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Author:Gregory Maguire Book:Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West Record Company:HarperCollins Writer: Sherri Carras Click Album Cover To Buy Now

In Wicked, Gregory Macguire takes the one dimensional character of a childhood book and movie, and turns her into a richly developed, impassioned woman who takes up the cause of Animal rights, rails and rallies against a tyrannical Emperor Wizard, and, like most of us, loves her family as much as she resents them. Elphaba, known more popularly as The Wicked Witch of the West, is paid tribute by this ultimate fan fiction. Gregory Macguire’s 1995 story is littered with all sorts of allegories and metaphors, but is still a very entertaining read. In between the brutalities of Oz, there are moments of laughter to lift the tension.

The reviews of the book are all aglow, calling it a masterpiece, an instant classic. While I agree it is a very well done story, there are aspects to Macguire’s writing style that make your head ache to keep up. He has developed such a rich world, with so many fascinating characters, that like Frank Herbert with his Dune series, he loses track of some of them for large portions of the book, only to whip them out briefly at pivotal moments. You feel a little robbed, even though this is Elphaba’s story. However, the balancing act of the supporting characters is well done, and always move the story forward. Not being a critically acclaimed and lauded author myself, I’m sure Macguire knew what he was doing.

There are elements of this book that are disturbing. Violence, sexual depravity (while not explicit, I still would not approve of my 14 year old niece reading this), and eerie mirrors of Nazi society. This is not an easy read. You have to pay attention. You have to want to think a little while you are reading it. But once I sat down with it, as my husband will testify, it did not leave my hands for any longer than necessary until I was finished with it. I have not had a book enthrall me that much in a very long time.

Elphaba herself is a remarkable creation. Macguire has drawn a full back story for a cardboard cutout character. You are given deep looks into her childhood, with an alcoholic, loosely moraled mother, a father caught in the grips of religious fervor, and a stern, but doting, Nanny. Being born green can’t be easy, and set in a nearly medieval time, superstition makes it all the harder. Being allergic to water from birth has its own set of hardships. Having shark teeth instead of baby teeth… “Go play with the other children,” you’re told. “But for mercy’s sake, no biting!” Elphaba’s first spoken word? “Horror.”

We are fast forwarded to her college years, where she has shed the shark teeth, and now possesses an odd sort of beauty. Whatever that may be, it is overshadowed by her prickly personality which, once unleashed, flows freely and mercilessly as floodwater. She speaks her mind. She is passionate about Animal rights (which are different than ‘animal’ rights). She works a summer job for Professor Dillamond, a Goat who is a professor at her university, and takes up her cause of Animal rights even more fervently. She meets Galinda, who eventually shortens her name to Glinda, better known as the future Good Witch of the North. Macguire writes Glinda with a sympathetic, but ruthless, pen. She is born rich, and can’t help but think as the rich do, even as her roomie, Elphaba, insists she has a mind capable of independent thinking.

We are introduced to Elphaba’s sister, as well. Nessarose. A religiously fervent, armless, young woman, who is destined to become The Wicked Witch of the East. You know things won’t end well for her.

The rest of the book details the tragedy that is Elphaba’s life. She tries so hard to succeed at her endeavors. She never loses her sense of self, even as she argues she does not exist, that she has no soul. Elphaba lurks on the edges of The Emerald City, hating The Wizard and his Gale Force, wanting to play at least a small part in his downfall. She has become even more impassioned, more embittered, more fascinating. But she is still just a young woman, prey to her own conscience and heart, and that is what makes her path so difficult. It is so hard to do the Right Thing when you still have a sense of right and wrong.

I could go on, but that would give too much away. Suffice it to say, even knowing how the book must end, you hope for her, you hope that just once, something will go right for her. Even at the end, you find yourself wishing for Macguire to take some liberties, and make the insufferably sweet and innocent farm girl from Kansas fall out of the Witch’s tower.

I’m sure there are ways to read a moral into the story. I’m sure Macguire even intended there to be. But ultimately, all historical allegories and commentaries on the nature of evil aside, this is a tragedy in the vein of Shakespeare. Yes, there are many moments of sadness, even outrage and horror, but like Shakespeare, Macguire knows the magic of pacing. Just when you feel you can’t possibly take any more, he throws you a comedic bone. Even if the humor is inappropriate, the laughter gives you a breath, and you’re able to continue. At the very end, Macguire wraps things up nicely, leaving you feel uplifted. I cringe at the idea of Wicked already being made into a stage play, and a musical, at that. It has received rave reviews ever since it’s debut in October of 2003, but there is no way the spirit of the story can possibly be translated. If they ever make a movie version of Wicked, it had better be several hours long, and Gregory Macguire had better be consulted every step of the way, especially with whatever actress would play Elphaba. Even so, I’d probably be one of those irritating people who declare “Oh, the book was so much better!” as the movie credits roll.

This is a book I will reread over the years. Why? Out of all the reasons, the primary one is this: Gregory Macguire treats Elphaba with respect and compassion. Never with pity, however, for Elpahaba would have turned him into a toad for that.

Author:Gregory Maguire Book:Wicked: The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West Record Company:HarperCollins Writer: Sherri Carras Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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