Who else here thinks that the musical was amazing and miles better than the book?

[Samantha]

The musical just provokes so much emotion while I thought the book was slow and distant. I feel like I would have liked the book better if I had read it before seeing the show.

[Tall]

I, too, enjoyed the musical immensely, but liked the book better. The play is a bit of sweet fluff, but the book addresses better the issues of acceptance, bigotry, etc. Loved its darkness.

[Claire]

I thought the book had the potential to be fantastic, but the characters and plot were swamped by the author's own political agenda. It was overbearing, and he didn't give his own characters a chance to breathe under all of the stifling and highly polarizing politics.

The musical, I thought, gave the characters much more room and time for them to just be themselves and develop into fully realized individuals, rather than just be mouthpieces for Maguire's own opinions and politics.

[Tall]

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, other than you disagree with Maguire's "politics,", but there is plenty of political and social commentary in the musical, if you pay attention to the song lyrics and the plot. It's just on the lighter side than the book was. Most great literature has been written by men and women who are highlighting political and social problems. Nothing wrong with that. If you disagree with those writers, and ignore their works because of that, you limit your world view. I disagree that the characters were more developed in the play, but that's how I see it.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

I don't see Maguire as pushing any particular political agenda. Of course, any opinions on ethics or morality can be recast as "politics," but his point is that stories happen within political contexts. The characters are affected by policies and power struggles in their world, because that's how life works--it isn't about good and evil but different people who want different things, and giving stories a fairy tale gloss just overlooks that.

[Euraylie]

I don't really think you can compare the two, especially since I feel the musical is only loosely based on the book.

I love the musical, but I feel it's bit more simplistic in it's themes – which is not a bad thing since I think it's supposed to be entertainment for the whole family.

[Claire]

Tall wrote: "I'm not sure what you're trying to say, other than you disagree with Maguire's "politics,", but there is plenty of political and social commentary in the musical, if you pay attention to the song l..."

I enjoy politics in the stuff I read, and any kind of literature with depth has some level of political relevance, but I personally feel that when a novel is political at the expense of the characters (in other words, the characters are not so much individuals in their own right, but simply vehicles for the author's own agenda) it becomes much less enjoyable for me to read.

[Rashmika]

Defying Gravity all the time!

I enjoyed the musical better than the book, the broadways show brought the book alive through song, dance and of course Glinda! or gAlinda!

[Iris]

I loved, loved, loved the musical, but I also adored and worshiped the original book. It was the first book I rated as 5 stars in the year 2013. So I don't think to compare the two with a 'which was better' question but merely to appreciate both of the very different stories told using the same characters.

[Kelleygurl]

I absolutely LOVED the book. I absolutely HATED the musical. In fact, we contemplated leaving during intermission. If i haven't read the book, I would have had NO idea what was happening. They shouldn't even be compared. They are two different worlds.

[Gaenolee]

I've not seen the musical, but own the soundtrack. I thought the book extremely interesting, and looked forward to hearing the musical. Unfortunately, most of the music was predictable and uninteresting to me. No interest in seeing the musical at this point.

[Donna]

Absolutely. I really disliked the book.

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship]

Iris wrote: "I loved, loved, loved the musical, but I also adored and worshiped the original book. It was the first book I rated as 5 stars in the year 2013. So I don't think to compare the two with a 'which wa..."

Yes! I think it's amazing that they managed to pull off two such different stories and yet they both resonated with me. If there's ever a movie I kind of want them to rewrite it again just to see what they do with it.

[Goddess]

Glindafied the Songbird wrote: "So, I read the book twice, and I saw the musical last April, and am going to see it again in December. I found the musical was just the best thing on the face of this earth, whereas the book was ju..."

Defying Gravity is my fav.

As for the book vs musical - these are diff genres, so you can't judge them by the same benchmark.

The book is a "thinking" novel while the musical is "light entertainment".

I would love to see the musical again but I doubt I'd read the book again. However, I did enjoy the book but for completely diff reasons to the musical.

[Iris]

If we're talking about favorite song then it is definitely 'As Long As Your Mine' I mean c'mon, that love song was KILLER!! And on the soundtrack CD the two lead's voices complement each other perfectly. I jam to that song all day everyday.