Ex Libris Book Reviews

I was doubtful when i picked up wicked. I wasn't expecting much. Boy was I suprised. I read the book in four days....I could hardly put it down. It easily worked it's way on to my favorites list.

My friend and I are currently reading Wicked aloud to each other, a few chapters (if you can call the sections that) at a time every time we get together. We're about halfway through. We love the book! The plot flows well, and you get the feeling you really know some of the characters. I like this take on things far better than I liked the original movie or original books, simply for the fact that it feels more real and the characters feel more alive.

I loved this book! The writing was fabulous and really engaging. I couldn't put it down. The worst part about it was that I knew from the get go how it had to end. Bravo Mr.Maguire! Well done!

I just finished it, and I feel deeply unsettled. YES, a terrific read. Yes, extremely well-written.

But I am very much emotionally unsatisfied. Did the wizard have to be THAT horrid (Stalin/Big Brother/Al Capone in one)? Did our heroine need to be so miserable, always? I don't need a HAPPY ending, but this had no vindication, no amelioration, no hope. I don't think I'll read his other works.

Comments?

i thought the book was disgusting! i saw the musical and i loved it.. then i read the book and was digusted! children go to see that play and then see the book on sale and want to buy it... what would mothers say if they foundout they bought their kids that book because the play was so good, and then found out it talked about sex and gave graphic details... i would want my kids reading it!

Wicked was absolutely "wicked good"! The characters were so deeply drawn and multifaceted. I love the coherence of the story line and of the Oz-ian universe, and the way pearls dropped from the beginning are strung together at the end, such as the Lion being the cub Elphaba spoke up for as a student, the Wizard recognizing the green elixer bottle, Elphaba seeking shelter in the Clock in which she was born, and so on. I was trying to think if Elphaba really did anything wicked - even when she went to kill the school principal, she ended up only striking a corpse. She killed the soldier tacked to the windmill to put him out of his pain. She didn't realize she killed the boy by staring at the icicle. I was most uncomfortable with the mean way she treated Lur and Nor. In the end she was so crazed with despair that the bucket of water was a welcomed escape from her misery, and I do think her soul was redeemed at the moment of her death. She was such a sympathetic character - I don't think I'll ever be able to look at Baum's book or the Judy Garland movie again! (And I have NO desire to see the Broadway show. Why mess with perfection?)

I thought that the book was wonderful. It showed how the story would be if it were in a real life experience. That the witch was really not a witch. That people just assumed she was an evil witch. That she really had some good in her; I really saw no evil in her, just frustration and missunderstanding.

Can anyone explain to me some of the deeper parts of the book? I enjoyed it so much, but I had trouble making connections and often felt like there was some parallel, something the author was parodying or commenting on, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Who was Yackle? A consistent figure in the shadows, a "guardian angel" as the dwarf put it? And who was the Dwarf, supposedly from our world, just like the Grimmerie (what was THAT?)? What was the Dwarf's connection to the tiktok Time Dragon? And the mystical St. Aelphaba was the Birth of Good, Elphaba was the Birth of Evil - isn't that against the point? Is Elphie's aversion to water a link to the waterfall that St. Aelphaba hides behind and does not return from, a barrier across which Elphie dies, redeems her soul, finds Fiyero? There is a lot of sad, sudden death and mistreatment in this book.

Any other resources out there - or a way to ask the author directly - would be much appreciated. Finally, was anyone else disappointed in the way that the story ended at her death? I expected an epilogue.

Wow this book was great! there were things i liked and things i didn't. really the only two things i ddin't like was that some of the things you were expecting to happen didn't and that the flow was a little wierd. She's born she's one two three and then seventeen! just a little jumpy for me. I wouldn't want to read 10 chapters of boring life but i wouldn't want to skip that much. I loved how it turned everything you thought you knew into what you never thought about. Gregory... what can i say... i don't know how you think up this stuff but as long as you're writing i'll be reading!

I agree. I just finished the book and was hoping to "find some answers" on the web, but like you said- it's up to me to THINK. I found that I didn't have one coherent response to any of the discussion questions posed at the end of the book- and I consider myself somewhat capable of interpreting author's ideas! Yikes!!
I found myself going back and forth telling my husband "I really like it" - "It's silly" then after reading the final section thinking "Wow! This is incredibly creative, insightful, and so well-written!
Thanks for the heads up about the musical- I'd still like to see it just b/c the music is fantastic!
P.S. any thoughts about who the scarecrow represents and whether or not it's worth while to go back and read The Wizard of Oz?

