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Loading... Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995)by Gregory Maguire
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this was some kind of test of endurance, let me tell you. ( ![]() As an instructional aide and a camp counselor I was lucky enough to see the Broadway play a few times. It was amazing and witty and fun. Unfortunately, it was many years ago that I saw it, and I don’t remember it all that well, but from what I remember it was nothing like this book. The characters were boorish at best, the timeline skipped around with no real regularity, at times the story was crude and crass for no reason, the plot was also thin with the story so meandering and superfluous that it was often lost. Books I love I race through because I can’t put them down, this one I raced through just to get it over with. i remember going to theatre to see this and i found it so cool! i read the book and it was even better! a wicked take to the wizard of oz, with humor wit and wonderful characterisation this is my favorite wizard of oz (excluding the muppet movie one) wow. This was dark! Not what I was prepared for at all lol I agree with so many of the other reviews - this book is terrible. Nothing like I thought it would be, even after reading descriptions of it. I have not finished it, but I seriously doubt it will improve. I am sticking with it because I got it as a gift from my brother (who I told that I wanted it) and I will feel guilty if I don't finish it. My recommendation - don't even start it!
Although Mr. Maguire demonstrates a knack for conjuring up bizarre adventures for Elphie and introducing her to an eccentric cast of creatures (though nowhere near as enchanting as the many creatures Baum invented in his multiple sequels to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"), his insistence on politicizing Oz and injecting it with a heavy dose of moral relativism turns a wonderfully spontaneous world of fantasy into a lugubrious allegorical realm, in which everything and everyone is labeled with a topical name tag. With a husky voice and a gentle, dramatic manner that will call to mind the image of a patient grandfather reading to an excited gaggle of children, McDonough leisurely narrates this fantastical tale of good and evil, of choice and responsibility. In Maguire's Oz, Elphaba, better known as the Wicked Witch of the West, is not wicked; nor is she a formally schooled witch. Instead, she's an insecure, unfortunately green Munchkinlander who's willing to take radical steps to unseat the tyrannical Wizard of Oz. Using an appropriately brusque voice for the always blunt Elphaba, McDonough relates her tumultuous childhood (spent with an alcoholic mother and a minister father) and eye-opening school years (when she befriends her roommate, Glinda). McDonough's pacing remains frustratingly slow even after the plot picks up, and Elphaba's protracted ruminations on the nature of evil will have some listeners longing for an abridgement. Still, McDonough's excellent portrayals of Elphaba's outspoken, gravel-voiced nanny and Glinda's snobbish friends make this excursion to Oz worthwhile Belongs to SeriesThe Wicked Years (1) Is contained inNovels by Gregory Maguire: Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Son of a Witch, a Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire (indirect) Is a retelling ofHas the adaptationHas as a student's study guide
This re-creation of the land of Oz, tells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who wasn't so wicked after all. Past the yellow brick road and into a phantasmagoric world rich with imagination and allegory, Wicked just might change the reputation of one of the most sinister characters in literature. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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