Review: Wicked: The Life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Title: Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Author: Gregory Maguire
Published: 1995
Publisher: HarperCollins
Page Count: 406 pages
In Baum’s Land of Oz, animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. Green-skinned Elphaba, future Wicked Witch of the West, is smart, prickly and misunderstood; she challenges our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.
With Wicked the Musical hitting Ireland I thought it might be worth talking about the book that brought it all together. A book that has brought quite a bit of mixed reviews this book has only cemented my love for the Wicked Witch of the West. So let’s get on with it and tell you why this book is one that everyone should read!
Up until Wicked, the Wicked Witch of the West was an iconic evil character. She is green, she is nasty and she will get your little dog too!
This is until Gregory Maguire spins the story on its head by taking this witch and turning her into a complex character that we can identify with and even like. Maguire’s brilliance is in his understanding and integration of real and fantasy; complex situations permeating a fantasy world to give you the true moral of the story that no matter what happens, life happens.
Elphaba, named after Frank L. Baum, was born a freak, rejected by all around her to live a life of sad situations in a world that’s not as pretty as the one we are used to. An outcast who never fully recovers, Elphaba is a star pupil and Animal activist she is a woman with great promise. However life gets in the way and soon her mentality deteriorates and she fails to accomplish anything she sets out to do. Relationships are complicated as are interpersonal relationships and this can be frustrating and there are the occasional scenes that are hard to grasp but in my opinion that just adds to the very human condition Maguire throws us into.
Elphaba follows an unconventional path, is this makes her evil? While we don’t know what definitely makes her evil I think that’s the point. It’s too easy to believe that good and evil are two sides of a very obvious line. If this was the case then why is it so hard for us?
Morality aside, there are issues I have with the story. Maguire appears to struggle at times reconciling the various versions of Oz, although he does his best combining details to suit his needs. Nonetheless I found myself slightly removed from the story at times especially in some scenes.
I love this book, the morbid and cynical place of Oz, as dreamed by Frank Baum, is brought to the fore. We are brought on an exploration of characters, Elphaba faces situations and feels things in ways that we all do. We are presented with things that we refuse to admit about ourselves but inevitably make us sympathise with those we once thought of as ‘evil’. Maguire has brought is into another world and what we need to remember is that we are not in Hollywood’s Oz anymore.
So now for my recommendations: if this is something that you want to read because of the musical or as a result of the musical, a word of caution, THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MUSICAL! If this is something that you want to read because of the movie with James Franco and Mila Kunis THIS IS NOTHING TO DO WITH THAT! In order to enjoy this book it’s best to take it as an adaptation, do not go in with expectations of Judy Garland’s Dorothy Gale or you will be disappointed. What Maguire does is re-create Oz with the power of his own imagination. Trust me on this…after reading this novel you will not see the Wizard of Oz the same way again.
[easyreview title=”The Arcade Verdict” cat1title=”Concept” cat1detail=”A re-imagining like no other bringing the real into the fantasy” cat1rating=”9.5″ cat2title=”Characters” cat2detail=”Complex and intriguing though at times hard to understand” cat2rating=” 8″ cat3title=”Writing” cat3detail=”Imaginative and detailed but sometimes hard to grasp” cat3rating=”8.5″ overall=”true”]
