Wicked

I initially read this book because I watched the movie "Wicked". I found myself confused; I had never seen the musical or read the original "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West", so I was unable to bridge the plot points occurring in the musical movie with what I knew of the original "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" movie. So, in a quest for understanding, I read this book, assuming that it was a case of important details being left out in the adaptation.

I cannot express how different the musical is from the novel that inspired it. And the novel is so far removed from the plot of the original "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" that calling it a "re-imagining" is a stretch. Almost none of the major plot points of the original book occur in the "remake" and characters are fundamentally different. This book is as closely related to "The Wizard of Oz" as "Fifty Shades of Gray" is related to "Twilight". I cannot help but feel some level of pessimism, because the author clearly had their own aspirations for a rich and dynamic world, but instead of creating their own they have chosen to build off the success of others.

Beyond just the differences between the original and this remake - which could honestly be forgiven if that were the only transgression - the book is disgusting. The author cannot help but reference urine at least once a section, and whenever a child is present in a scene, their sexual development must be mentioned at least once. It's completely unnecessary and adds nothing to the book but a disturbing observation. Whatever the motivation behind them, there was DEFINITELY a better way to deliver whatever message the author was attempting to send.

And the third strike for the book, in my view, was that it was just boring. The story meandered and swayed, rarely keeping me engaged. At one point, the climax of the Shiz section of the book, I thought things were going to get interesting. I thought I was about to depart on an epic adventure of espionage and rebellion. I was reading quickly and excited for what may happen next. Instead of an adventure, however, the book transitioned into a romance novel. But not before a random trip to a sex dungeon by some of the side characters. Then, after the dungeon and romance portions had concluded, it turned into a sleepy quest for forgiveness. Then on to a decent into madness so rapid it no doubt gave the showrunners for Game of Thrones inspiration. Summaries of this series do not do justice to just how little happens in each chapter, despite the length of the book.

At no point in the story did I care about the characters' motivations. Nor did any actions they took make particular sense to me. Behavior and motivations changed on a page by page basis and new side quests were constantly introduced with little impact on the main through-line (if any exists at all).

I have no intention of continuing the series. I don't know that I would recommend this book to many people. I'm sure there are many that love this book, but I'm afraid that I am not one of them.

Venant de voir la musical j'avais absolument envie de découvrir le roman qui lui a donné naissance (et qui prenait la poussière sur mon étagère depuis quelques années ahem).

Je savais que Wicked était beaucoup plus sombre que Le Magicien d'Oz et que la musical restait elle aussi "grand public". J'avoue que je ne m'attendais pas à autant de noirceur. Le règne du magicien est une représentation parfaite d'un régime fasciste où le racisme se fait de plus en plus présent, accepté peu à peu par tout le monde sans broncher (pour ne pas trop "déranger"). Le livre démontre aussi les ravages de l'époque car même dans les contrées où le fascisme ne règne pas il montre son influence sur les mentalités et la façon dont il contamine et fait germer ses préjugés de manière insidieuse.

Elphaba est beaucoup plus torturée et incertaine, prise dans de grandes considérations ontologiques sur la nature du bien et du mal. Au final la magie est peu présente, utilisée par petites touches et beaucoup des éléments expliqués dans la musical ne trouvent pas d'explications dans le récit, livrés tels quels, ce qui a tendance à laisser un peu sur sa faim.

Je pense que c'est cela qui me fait hésiter entre 3 et 4 étoiles. Bien que l'histoire soit très intéressante et nous fait découvrir une très sombre facette du pays d'Oz, elle s'avère extrêmement complexe et dense, s'égarant parfois dans de longs passages délirants assez difficiles à appréhender.

J'ai apprécié que les personnages ne soient pas manichéens, plein de questionnements, de doutes, de pensées et d'agissements contradictoires. Malheureusement l'ensemble laisse vraiment l'impression d'une énorme pelote d'intrigues extrêmement dure à démêler et à suivre.

Il reste plusieurs livres dans la série, je pense prendre le temps de digérer celui ci avant de décider si je continue ou pas!

"Quand l’époque est un creuset, quand l’air vibre de violence, les victimes sont ceux qui restent le plus eux-mêmes."

We all know the story of The Wizard of Oz; if we haven’t read the 1900’s classic written by L. Frank Baum we probably saw the 1930’s film starring Judy Garland. What if was to tell you that the Wizard is not as sympathetic as he wants you to believe? In fact, the Wizard could be considered a classic example of a nutcase dictator. It is all about perspective; some may see the Wizard as great and powerful but in the eyes of Elphaba he is just an old fool.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire tells the untold story from the perspective of Elphaba (known to some as the Wicked Witch of the West) and is the basis of the award winning Musical. It is important to first state that unlike L. Frank Baum’s series of books, this is not directed at children. This is social and political commentary, full of sex and violence; it just so happens to use the world of Oz as its basis. As a nod to the world created, the Wicked Witch of the West was named using the initials of L. Frank Baum; Elphaba (L-F-B).

This novel works like an origin story for Elphaba, which gives the world a whole different perspective. In The Wizard of Oz everyone uses names like The Wicked Witch of the West and gossip about how evil she is but we never really hear the other side of the story. As a reader we tend to take what is written at face value; if someone is said to be evil we accept this fact without any consideration. Wicked also plays on the female archetype that seems to associate intelligent and age with witch-like characteristics.

What I enjoy about Wicked is the way the reader gets to explore these concepts of good and evil. I am reminded of Frankenstein with the approach to this topic. Elphaba is different, born with green skin and sharp teeth; a monster that society tries hard to reject. From her parents, to the world around her, we get to explore the harsh nature of society towards something outside the norm. Elphaba herself believes she is soulless and evil but I seem to view this as a projection of the ideas imposed on her by society.

We follow the life of Elphaba through this novel and this allows Gregory Maguire to give a critique of our society from the perspective of someone that is considered evil. Are people born evil, do they choose to be evil or are they pushed into evil by society? These are just some of the questions we have to ask ourselves when reading Wicked; the whole fate verse free will play heavily within the novel. There is also a critique on guilty verse blame, family life, religion and gender role that come across within Wicked as well.

My wife has been telling me I need to read this novel for a while now and for some reason I kept putting it off. Not because I don’t trust my wife’s opinion; she said it had a Frankenstein vibe to it but I kept getting distracted by other books. I finally picked this book up because I didn’t want to see the Broadway musical before reading the book. I am glad I was pushed into reading Wicked; it is definitely my type of novel. I wonder what the next book in the series is like.

I have never read The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum, only seen the movie with Judy Garland, so I don't know the original story. Well, actually, I recall my elementary school library had the novel and I might have checked it out, but it was rather boring, so I don't think I finished it. In any case, I don't know if there are exact scenes that replicate themselves in both novels, just from different points of view.

I found it a little slow to start, and a little slow to read. I skipped ahead a few times, just to see where it was going because at times it seemed to go nowhere. I realize the point of the story is to just see the Witches life, but it was slow to me.

After the affair with Fiyero, I began to get a better sense of the character of the Witch and how the novel would develop. I enjoyed the character from that point on. Unfortunately, we know the outcome for the Witch. I didn't ever want to change that outcome, just found the path to it rather interesting.

I think it is an okay story. I didn't fall in love with it as others have.