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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Much darker than the musical but a very compelling read digging into unknown personalities of known pop culture figures
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's best on the first read (1999 for me): Mr. Maguire has quite the imagination! Makes you rethink everything you thought about the Wicked Witch of the West.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Before talking about Gregory Maguire's Wicked, I should probably say that I'm a longtime lover of L. Frank Baum's Oz books, having read all fourteen of them (plus some of those written by others) many, many times since I discovered them in elementary school. This is not the first time I've read Wicked; I read it soon after it was published, and I unequivocally hated what Maguire had done to my beloved Oz.
Since then, it's gotten rave reviews everywhere, and finally I decided that I must have been missing something, that I must not have read it with an open mind, and that I should reread it, hoping to appreciate it more. And you know what? I still didn't like it. Although this time, I was actually able to admire the way in which Maguire reworks Baum's fairytale land into his own politically torn country (there are multiple references to characters and places from Oz books other than the first one, too, so it's clear that he did his research), I was still unengaged by the characters - or at least, in the way they develop.
The book is divided into five sections, each dealing with a period in the life of Elphaba, the little green girl who grows up to be the Wicked Witch of the West. Years pass between sections, so that just when I was beginning to be engaged with the action of one section, it would stop abruptly and go on to the next. Characters who are heavily featured in a particular section are suddenly pushed to the background, where you frequently hear little of them later on in the book.
For instance, Glinda, Elphaba's college roommate, is a main character of the section dealing with Elphaba's university life, and a lot of that section is from her point of view. Yet once that section is over, she is mentioned or present in the narrative only a few times. How did her character change over that time? Who knows, because Maguire doesn't tell us. Yes, the focus of the book is on Elphaba, but even with her, significant periods of her life are left out, and it's tough to follow her emotional development. I had a hard time even believing the last section, which tells what happens when Dorothy comes to Oz; Elphaba's reactions just didn't ring true to me.
Third time may be the charm, but I don't think I'll be reading Wicked a third time.
Since then, it's gotten rave reviews everywhere, and finally I decided that I must have been missing something, that I must not have read it with an open mind, and that I should reread it, hoping to appreciate it more. And you know what? I still didn't like it. Although this time, I was actually able to admire the way in which Maguire reworks Baum's fairytale land into his own politically torn country (there are multiple references to characters and places from Oz books other than the first one, too, so it's clear that he did his research), I was still unengaged by the characters - or at least, in the way they develop.
The book is divided into five sections, each dealing with a period in the life of Elphaba, the little green girl who grows up to be the Wicked Witch of the West. Years pass between sections, so that just when I was beginning to be engaged with the action of one section, it would stop abruptly and go on to the next. Characters who are heavily featured in a particular section are suddenly pushed to the background, where you frequently hear little of them later on in the book.
For instance, Glinda, Elphaba's college roommate, is a main character of the section dealing with Elphaba's university life, and a lot of that section is from her point of view. Yet once that section is over, she is mentioned or present in the narrative only a few times. How did her character change over that time? Who knows, because Maguire doesn't tell us. Yes, the focus of the book is on Elphaba, but even with her, significant periods of her life are left out, and it's tough to follow her emotional development. I had a hard time even believing the last section, which tells what happens when Dorothy comes to Oz; Elphaba's reactions just didn't ring true to me.
Third time may be the charm, but I don't think I'll be reading Wicked a third time.
By far the strangest fucking book I've ever read. Lowkey giving animal farm but make it camp