Wicked~ Gregory Maguire

I have seen the Wizard of Oz more times than I can count. I wouldn’t say it’s a favourite, but I definitely enjoy watching it. I have also come very close to buying tickets to see the musical but just haven’t gotten around to it. So, when I found out that Wicked was based on a book, I thought I would add it to my list so that both Millie and I know the story and it would give us the incentive to go through with it and buy tickets.

Having not seen the musical, but knowing a few songs, I thought I had an idea of what the story was about. I was very quickly corrected. What little I know confused the hell out of me whilst reading. I tried very hard to forget the few songs I knew, but I wasn’t too successful. Maguire’s storytelling didn’t help my confusion.

The plotline of this book is marketed as how the Wicked Witch of the West became evil, but that, in my opinion, is not accurate. I don’t think this is the story of how Elphaba became evil, I think this is the tragic story of Elphaba Thropp and how from the very beginning, she faced challenges and walls but still managed to stay compassionate for those who needed it.

Elphaba is an interesting character that is extremely complex and likes to challenge ideas of what good and evil are. Unfortunately, Maguire doesn’t give her the respect she deserves. Too much of her description is focused on whether she is male, female or neither and her biggest character trait seems to be that she is green. there are also a lot of inconsistencies. At first, it appears that Maguire sees Elphaba as a cruel character incapable of feeling and then all of a sudden she loves G(a)linda, and then she’s a freedom fighter with an almost unhealthy level of compassion for those who she is fighting for and then she’s back to being cruel and unfeeling and then she’s maternal and then she’s crazy and wicked. In my opinion, Elphaba is not a complex mess of feelings like a three-dimensional character would be, but defined by the emotions that she has been allotted to feel in each chapter.

I found this book hard going due to how heavily entrenched it is in in-world politics and religion. I understand that the Wizard of Oz was political satire, but this can be a little confusing. There are Animals and animals, and the distinction between the two is not completely clear as it seems that some of the characters are a little confused too. There are also multiple religions that are almost battling each other. There are the Unionists who believe in the Unnamed God, the Lurlinists who believe in a fairy and the Royalists who believe in the Queen of Oz. It’s hard to follow and plays a large part in the story but to what end, I’m not entirely sure. It bulked up the plot considerably and almost seemed to be a lecture at some points.

I did enjoy the constant discussion of what evil was, there were some great points about how evil was action because everyone has thought dark thoughts some times, but not put them into practice. There was discussion near the end of the novel that threw ideas about evil around but did not come to a conclusion and I feel that chapter summed up what the book was trying to be, but did not manage.

Overall, I was a little disappointed with this novel. I liked the premise and where it could’ve gone, but Maguire didn’t deliver. I have read some scathing reviews of the book and while I don’t feel quite as strongly as them, I can only give this book a generous two stars. Despite not really liking this version, I still can’t wait to one day see the musical.

C

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