Gregory Maguire

So everyone loves Wicked, right? At least, thats what I've heard. "Wicked's so good!" "An immediate classic!" "A best-selling original novel!" I call Maguire's bluff. I've been fed lies.

I heard of Wicked from the Broadway advertisements. Its super popular, and when its coming to your city, it tends to be EVERYWHERE. You see the TV ads, hear the radio commercials and see the billboards & flyers. People around you have begun reading it, even people you know who you never thought could show more actually read or even knew what a book was. You read reviews and everyone says its "one of the best books I've ever read." I pick this book up and start it and find myself wondering: "What in the heck is wrong with you people?!?! I've been conned!!!" Yep. That's right. I'll say it now: THIS BOOK IS TRASH. Did you hear me? TRASH. In case that doesn't stick, here are some more: Excrement, Garbage, Filth, Junk, Muck, Rubbish, Sewage, Slop, Waste, Atrocious, Awful, Carelessly Written, Crummy, Dissatisfactory, Dreadful, Icky, Junky, Lousy, A Rip-Off, and completely UNACCEPTABLE. What has gotten into people's minds? This "wonderful piece of literature" falls flat in every possible way.

In all honesty, I read only the first part of this book. That's all I could stomach. However, I skimmed the rest and my reading partner finished it off for me and completely filled me in. I read other excerpts and whatnot. So, I am pretty well informed with this book. I might as well have read it, but luckily I was able to salvage whatever willpower I was left with after being subjected to torture of the worse kind. This is poorly written, insubstantial, overly perverted and completely blasphemous. I care nothing for Elphaba...this story doesn't even remotely tell us ANYTHING about her, except that LIKE HER MOTHER, she enjoys an affair. She is wicked, without a doubt, but you never find out why. People were nice to her and she was mean in turn. She had friends, but I guess that wasn't enough for her. She was a vegetarian and LOVED animals. What in the heck went wrong?? No one knows, because Mr. Maguire refused to tell us. It is even states in the text that no one knows why she is wicked, she just is. What the heck am I doing here reading this then? I figured that "The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" would at least give us some insight into why the Wicked Witch is the way she is today. I figured she probably was ill-treated when she was young or that something set her off, but seriously? Nothing. No explanation whatsoever. If this was just supposed to be about the way Oz is run then why not entitle it: "Wicked-A Brief Glance at How The Land of Oz is Run and its Citizens." Because, that's all I felt I read about. I found affairs, animal rights activists, selfish leaders, and just overall disgusting writing.

Is this the best book we can be given in this day and age? You would figure that since we, people as a whole, have come so far that we could afford to write better books. In my opinion, I am ashamed to live in an era where people think Wicked is actually worth wasting time on. How pathetic can you get?? I've read some pretty bad books, but this one takes the cake. Thanks very much for making me do this Mr. Maguire. Now I feel I have to take it upon myself to protect all the people who actually read for substance from this book of erroneous bull-monkey. Oh wait, I'm sorry, flying monkey feces. My apologies.

This book doesn't actually deserve a star, but as it is, Goodreads does not allow me to do that. I'm actually doing an injustice by just handing that star over. So, do yourselves a favor and don't even bother with Wicked. Just look it up and read a synopsis, because reading the book won't give you anymore than that. I am really glad I borrowed this from the library and didn't waste any money.

P.S. Mr. Maguire: Cheap shots at the Church do not a good book make! show less

Wicked 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 show more 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. show less

I'll confess, at the start: I'm a huge Gregory Maguire fan, having loved his work since Wicked. His singular talent, I believe, is approaching fairy tales from an entirely new perspective, one colored by modern sensibilities, to be sure, but that kind of loving retelling is an essential part of the lives of all fairy tales. This take on Anderson's "The Wild Swans," set at Christmastime in 1960's New York, is another Maguire success. His descriptions of the Laura, the main character, her show more immigrant Italian grandparents, and the world they inhabit is spot-on; details like the brand of bubble bath she uses bring the reader fully into the story. If I had one complaint, it would be that we learn next to nothing about the swan boy; I'd have liked to have more scenes where he and Laura learn more about one another's world (although their parting scene is just exquisitely beautiful). For fans of fairy tales and fairy tale retellings alike, A Wild Winter Swan is a delight. show less

I have no idea why I wanted to read this book - I haven't seen the musical, stage or screen, and have only just started reading The Wizard of Oz for context (I don't even think I've watched that film all the way through!)

Anyway, I kept reading, which took a while and might have involved skimming through the final chapters, so there definitely is something to Maguire's worldbuilding; I also enjoyed the fact that some of the locations are based on the author's stay in the UK while writing (the show more Lake District, I think). Elphaba is the Wicked Witch of the West, or eventually earns that title, who rooms with Glinda the Good Witch at college; Elphaba's sister Nessrose is the Wicked Witch of the East who gets a house dropped her at the start of Baum's story. Elphie is also green, has a prominent nose and chin, and hates water, so the signs were there, I guess! Other characters I liked include Nanny, who talks about herself in the third person and is wonderfully pragmatic, Boq the Munchkin charmer who falls for Glinda and his louche friend Avaric, and Sarima and her numbered sisters.

All very clever, with debates on religion and evil to weigh down the irreverent humour, but the pace is too slack and the book too long (although I keep saying that so maybe my stamina is at fault!) I don't think I'll continue with the rest of the series but might watch the film version now (which focuses on the relationship between Elphaba and Glinda and cuts a lot of the rest, I believe). show less