What a Witch!
I couldn’t resist reading “Wicked: the Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” again. It’s my favorite Gregory Maguire book and I recently saw the musical. It had been several years since I’d read the book and I decided I needed to know how the two were different. The answer is night and day! The book is very different from the musical. It’s tone is much darker, the plotline is a thousand times more complex and the characters aren’t caricatures of those we grew up with in the movie. Clearly the musical is geared towards people who will always think of Judy Garland as Dorothy. The book has a broader appeal, especially to fans of fantasy.
And reading this book requires an acceptance of fantastical elements. Maguire forces the reader to just keep accepting terminology and references to people, places and things that we can’t even fathom. While many people feel that this is a book about the nature of evil, I would argue that’s it is largely about how power and politics can corrupt a leader.
What’s great about this book is that it takes a story that we all think we’re familiar with - Wicked Witch of the West is out to get an innocent kid from Kansas and the kid wins out - and twists it all around until we’re unsure of who’s right, who’s evil and what’s really going on. I like books that challenge the mind and force us to examine our prejudices, and if you can stick with “Wicked” this book will do that.
Be forewarned that there is some bizarre sexual content in the book. Because of the musical, many teens are interested in the book. I would say that the book is probably okay for those 14 and older, but you should probably preview it or read it along with a teen.
I’ve read some of Maguire’s other books with mixed reviews. Knowing how much that I enjoyed “Wicked”, I expected to love “Son of a Witch” and stood in line for some time to get a copy signed by Maguire. Then I could never get into it! I did enjoy “Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister”. ”Mirror, Mirror” was not worth reading. And “What the Dickens” a kids’ book about a rogue tooth fairy was cute for young children (under 9) but nothing that I’d put on my shelf for keeps.
If you love novels that immediately immerse you into a different time/culture/fantastical world, I would also suggest any of the “Game of Thrones” series by George RR Martin, or for younger readers, “The Golden Compass” by Phillip Pullman.
Posted in Sci Fi/ Fantasy