Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (The Wicked Years, #1) in Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy

Feb 25, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it

Busting out my born-and-raised Bostonian accent, let me just say, this is Wicked awesome!

Without taking itself too seriously, Gregory Maguire's Wicked takes Frank L. Baum's original work quite seriously, using reverential satire, witty wordplay and just plain silliness to tell a fan's version of the Wicked Witch of the West's backstory. Like a roaster lightly and lovingly giving the roastee a tender "going over", coddling his target out of a deep love and respect, Maguire delicately prods Baum's Busting out my born-and-raised Bostonian accent, let me just say, this is Wicked awesome!

Without taking itself too seriously, Gregory Maguire's Wicked takes Frank L. Baum's original work quite seriously, using reverential satire, witty wordplay and just plain silliness to tell a fan's version of the Wicked Witch of the West's backstory. Like a roaster lightly and lovingly giving the roastee a tender "going over", coddling his target out of a deep love and respect, Maguire delicately prods Baum's material, for instance, giving unintended meaning to or investing heavy with innuendo scenes and situations that the originator probably unintentionally left open to interpretation.

The book hinges upon the descent of the central character into a kind of madness. Maguire's Witch becomes a sort of Raskolnikov character, over thinking herself into believing her own mania, such as Dostoyevsky's anti-hero in Crime and Punishment. She is propelled by emotion, which she attempts to suppress, and an ideological movement, which she wholly embraces to the point of being enveloped by it. By the end, both have her wrapped within their choking grasp. Maguire's handling of this descent is relatively subtle. He takes his time to lay down some of the important breaking points in the Witch's life that eventually transform her from a little girl into a monster, a very real monster if not for the reasons she is perceived to be one.

I've read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz only once and have seen The Wizard of Oz movie countless times, so my ideas of how the story goes is skewed towards the Hollywood version. That's good and bad. Good, because this is one of those times when the movie improved upon the source material. Specifically, the movie cuts out a lot of unnecessary fluff that bogs the book down. Bad, because the movie distorts some parts of the book. That's not really a problem, unless you're trying to remember what's what and who's who in this Land of Oz Frank L. Baum created. Maguire relies heavily on the reader already knowing this stuff. If you don't, you'll be a bit lost in a wealth of new characters and creatures coming from Baum's pre-existing fantasy world. Maguire's layering on of politics will probably drag down the story and bore you. Plus you won't be in on some of the jokes! So yes, I'm suggesting you read The Wonderful Wizard of Oz before attempting Wicked.

It's taken a while for me to get around to reading it myself. I was under the impression that its appeal was directed towards women, since they were the only ones reading it. Certainly it has a feminine slant. Most of the principle characters are female. The other inhibitor was that Wicked had been turned into an extremely popular Broadway hit, heralded by a seemingly undiscerning, Disney-loving mass. The number of reviews right here on Goodreads by folks who first saw the show, then read this book and gave it a scathing review, seemed to back that theory up. However, that they lambasted it as "too vulgar", "not like the show at all", "too long" and that the musical "summed up the first half of the book in an 8 minute long song!" made me realize this was probably a really good book worth reading. If it makes non-readers hold their nose and back away, that's the book for me! ...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Kevin Xu rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-not-finish

trying to make Oz modern does not work, Fairy Tales are not real! this is for people who do not really read real fantasies.

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Dec 31, 2019 Vincent Darlage rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, adventure, drama

I am not sure what to think of this. I will say that the movie is 100 times better than this book. This book was a narrative mess. I really was not expecting all the puppet sex at the start of the novel. I mean, some puppet sex, but this was more than expected (in an interview, the author said he included the 'ribald, unappealing sex scene in the first 10 pages so people would know it was not for children" to read).

Also there was a lot more toilet humor than I was expecting also. Lots of flatul I am not sure what to think of this. I will say that the movie is 100 times better than this book. This book was a narrative mess. I really was not expecting all the puppet sex at the start of the novel. I mean, some puppet sex, but this was more than expected (in an interview, the author said he included the 'ribald, unappealing sex scene in the first 10 pages so people would know it was not for children" to read).

