I am a Wizard of Oz fanatic.  Loves it!  For Halloween, I was Dorothy for approximately six years in a row.  I had ruby slippers (well, white mary janes rolled in red glitter).  I have the movie memorized, I have the books, I have shirts, Christmas ornaments, a framed photo of L. Frank Baum is in the dining room.  I love Oz. 

Wicked is not the Oz I was expecting.

Wicked is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, and her rise from cynical school girl to the mean green machine of the Vinkus.  She’s friends with Glinda.  Her sister NessaRose is the pious “Bitch of the East.”  It is a dark journey; filled with religious doubt and political problems.  The wizard is a tyrant, killing people who stand in his way.  It’s a dark, dark story about love, loss, and prejudice.

Don’t get me wrong.  I like a good dark story, especially with Oz.  Return to Oz is still one of the creepiest movies I’ve ever seen.  But part of the Wicked storyline deals with animals vs Animals.  Do Animals have souls?  Do humans have souls?  Is there an Unnamed god or are gods and creators all a thing of myth?  It’s heavy stuff.

Gregory Maguire was one of the most imaginative minds I’ve read recently.  He has developed his own world; making Oz his own.  This isn’t the place of dancing munchkins and a singing scarecrow.  People bleed here.  People die here.  There is poverty, there is corruption, there is perversion.  It’s a world perched upon the edge of war.

I think that’s what makes Wicked a great book; it isn’t politically correct, it isn’t all rainbows and butterflies.  The Wizard of Oz is a horrible, corrupt person and Elphba tries to stop him the only way she can: by being Wicked.

If you have seen the stage version of Wicked, this is NOTHING like it.  I saw the stage version in the fall and it is more of a PC Oz still.  Everybody lives happily ever after in the end.  In the book, however, no one is happy; there is no ever after.

I think my only problem with Wicked is that, on occasion, I felt like I did when I read Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons.  Sometimes I felt like it was just way above my head and I would start to get distracted.  All in all, an enjoyable book filled with lots of conflict.  I guess I’m just kind of middle of the road on this one; I don’t absolutely fall over myself love it, but I don’t hate it.

Verdict: Go for it, but be prepared.  It’s not a quick and easy read.

Happy New Year!