Wicked, our book club’s selection this month, was not a book I expected to enjoy. It is a retelling of the Oz story from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West, beginning with her birth and childhood and ending with her infamous death by water bucket. I am not a fan of the whole Oz story-verse generally, but I did enjoy Wicked, very much.

Maguire has transformed his subject matter from children’s adventure to something much funnier, more satirical and definitely more adult. His version of Oz is a dangerous and corrupt place, ruled by a despot with an iron fist. The three Witches — Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who was born with green skin and a decidedly anti-social disposition; her sister, Nessarose, who was born without arms and grew up to be a religious fanatic; and her college roommate, Glinda, who is a bit of a dingbat — attend university together as young ladies. There they are manipulated by their headmistress into becoming Adepts, pawns of the Wizard who unwittingly help him maintain his control in the regions where they hold sway. Elphaba, even at the end, has no idea how she has been used, even when Dorothy, another stooge, quite accidentally douses her with that handy bucket. Wicked is, quite surprisingly, a novel filled with political intrigue and dark humor, and is a lot of fun to read.

http://readmorebooks.wordpress.com

I liked reading this, but I have a gripe about it. I wanted it to reconcile with The Wizard of Oz. That was the draw for me… to hear the witch’s side of the story. I realize that stories told from two different perspectives don’t always reconcile perfectly due to how people perceive things differently. But neither of these stories were written in the first person. In other words, Dorothy didn’t tell the first story, and the witch didn’t tell the second. I would have liked to see Gregory Maguire take more care to keep the stories in sync.

That said, I’d love to read the Wizard’s story now. He’s the biggest mystery of all.

After reading this book, I can no longer watch The Wizard of Oz. I look at Dorothy very differently now, and not in a good way.

Just after reading the book, it came to Broadway in Chicago – I was thrilled. I enjoyed the show so much, I ended up giving tickets for Christmas presents. (I was annoyed that they messed with the ending though.)

I even listen to the CD in the truck… No Good Deed is my favorite song on the CD.

Upon reading the book, this song kept running through my head. All propaganda, poor Neassarose, poor Elphaba!
Glinda is such a bitch. Couldn’t she just hold on to those ruby slippers?!? They weren’t hers to give to Dorothy!

I am completely shocked at the low number of people that have read this book. 20? Seriously? A great book with a great political statement!