Also there was a lot more toilet humor than I was expecting also. Lots of flatulence, pee, and bodily fluids going everywhere it seems. I really don't have much of an appreciation for toilet humor or crudity like this. Also more child sexploitation than I was comfortable with. And sex with animals (in one scene, a man and a woman have magically-forced sex with a tiger). I was also surprised at the amount of effort to describe Elphaba's genitals at one point, and the topless child Nor toward the end when she discovered the broom could fly (it would barely fly for Elphaba - she had to threaten to set it on fire to get it to fly). And then there's the bizarre sex club which was introduced towards the middle of the story, and then only mentioned one more time toward the end by someone who went and was sure Elphaba went also (she didn't). And the Wizard takes a child as a slave.

Elphaba has no talent for sorcery. She has a flying broom and is an outcast, and that makes her a witch. Likewise, her sister, who has no arms, was just a religious zealot, and also wasn't really what I'd call a witch, but she was the Wicked Witch of the East. Glinda was the only one with a talent for sorcery.

Absolutely a bizarre novel, with some smidgeon of insight here and there, but mostly... just a lot of wasted time on characters who never really develop into anything. Nor, just a child who likes going topless, ends up enslaved by the Wizard and is never freed. Liir... no real personality besides being fat and dumb. I don't know. Elphaba isn't even allowed to kill Madame Morible - she just mutilates her corpse.

Elphaba has a child, but doesn't remember being pregnant or giving birth. That was weird. The plot was all over the place. The book had definite ideas that were on the verge of being made into something, but somehow these ideas never really fully manifested themselves - there would be time jumps, things that happened, but weren't happening on screen that would have been much more interesting if they had. And in the midst of all the ideas that were starting to go somewhere, the author would suddenly throw in disgusting nonsense or unnecessary sex or weird descriptions, or just a time jump to a point where the interesting idea that was starting to go somewhere just didn't matter now.

I don't mind an origin that gives us a different perspective of the character, but this author also changes the ending from the original novel. Instead of throwing the bucket on the witch because the witch took one of the shoes, the witch accidentally caught herself on fire and Dorothy was trying to help her when she threw the bucket.

Oh, and no mention of the golden hat the Wicked Witch used to control the flying monkeys. Even the classic movie had an appearance of the hat (Margaret Hamilton was holding it in her hands when she ordered the flying monkeys in one scene).

Seriously, I recommend watching the movie or seeing the musical... but skip the book. This is one of those rare times the movie is better than the book. This book was a massive disappointment. ...more

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Jan 15, 2011 Katelyn Fenerty rated it it was amazing

I must say I really enjoyed Wicked. It is very different from the musical Wicked.

After having seen the musical twice, I thought I should read the novel it was based off of. I have no regrets readinf this book. It was different, but a good kind if of different in my opinion.

The style itnwas written in was sort of different, but that didn't bother me at all.

The novel was really good, however I think the musical does some of the characters more justice. Especially Glinda and Elphaba. In the book ...more

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Nov 27, 2009 Dustan rated it really liked it

Beautiful characters. Great language, well put together for a great story with a bleak ending that to me, and me alone, was very sarcastic towards certain beliefs. Enjoyed it immensely, but the ending makes me think twice of reading another one of McGuire's books (probably ONLY because I have such a different worldview than he and it's depressing. He's an amazing author, that I can learn from. ...more

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Nov 30, 2009 Dee rated it liked it

I read this for a book group. It was an interesting take on the land of the Wizard of Oz.

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Jan 12, 2013 Barbara rated it liked it

If you're a fan of the Oz books you'd probably enjoy this biography. The Wicked Witch of the West certainly had an interesting life complete with unusal parents, a love affair, political activism, and troubles with the Wizard of Oz. ...more

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