City Travel Guides
Home Page > Go back a page
Books : Wicked (Wicked Years 1)
Rating: 
- Allegorical fable of prejudice and judgement
"Wicked" tells the story of Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West first introduced in L. Frank Baums' "Wizard of Oz" series. McGuire expands on Baum's vision, giving depth both to the land and it's inhabitants. Elphaba is green-skinned, overshadowed by her crippled sister and determined to make a name for herself. What she lacks in appearance, she compensates with intelligence and heart. Far from wicked, Elpaba is purely human and filled with good intentions. Her quest for animal rights eventually isolates her from society, and forces her to live out a destiny she was handed. Jeffrey McGuire allow the reader to understand the characters and make their own judgements. Oz becomes a parallel universe for the world we currently inhabit. Elphaba's struggles are an allegory for mankind's attempt to refrain from judgement and stereotypes.
Rating: - Beautiful!
Just a couple of words, and I'll shut up and get back to the book. I haven't even finished it yet, but I had to come here and see what everyone else thought about it. What an incredible work of art. One of those rare examples of pop fiction that makes you scratch your head and ask, "How'd he come up with all this stuff?" I hope for a sequel.
Rating: - There is always another side to the story....
I knew this was an outstanding book when I caught myself dreaming about it. I woke in the middle of the night, sure I had just returned from Oz... though the foundation of the house looked undisturbed, and I was not wearing the ruby slippers. I fell asleep again, only to return to this tale first thing in the morning.
Gregory Maguire hit a home run with this book. Taking most of the elements of the story we all know - the house, the broom, the shoes, the Witch, a talking Lion, a fear of water - he weaves a wonderful tale of politics, intrigue, and the condition of humanity. What is a soul? What is the nature of evil? Is it evil to commit a bad act in the name of Justice? This book will compell you to ponder the imponderables.
Who knew the Witch had a name? Who knew she was ultimately a sympathetic character and a hero?
Rating:
- Excellent writing and characterization
I loved "Wicked" until the ending (I felt the ending was clumsy). Despite that, I know I'll re-read the book and recommend it to friends as well. It left me with a lot of unanswered questions but that is OK, I don't think readers need everything spelled out for them. I found myself really caring about Elphaba. Maguire turned the Wicked Witch of the West into a person we can all identify with on some level. "Wicked" was a pleasure to read and I also enjoyed the woodcut illustrations (wish there were more of them).
Rating: - A whole new insight of the Wicked Witch of the West.
The book was incredible! We chose this book for our next meeting of our book discussion group, and by far it is one of the best books. I will never look at the story of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz in the same light. The Wicked Witch of the West was not born wicked, but merely driven mad by life's trials and tribulations. The brutal death of her beloved lover sends her in hiding from society in a "nunnery". But the final blow to Elphie's persona was the death of her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. The death of her sister sent her in a fury aimed at the evil Wizard. It was the Wizard that sent Dorothy to kill Elphie, before she could be sent home to Kansas. In fact the ending of the book is suprisingly different from Baum's original story. I recommend reading this book. It will bring back childhood memories of reading the Baum's story for the first time. Maguire did a wonderful job of tying the original names of places, major characters and many subtle refernces found in L. Frank Baum's stories written almost a century ago. Yet Maguire kept the material fresh so that you are hanging on page after page.
- Allegorical fable of prejudice and judgement"Wicked" tells the story of Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West first introduced in L. Frank Baums' "Wizard of Oz" series. McGuire expands on Baum's vision, giving depth both to the land and it's inhabitants. Elphaba is green-skinned, overshadowed by her crippled sister and determined to make a name for herself. What she lacks in appearance, she compensates with intelligence and heart. Far from wicked, Elpaba is purely human and filled with good intentions. Her quest for animal rights eventually isolates her from society, and forces her to live out a destiny she was handed. Jeffrey McGuire allow the reader to understand the characters and make their own judgements. Oz becomes a parallel universe for the world we currently inhabit. Elphaba's struggles are an allegory for mankind's attempt to refrain from judgement and stereotypes.
Rating:
- Beautiful!Just a couple of words, and I'll shut up and get back to the book. I haven't even finished it yet, but I had to come here and see what everyone else thought about it. What an incredible work of art. One of those rare examples of pop fiction that makes you scratch your head and ask, "How'd he come up with all this stuff?" I hope for a sequel.
Rating:
- There is always another side to the story....I knew this was an outstanding book when I caught myself dreaming about it. I woke in the middle of the night, sure I had just returned from Oz... though the foundation of the house looked undisturbed, and I was not wearing the ruby slippers. I fell asleep again, only to return to this tale first thing in the morning.
Gregory Maguire hit a home run with this book. Taking most of the elements of the story we all know - the house, the broom, the shoes, the Witch, a talking Lion, a fear of water - he weaves a wonderful tale of politics, intrigue, and the condition of humanity. What is a soul? What is the nature of evil? Is it evil to commit a bad act in the name of Justice? This book will compell you to ponder the imponderables.
Who knew the Witch had a name? Who knew she was ultimately a sympathetic character and a hero?
Rating:
- Excellent writing and characterizationI loved "Wicked" until the ending (I felt the ending was clumsy). Despite that, I know I'll re-read the book and recommend it to friends as well. It left me with a lot of unanswered questions but that is OK, I don't think readers need everything spelled out for them. I found myself really caring about Elphaba. Maguire turned the Wicked Witch of the West into a person we can all identify with on some level. "Wicked" was a pleasure to read and I also enjoyed the woodcut illustrations (wish there were more of them).
Rating:
- A whole new insight of the Wicked Witch of the West.The book was incredible! We chose this book for our next meeting of our book discussion group, and by far it is one of the best books. I will never look at the story of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz in the same light. The Wicked Witch of the West was not born wicked, but merely driven mad by life's trials and tribulations. The brutal death of her beloved lover sends her in hiding from society in a "nunnery". But the final blow to Elphie's persona was the death of her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East. The death of her sister sent her in a fury aimed at the evil Wizard. It was the Wizard that sent Dorothy to kill Elphie, before she could be sent home to Kansas. In fact the ending of the book is suprisingly different from Baum's original story. I recommend reading this book. It will bring back childhood memories of reading the Baum's story for the first time. Maguire did a wonderful job of tying the original names of places, major characters and many subtle refernces found in L. Frank Baum's stories written almost a century ago. Yet Maguire kept the material fresh so that you are hanging on page after page.