Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of The West.

[JeremyWestenn]

This is my favorite book, alongside Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett, anyone else here read it? What did you think about it? I absolutely adored it! I thought the story was great, I thought the writing was great, and I loved how long it was! Like a real good old fashioned book that actually has length to it! I honestly believe it is quite possibly the Tolkein book of our time, really great but not yet appreciated yet.

Your guys's thoughts?

[illinoisprogressive]

1. I used to work in a bookstore and heard it was good.

[richabk]

2. One my favorite books of all time!!!

My best friend's wife told me about it when it first came out. She said by the end of the book you'll think
Dorothy was a bitch...and I did. Totally took The Wizard of Oz and threw it on its head.

The book has actually been turned into a Broadway show -
I never got to see it when I lived in NYC, but it was constantly sold out.

The author, Gregory Maguire, has also written a few other books that take old, familiar stories and
tells them from a different point of view.

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister - Cinderella
Lost - A Christmas Carol
Mirror Mirror - Snow White

He also recently came out with a sequel to Wicked called Son of a Witch. I've started it, but haven't finished it yet.
Like most of his books, it takes me a few times to get going before I can get through it.

I would recommend Confessions and Mirror, but Lost is REALLY "lost".

[Hailtothechimp]

3. Haven't read the book, but...

the musical is going gangbusters here in Chicago, and on Broadway as well.

The original OZ story is public domain now, and Baum didn't trademark the names of the characters, as was done with the Narnia books and I'm sure many others. So Maguire took a story everybody knew and embellished it. He's probably laughing all the way to the bank.

[philosophie_en_rose]

4. It's fairly good.

If you liked it, you might enjoy Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

[murielm99]

5. Yes, I have read it.

I have not read the sequel yet. It had mixed reviews. It is called Son of a Witch.

I have been to the play, too, in Chicago.

The musical and the book are very different things. The book says more about the nature of good and evil. It is very dark. The musical is about relationships. There is more laughter in it.

One thing I did appreciate about the musical was what it said about the fate of the talking animals. If they did not speak up, they lost their voices.

[pitohui]

6. the sequel stinks EOM

/

[MountainLaurel]

7. Had some interesting philosophical arguments

About morality, nature vs. nurture, and good and evil. I liked that the traditional perception of the Witch was thrown on its head, though some of the plot bits (the actions against the Animals, the "disappearing" of characters who went against the Wizard, the genocide of whole peoples considered uncivilized) were a little too close to reality considering the times we've been living in.

[MaineDem]

8. Here's an earlier DU thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=208&topic_id=7417&mesg_id=7417

[Pugee]

9. I loved it. I read it on a bookring from bookcrossing

The most vivid "picture" to me was envisioning a little green girl who was afraid of water because it burned her skin. lol
I havent read the sequel to Wicked, but did not like the one about Cinderella (can't remember the name right now) as much as Wicked.

[samq79]

10. Haven't read it, but...

I saw the musical when it came in the traveling company, and it is staggering. Amazing story, told from a different perspective...definitely worth seeing