiced with anaemic ghostly touches. I am positive that Mr.Maguire can do tons better than this, as WICKED proved. Let's hope this was just a mistep and he returns to his former competent self. If LOST is your first, don't let it prejudice against this author. Go for WICKED, and leave this for one of those truly benevolent nights...
Rating:
Summary: I made a mistake
Review: I picked up Lost expecting it to be like Wicked or Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, it certainly wasn't like either of them. The plot wanders all over the map, none of the characters were interesting, least of all Winifred Rudge. I spent most of the book completely lost(Okay, bad pun). The end was better than the rest of the book, Maguire seemed to have decided by then where it was going, and it tied up some loose ends, but overall, it just wasn't as great or as thought provoking as his other works.
Rating:
Summary: Allow a man to evolve people
Review: I just finished reading Lost. Couldn't put it down. Found myself . . . "Lost" in it! There are lots of kinds of people in the world and from the reviews here it appears that they fall into two categories: those who would like the wheel to be reinvented consistently every time, and those who enjoy variety and evolution. If you wanted this book to be Wicked all over again, you're in luck, books are reusable. If you go back to the first page you can read it . . . again! I've read Wicked three times! This author is on a journey. He has taken a stab at using is own story line in this book rather than relying on someone else's. I have to say that Wicked was one of the best books I've every read, and no, this is not Wicked, but it was a damned good read. It was very literally apparent that he took a lot of influence and ideas from A Christmas Carol, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, etc. But there are some more literary influences at work here that he did not spell out. I was reminded of "The Yellow Wall Paper", "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall", "Pedro Paramo" and some other experimental styles of writing. If you cannot tolerate constant stream of thought style literature this is not for you. If you need the structure of small chapters, punctuation, clear dialog, the distinction between voices, etc this book is not for you. Some people like to cozy up and read a good book, others enjoy the intellectual challenge of digesting literature. The thing about Maguire is that he demonstrated his ability to write and combine pulp fiction and literature when he wrote Wicked. All the pulp fiction, Wicked fans that jumped aboard the Maguire band wagon are disappointed because they don't want to have to think too hard, they just want to sit back and enjoy. I'm really not trying to pass judgment here; just figure out what you want out of your reading experience before you buy. The negative reviews you see here are largely from people who couldn't figure out how to re-read Wicked!
Rating:
Summary: Not his best work, go read Wicked again =;)
Review: Lost: A Novel (2/5) Gregory Maguire
I was so rabid about Wicked that I was a bit trepidatious about reading this one... unfortunately I was right.
Frankly, it wasn't horrible. It wasn't great either. The beginning reminded me of that dream (that everyone has) where you are in a situation that you have no clue what is going on... then slowly you get clue after clue to the situation. Finally you realize that you've forgottennsomething so important (like: you are taking care of the baby (anyone's, not necessarily yours) and you have forgotten to feed it for several days. OR you are in high school again and you can't for the life of you remember your locker combination and you are also late for the exam...well, there's all my neuroses out on display.) and the adrenaline rush wakes you up.
I plugged away since Wicked also took a bit of time to get into, but once I was there, I was HOOKED and then I read it again but this one didn't drag me in.
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