Mr. Maguire is a talented writer, no doubt. He is incredibly intelligent, knows how to craft a story in the tradition of Shakespeare's Tragedies. He makes compelling and complex 3-Dimensional characters and explores deep philosophical quandaries. Quite existential. And the parts of the book where things are actually relatively happy for Elphaba are very poignant in their contrast to the rest of the book. Before I go any further, I should state that I'm often guilty of fanatical purist tendencies. What I'm wondering is, of the people who've read Wicked, how many of those people have read the original Oz books? Not just the original "Wonderful Wizard of Oz", but the sequels, because Maguire makes many references to the other books in the series. A number of the references don't really work chronologically or logically from what I remember of the books. A number of people have said that they felt this book was superior to the original book and film because it was more 'real.' This, to me, seems unfair because of the intent of the original material that Maguire is using as a premise. I might almost call "Wicked" science fiction in that it is a hypothetical situation (i.e. 'what if everything you knew, etc.')--albeit from a philosophical or moral perspective--which is a farcry from the original book. Not a good thing or a bad thing, but definitely something to consider. I was surprised that I wasn't more angry at the end of the book, mostly just very very disheartened. Sorry for the long-windedness, but it's something I've been thinking about a great deal and I wanted to be able to convey my views to people who've read the book.

I am halfway through "Wicked" and at 3:45am wanting some help with framework or structure to understand the author's intent. I feel I am missing so much in whatever country or political viewpoint or social situation in today's world this represents. I rented the original "Wizard of Oz" this week to refresh my understanding but am no closer to wrapping my mind around this story.

Does anyone remember the part of the book when Elphie and Fiyero where having an affair and he got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and saw a scar on her 'region' and then she woke up.

What was that scar/tattoo/whatever that was.

-Stephanie

I though the book was fantastic. i had to read it for school, and it turned out to be one of the best books i've read. I like how he makes you think about different situations by not filling you in completely so you can use your own imagination. When i read the other comments about the play being completely different, i was shocked. Why would you want to completely change a novel like this and give people the wrong idea about it? It shouldnt have been adapted so that children could go see it because its not a childrens book.

I am currently listening to the unabridged version of the audiobook of Wicked. It is fascinating and I'm hooked, but because I am listening, as opposed to reading, I'm having a bit of trouble discerning some of the finer points. For instance, there is a theme of classism and racism running through the book, partucularly in the part I'm on now, which is Elfie and Galinda at college with Dr. Dillamonde. Can someone please explain: they often make a distinction between "ANIMALS" and what sounds like "ANIMALS". Are they spelled different in the book? (ie, is it ANIMALS and AMINALS?). It's hard to discern by listening and I feel I'm missing a great point. Help!

I did not care for this book. I read it only because my book club chose it because the musical is coming here. I already knew that the two were vastly different.

I am not a fan of genres where an author builds on another author's character, so I was probably biased from the start; however, so many people around me loved the book that I thought I would at least find it interesting.

While reading any book, I look forward to the "can't-wait-to-get-back-to-my-book" feeling, but I never got that with Wicked. It felt like a chore to pick it up and get back into the story. I will admit that there were moments of interest but that had more to do with "oh, wonder what's going to happen next" - and I found myself flipping ahead just to find out the next part of the plot rather than enjoying the ride. I read half the book and finally put it aside. It felt slow and way too wordy.

But what do I know... I noticed the cover was filled with positive quotations of reviews from well known authors and newspapers. I guess it's one of those "to each his own."

Well, yes, the author is very talented with his literary maneuvers; very crafty with words.

But the book lacked clarity and direction. Half way through the book, I still felt as though I didn't really KNOW Elphaba. The relationships never really grew, the characters were interesting but unchanging and undefined, and the plot seemed to wander.

There were a few points where I anticipated new action, but it would fizzle out unresolved before the next chapter. And the sex didn't bother me in the least!!! It was the characterization and plot that bored me.

the scare crow represents prince fiyero, if u heard the song dancing through life on the cd, then u will know he says "life is painless for the brainless" he means HE is brainless and the scarecrow is brainless, lol

I read the book first, and then saw the musical. The book was amazing, and the musical was... disappointing. While I appreciate the scores and music very much, I feel that the real emotions and the real... concept of Elphaba's life was poorly presented. I was expecting something much more dark.

Had I never picked up the book, I'd have loved the musical. But... Knowing the way things went... It wasn't a match. Still good, though.

I see who the scarecrow and tin man were and the symbolism but who was the cowardly lion? Was he the professor who lost his nerve when he was mistreated?

I have to write an essay about Wicked for my English ISU. I read the book, and it has absolutely NO plot. Maguire develops characters for a couple chapters, only to have them disappear and never mention them again. I was extremely disappointed with Wicked, and I don't suggest reading it.