Fairy tale retelling, interesting reading and silly at times, but like the other Maguire book I've read before--Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister--I found it to be a bit slow and draggy in spots, and my attention wandered. Definitely not as good as all the hype had me hoping for. Still, I found the speculation as to the origins of Glinda and Elphaba--and her dead sister and the ruby (actually silver) slippers from L. Frank Baum's tale quite interesting and amusing, as were the political machinations that got the Wizard where was when Dorothy came on the scene a few years later. Maguire certainly has an imagination! I’d like to see the Broadway production of this, though--I bet that would be something!

Not at all like the musical. If this is why you want to read the book you will be disappointed.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire begins decades before Dorothy falls into the scene, with the birth of a strangely green baby girl who has unusually sharp teeth. We follow Elphaba as she grows up, attends university, and falls into the political turmoil behind the scenes at the Emerald City. Maguire paints a detailed background of the realistic politics that shape Oz into the country it is when Dorothy arrives. The Wicked Witch of the West may be a tortured soul, but for different reasons than you had previously thought. The book is perfectly understandable even if you have never seen the movie or read the original book, but several parts are much funnier if you have. The end of the story can drag on if you are not interested in introspective psychological monologues, but flipping past a few pages of internal commentary can speed the story along.

Literary Quality: 8/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

This book was awful! Boring, boring, boring! AND HORRID!

This book is great. Be prepared that it will not follow your idea of "Oz" with respect to the movie. There are definate "religious" and political undertones. However it will capture your imagination and you won't be able to put it down.

Impossible for anyone who hasn't read the book to believe that they'd be able to suspend disbelief enough to accept the Wicked Witch of the West as the "good guy." My son-in-law nearly disowned me when I tried to describe the book to him.

Still, this book can and does make you believe it!

You'll never look at Oz the same way after reading this book. But don't worry, Judy Garland singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" will still sound good to you if it does now.

A good, if rather long, read concerning the Wicked Witch of the West's side of the story. Dragged a bit here and there, but worth taking the time and reading.

Really a great book, and a lot darker than you're probably expecting.

A fascinating look from another perspective of the characters from The Wizard of Oz. A little difficult to get into the language (some words that were supposedly 'common' but were never really explained) but other than that, really enjoyable.

A good book. Story drags on in some places.

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Upon its arrival I held it in my hands and stared at the cover for what seemed an eternity. Finally I gently opened the cover, staring down at the image before me for several minutes,I then began my journey into this new world created by Gregory Maguire.

I was mesmerized immediately and couldn't wait to snuggle up with it every free moment and step into the magic once again. Over and over I found myself gasping at vivid descriptions of events , or of what one of the characters was feeling as they lived or recalled in their memories. Lying within the pages,the few illustrations included and the authors imagination you will fall inside a world you would never have imagined as a child reading or watching "The Wizard of Oz".

I can't wait to read the next two in this trilogy and see where it will take me. I hope you too will enjoy this one. Blessings Bright & Dark...

I enjoyed this book. Maguire addresses a lot of interesting issues brought up by the original story. Remember, this is based on the novel, not the movie. Certain details will be different if you're only familiar with the movie. This is a deep read, but not difficult. If you like debating the origins, and even the very definition, of things like evil, this is the book for you!

I enjoyed the book and the story. The background details are a little long and heavy, but it's a good story.

loved it

This is one of my favorite books. It gives you another perspective on the characters of the Wizard of Oz. Elphaba, the witch and heroine of the story is really not so bad. She was desperately misunderstood by society and circumstances made her out to be so evil. There are a lot of political undertones in the book and it was much more serious than the musical or the movie. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series- Son of a Witch.

Wow!

This novel is so much more than a mere novel. Let me start by stating two things: 1) I have read many Maguire novels in the past, and this is by far the best, and 2) I love the "other side" of the story novels.

Wicked is about Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, from The Oz novels, or for most of us, from the Wizard of Oz film. I am fascinated when authors give us the "other side" of these novels. By playing with classics, these authors actually corrupt our prior knowledge of characters that are almost historic. By this I mean, that when you play with the Wizard of Oz, and make Dorothy the sub-plot and the Witch the main plot, it makes one realize the layers of all stories....like for instance, what we think of as history. Isn't history subjective also? We learn historic events through authors, and their bias and subjectivity are naturally captured in their writings, and Maguire puts his own spin on the wonderful world of Oz. Anyway, I digress.

Not only is this novel about the Witch, or Elphaba, but it is also about the fictional world of Oz. Again, what is reality and what is fiction? I cannot help but ponder these ideas because Maguire makes us think about society, prejudice, and oppression throughout this wonderful novel, and he presents his ideas so eloquently. I do not know what genre this novel gets classified into, probably fiction, but I think it is more of a science fiction novel. Not the Star Trek kind of sience fiction, but the Ursula Leguin's Left Hand of Darkness type of science fiction. Wicked makes us think of utopian societies, and dysfunctional ones.

Maguire creates a fictional world for us in this novel. Or, does he? It is eerily reminiscent of the same oppressions and power struggles in our world......if you keep the Nazi's rise to power in the back of your mind, this novel is downright frightening at times. I could not help but compare the oppression of Maguire's Animals with the oppression of Jews in Hitler's Germany.

But again, I digress. Elphaba, the wicked witch, is not wicked at all in this tale. She is the "misunderstood rebel" fighting against the oppression of the...well, the oppressed. This is truly her story: how she was conceived, her childhood, her student years and her adulthood. She is not the carciture of evil presented in the famous film: I must confess here that I have never read Braum's novels, but I think I may have to. I have a feeling the film did to his novels, what Disney did to Lewis Carroll's Looking Glass.

Please, Please please read Wicked. Even if you have read Mirror, Mirror and not enjoyed it (which I didn't), give this one a try. There are so many statements about society, family, and power relations throughout this novel, that it should be taught as a college course somewhere. It is incredibly insightful, but more importantly, it makes the reader think and wonder. Isn't that what our novels should be doing? So few novels do this anymore that it almost comes as a shock when one does.

So think and wonder and read Wicked. If only to read the sequel, A Son of a Witch. With a title like that, how can you not read it?

Super fun reading. The Wizard of Oz from the witch's point of view, with lots of political themes and undertones. The play is fantastic - the book is much more affecting.

This book definitely sucked - while you come to care for the "wicked witch" she still makes incredibly stupid choices and doesn't stand up for the people in her life... by the end I was just hoping everyone would die and I wouldn't have to think about them anymore.

Hard to follow sometimes but i enjoyed.

What an interesting story. I wish I could think up stuff like this. I really enjoyed the book though would have preferred a different ending.

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