Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West | Gregory Maguire

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West | Gregory Maguire | Great *adult* read (too sexy by half)

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Wicked: The Life a...

	Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West Gregory Maguire Harper Paperbacks, 1996 - 406 pages average customer review:based on 1539 reviews view larger image
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Something Wicked this way comes!

Are we born evil or does our environment/situations create evil? Gregory Maguire's revision of the world of Oz takes a look at the evolution of Elphaba, best known to readers and lovers of the popular film as The Wicked Witch of the West. But was she really wicked or just completely misunderstood? Either way, you'll never think of Dorothy or the Wicked Witch in the same light again!

Maquire takes us to beginning as new parents Frex, a religious man, and Melena, born into a life of privilege, receive into the world a little green skinned daughter. Melena, unsure of what to do with the tiny monster she has given birth to, is helped by her childhood nanny to give little 'Fabala' a better start in life. With a mouth of sharp teeth, green pigmentation and "horrors" being her first words, Elphie is a force to be reckoned with. But Nanny works her magic and we next see Elphaba attending Shiz, the university where she meets Galinda (later to become Glinda, the Good Witch). Glinda is a spoiled young lady whose main concerns are popularity and the right people to be seen with---essentially a spoiled frat girl. Through a hand of fate, she and Elphaba become roommates and so begins a lifelong relationship filled with ups and downs.

It is at Shiz where the genesis of Elphaba's love for animals begins. Eventually she becomes an animal activist and political terrorist to support the rights she is dedicated to. Along the way, she has an affair with a married man, a Prince she met at Shiz, who becomes the love of her life. But her secret, dark life effects her hidden lover and she is soon on her way to become a maunt (a nun).

From birth to her time at the university and beyond, Maguire shows us the gradual evolution of Elphaba and the woman she becomes by the time she meets Dorothy, a young lady from the other world, who's house lands on top of and kills, Elphie's sister, Nessarose. There's a lot of components in Maquire's world of Oz---psychology, fantasy, thriller, romance, politics. There are many touches of dark comedy introduced in the story as well, particularly between Elphaba and Glinda. Maquire gives us a complete world full of political struggles, corruption and denied rights of individual and animals that mirror todays world. In the end, the reader can decide if Elphaba's actions were evil or if she was evil from conception. At any rate, I think readers will enjoy this trip to Oz, even more so than the popular film that everyone recognizes.

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Great *adult* read (too sexy by half)

I'm coming at this rather late (the Wicked wave having crested several years back) but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Wicked is the back story of the Wicked Witch of the West as told from a sympathetic point of view. Greg McGuire has woven a compelling story that , while not contradicting the familiar story lines of "The Wizard of Oz," certainly gives it a new spin. The WWW in "Wicked" is the deformed child of a failed preacher and a lonely mother, whose personality, while as sharp as her prowlike facial features, is more hurt than evil. Accustomed to being shut out, she develops a dislike for authority and finds herself at odds with the Wizard himself, seen through her eyes as a genocidal despot.

"Wicked" gives us the dark side of Oz -- a land of industrial exploitation, racial prejudice, backwardness, religious turmoil and political intrigue. It is populated by talking animals, empty-headed social butterflies and nasty boarding school matrons. In spite of her sharp tongue, rude manners and irreligiosity, Elphaba Throp (WWW's given name) sees too clearly to be a comfortable friend. Knowing that an ordinary life as wife and mother is likely out of her reach due to her green skin, she strokes out in more dangerous directions.

"Wicked" is mostly clever about the way Elphaba gathers the familiar accouterments of her screen namesake. It would spoil the book by telling how, but by the end of the book, the reader will have seen her slow transformation from a scorpion-tongued schoolgirl to the dark robed keeper of magic brooms, looking glasses and flying monkeys.

The book does lag in places, notably a section about the politics of Oz and another related to Elphaba's flight from civilization. In addition, at some point, it becomes fairly clear (from elements) that Elphaba gathers around her) how the familiar Wizard of Oz characters -- like the flying monkeys that terrified me as a child -- will come to be. Other sections were a bit too spicy for me and *way* too sexy for any but the savviest high schoolers. Two sections stand out as quite uncomfortable -- the night at the Philosopher's club (an audience-interactive sex show) and a graphic description of a love affair. Film this movie as written and it would rate a solid R, if not an NC-17. Not the kind of book to give a young person who loved the tamer Broadway show.

"Wicked" is compelling reading, written with wit, humor and sparkling prose. Bravo to Greg McGuire for re-imagining a familiar world and imbuing it for plausible features of our own. Bravo to John McDonough for a terrific narration of the audio book, giving the characters their own voice, and giving Elphaba the rough, petulant and wounded voice of her own.

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Wicked

What can I say... this book is... wicked!

I thought the book was great. I thought the quick ending short changed the story, though.

What is the hype??

OK, I broke down and bought the book after all the hype. I cannot figure out what was so great about the story.

The idea is the Elphaba is the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. But, the catch is she is not really that bad. Yes, she is green, has a temper, and a fear of water. But she is really not that wicked. The story starts out with her mother being a higher up that left the city to marry a preacher and live in the country, which she hates all of it. She does lover her husband but is sleeping with everyone that comes around. She believes that she gives birth to a monster and calls in her nanny to take care of her.

The next part is about Elphaba at school. She does not fit in and has strong opinions about the great wizard of oz taking away the rights of Animals, animals that talk and such. You also meet her sister, Nessarose, who is a religion nut. With a turn of events, she leaves school and hides out at the Emerald City and doing basic terrorist activities.

From there she has an affair with an old school mate. Guilty she leaves the Emerald City to find the unfortunate wife to beg for forgiveness for the affair.

I have to say that it is a good story if it would have been shortened to 300 pages. There was so much detail about everything that I had a hard time sticking with the story. I also got a little confused on the quick change of moods of Elphaba. I could not understand what was the point of sending the flying monkeys after Dorothy, inviting her to dinner, then threatening her with a little broom. She was not a mood swing girl, she was psychotic.

I have yet to figure out if it was work keeping or selling or even worth reading the next books in the series.

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