Wicked- read it anyone?

[Shakarr]

Bonjour tout le monde! I am currently in the middle of an amazing novel called Wicked: the Life and Times of The Wicked Witch of the West. Uproariously cynical and amusingly dirty, it is very good so far. It is the biography of the early life the Wicked Witch in the infamous Wizard of Oz. It brings a lot of attention to the evil of the the alledgedly good Wizard and really transforms your view of Oz from the pure, virginal little world from the movie, into the dark and politically-rife world of the Witch.

An awesome read, and just wondering if anyone else has heard of it or read it? if so your opinions please??

 

[Jay_T]

I picked this book up because of the hype, and, in conclusion, I think Maguire is more crafty then talented, he often writes in familiar backdrops and totaly flopped from what I understand in his novel that he didn't.

By no means am I calling him a sub-par author, however there is yet precedence I think to call into question his own imagination, and frankly his talent just didn't really astound me enough to neglect that question. Solid read IMHO, nothing more, or for that matter less. I prefered Philip Jose Farmer's take A Barnstormer in Oz, or A Rationalization and Extrapolation of The Split-Level Continum, much more.

 

[Rob B]

Wicked was discussed a bit here. Here is what I had to say in the thread:

I loved Wicked and I don't think he necessarily built up an alternate world, though there were strong overtones of that. Rather I think he more so filled in details where there was a blank canvas. I don't think he changed the original story of Oz very much at all, just told it from a different perspective.

I also saw the Broadway play and was rather disappointed. Whereas I felt Maguire didn't alter the integrity of the original Oz story/film, the musical really altered the integrity and made grand changes to Maguire's story, and indeed, the story of Oz. If anything, the musical was much more alternate history than the the book, Wicked. I blogged a semi-review of the musical after I saw it.

Incidentally, my wife read Confessions and hated it. With some trepidation she decided to read Wicked and really liked it.

 

[Shakarr]

Well I'm sorry. I guess i didn't check thouroughly enough for Wicked in the threads and thank you both for your opinions (and such conflicting opinions they are!). I am very much in a greement with you, Fitz, about the faithfulness to the original history of Oz, and that the book has really shown me this world in a new light. Admittedly I haven't finished it yet, but i already find it a very good read. My friend has informed me she is reading it when I'm done.

 

[Rob B]

Well I'm sorry. I guess i didn't check thouroughly enough for Wicked in the threads

Not to worry, at least you didn't state: RECOMMEND ME THE NEXT BOOK I SHOULD READ. Then you would have really gotten it! >

 

[Jay_T]

It's just hard to gauge due to the gimmick nature of his publishing/setting choices, tha said I wasn't overwhelmed (again not saying it was sub-par because it's not) by his prose/dialogue to have me convincd he can write a viable novel that isn't related to a well known, established setting to cater and draw in a fanbase that sn't his originally.

 

[Shakarr]

It's just hard to gauge due to the gimmick nature of his publishing/setting choices

Indeed very true.

that said I wasn't overwhelmed (again not saying it was sub-par because it's not) by his prose/dialogue to have me convincd he can write a viable novel that isn't related to a well known, established setting to cater and draw in a fanbase that sn't his originally.

Lol. Somehow I don't think he thinks of it quite like that, but again I must concede . I think he should write his own original story too.... It would be interesting to see how he is at world building without help

 

[Rob B]

I'm hoping to get Son of a Witch for Christmas, the sequel Maguire published a couple of months ago. Anybody have a chance to read it? I'm hoping the quality doesn't dip too low from from Wicked.