Wicked

[Cumberland]

This book ( also a broadway play ?) chronicles the life of the Wicked Witch of the West ( as in the Wizard of Oz). It weaves into the story why the Lion was able to talk, why the witch was green, the political backstory of Oz and why the Witch needed those ruby slippers so badly. I thought this book was too long, a little confusing with all the characters, but overall very interesting.

[poky]

Yeah. I read it after seeing the musical, and, weirdly enough, I liked the musical better. The book kinda lost me by the time they got to the castle, and I had a really hard time caring what happened with her son (there's another book about him, "son of a witch", I think it's called).

I might have liked it better had I read it before seeing the musical, but I don't know. I've really liked some of his other books, but I think actual fairy tales do better with this kind of treatment than already-fully-realized and more modern stories like Oz.

[Vanquisher]

I really didn't like the book, and it has kind of made me not want to see the musical. It was long, slow, and had some highly disturbing aspects of it that just really didn't belong.

[Gwendolyn]

I will pipe in from the dark side I loved the book, but I really enjoy a story that defies traditional convention. When I teach theatre classes it is also a perfect example of postmodern literature and has a handy tie-in to the musical (which, by the way, totally wrecks the book. I would have enjoyed it much more if I had known that they are two totally different takes on the same story).

I also read the book right when we moved to WI and identified with the witch as an outsider that was completely unable to find purchase in the world she was living in...that is the side of my personality that keeps me in theatre

I've read all of his books that play on fairytales, but this is still my favorite.

[poky]

the musical (which, by the way, totally wrecks the book. I would have enjoyed it much more if I had known that they are two totally different takes on the same story).

Exactly. So many *basic* plot elements were changed, which usually isn't the case in adaptations like this. I liked the musical well enough that when the book was *so* different, I found it hard to like it; had I read the book first then seen the musical, or known ahead of time that it was quite that different, I probably would have liked the book better.

[Ames]

I read Wicked a while ago and liked it. More recently I read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, from the same author. It was great!