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

Rating:
Summary: "Wickedly" amazing
Review: Let's face it. America has always had a fascination with "The Wizard of Oz". We all know the Wicked Witch of the West very well. Sure, she is green, mysterious, and evil, but we know all there is to know about her...right?

Gregory Maguire has single-handedly (well, I suppose "double-handedly" with L. Frank Baum's inspiration) created the best work of fiction yet to be read. It is brilliant, cynical, and has ruthless yet emotional tones with which this tapestry is weaved. His words dance through the pages as you eagerly read the best book ever written.

Why is this book so good? The mystery with the Wicked Witch of the West is explained, but told...well, mysteriously. You see, we are told about her, but we stil do not understand her. It is a free sample, but not enough to satisfy. This brilliant master of storytelling does this by intensifying the mystery held through her.

It starts off with a priest, Frex, and his manizer wife, Melena, parting because he has to convert some Munchkins and a villager who we do not know much about sleeps with Melena, thus empregnating her with Elphaba...or the Wicked Witch of the West, as she shall become.

Unlike most books, this is not told beginning to end. It begins with her infancy, jumps to her going to college, her midlife, her in her mid-40s, and her final days. On the way, she puts up with Nessarose, her handicapped sister who is destined to become the Wicked Witch of the East and Galinda, later Glinda. They at first cannot stand each other, but gain a gradual respect and love for one another.

This book, despite its title, is not a direct focus on Elphaba. It is an epic tale of the witches of Oz, which initally contradict everything we think we know about Oz, but eventually fall into place as Oz is torn by politics, racial descrepencies, and other issues that unite yet seperate these three intelligent women. "Wicked" is an absolute must-read and it is good for teenagers and older because of some explicit sex scenes.

I hope you enjoy "Wicked". It changes your views on the birth and roots of evil. And if you enjoy it very much, I strongly suggest the Broadway cast Album...it is brilliant and you would probably love it as much as, if not more than, the book. They both display the blatan world which describes just how no one mourns the wicked.

Rating:
Summary: ...a wicked feast of language and allegory.
Review: So, you thought you knew the story of Oz.

Maguire gives a whole new spin on the classic L. Frank Baum story. From the Wicked Witch of the West's childhood as an obvious outsider, to her school days which shape her ideals, to her time as a visionary, fighting for Animal rights. The story introduces you to Elphaba's one great love and her later years as an outcast. Maguire paints the picture of a woman torn by her passions and her ethics. It will leave you asking yourself to define just what is wicked?

A gripping story that kept me flipping the pages.

Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Time and Money!
Review: I read to page 200 when I realized I was only still reading because I had spent $12 on the book--not exactly the best of reasons! I had been wanting to read the book for a long time and expected GREAT things because of all of the hype. I was severely disappointed. The plot was non-existent, jumping around, getting me partially interested and then halting, only to continue on somewhere else. All of the characters were extremely unlikeable and unbelievable. The Land of Oz was a wasteland, holding nothing magical or even somewhat representative of the land from the original. Instead, I found a book full of political rantings, which I could care less about, and pages filled with cheap, tawdry sex scenes. Maguire couldn't find an interesting plot, so instead decided to take a cheap shot and expand on his characters' sex lives. I had originally planned on reading Maguire's other novels, but now I know to not to waste my time or money!

Rating:
Summary: Unexpected
Review: Wow! Was this a different book. Wicked was way better than i expected, i read it as a selection in a school book club and was not looking forward to it, but it was great!
The world Maguire creates is so amazingly complex, and the characters are awsome. I was shocked to find that i really liked Elphaba. I've always liked The Wizard of Oz and I loved to hate the Wicked Witch of the West. It was a much more envolved story that completely desrtoyed my veiw of the Wizard of Oz, but at the same time I couldn't put it down.
I recommend this book to anyone that likes fatasy or wants to try reading a fantasy because it definately isn't your average fantasy.


Rating:
Summary: For fans of Wicked the musical and The Wizard of Oz
Review: This is for the mature reader (listener), who can appreciate a plot with many ambiguities and points of view. Also there is frustration from following a character through some narrow-minded but initially well-intentioned mistakes.

Also, five stars to the narrator who was able to create a unique voice for each of the characters.

Rating:
Summary: A journey of unintentional badness
Review: How many times have we visited the MGM version of Oz? Judy Garland's red rubied shoes dancing along a technicolor Yellow Brick Road, with her comrades singing in tow. A bewjweled Emerald City filled with singing citizens and horses altering their colors. A witch so purely evil that her presence is felt even when not on the screen. It's indeliable, burnt into our collective American memory. Maguire's version is, to say the least, not MGM's version, but one of his own, unique creation.

Meet Elphaba, destined from birth to become what her first word is, a horror. However, Maguire spins the tale of Elphie to have us explore the nature of evil, and how someone might turn "evil", whatever evil may be. Given a certain set of circumstances, one may find oneself doing and thinking things they might have never done before. Elphie finds herself an outcast of sorts because of her greenish skin, but overcomes her condition as she attends Shiz University in Oz.

It's at Shiz where she meets the great Galinda, and due to unfortuante circumstances, must be her "roomie". The two become an odd pair, and one thinks that their paring makes more and more sense as the story spins forward. Is Maguire suggesting that evil needs goodness to survive, as Galinda, soon Glinda, needs Elphaba? It's a tempting thought.

However, this is the Wicked Witch of the West's story, and not Glinda's. She soon disappears from the story and is mentioned only in passing from time to time. I would have appreciated to have a counterpoint to Elphaba's story in Glinda's story, but then, the title of the book is Wicked, not Goodness, so that decision makes sense.

One must shed preconvinced ideas of the Wizard of Oz in order to full appreciate this book. As Maguire states, this isn't ever meant to be a prequel to the Wizard of Oz, but a re-imaginging of the story. Maguire's writing story is fluid and wordy, and takes a moment to sink into. Once you allow yourself to enter Oz, it's a journey worth taking. Catch the closest tornado and be ready for a reading ride of your life.

Rating:
Summary: Depends on your comfort level...
Review: Baby biting herself, sex, drugs, and evil... Not my idea of a great book but I have to say that that the author writes well and has a very vivid imagination. This twisted book really takes a close look at the story before we all meet the wizard in Oz. I tend to read books that I find are beneficial to me and I found this one uncomfortable and didn't finish it because of that. Those of you out there who are into pushing the limits will probably love this book. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Wickedly disappointed ...
Review: I had read so many positive reviews of this book, however, after my own reading of it I was VERY disappointed. When I began, I was under the impression of such a wonderful story that had so much potential but as I progressed I was engrossed in garbled language that made the the plot difficult to understand. Not only the creation of a unfamiliar language but the multiple twisted sexual exploits of numerous creatures lost my interest almost immediately.
Considering that this story was derived from childrens' fairytale, evil or otherwise, at what point would these characters actually be exposed to and use curse words from the writer's own native tongue, why weren't those words made up?