Wicked - Gregory Macguire

Gregory Maguire is best known as an author who writes books that follow characters from well known fairy tales and stories. He puts a spin on what we know already of a story. For example he has written about Snow White in a book called 'Mirror Mirror', he has also written a book called 'Confession of an Ugly Step-Sister' based on the story of Cinderella, from the perspective of an ugly step-sister. I was never interested in these, until I came across one based on one of my all time favourite stories, 'The Wizard of Oz'. I was very intrigued by this book from the outset...in the smallest of nutshell's - it is exactly what it says on the book: 'The Life and ...  Read the complete review

Last christmas concert at my school, two girls sang a song from the musical wicked. I was instantly captivated, and loved the idea of looking into the life of a "baddie" so i read the book. I have not seen the musical, so i cannot compare them. As it suggests it is the life and background of the familiar figure of the Wicked witch of the west, from when she was born, green and ugly, to the wife of a minister, much to his embarasment, to when she is killed by Dorethy as we see in the film. Inbetween this we see her life as a student at "Shiz" the university, and her political campain againt dicrimination of Animals (who are just as inteligent as ...  Read the complete review

"Wicked" by Gregory Maguire is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from that well loved story/film The Wizard of Oz. It is also now a hit musical and is currently showing in the West End. The Wizard of Oz was one of my favourite films as a child and I still enjoy it now with all the musical numbers and the funny characters so was quite intrigued to read the book. However Wicked is no fairy tale and is certainly not for children. The story is based on the life of "Elphaba" the girl who grows up to become the Wicked Witch of the West. We discover that when Elphaba was born her green skin came as quite a shock to her family and ...  Read the complete review

*~* INTRODUCTION *~* I recently finished the book "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire. I read it after reading another of his novels, "Confessions of an ugly step-sister" a few months back (review for this book can be found on dooyoo, of course) and was curious to read some more of his work. In addition, I have always been a huge fan of the film "The Wizard of Oz" which stars Judy Garland, so I guess I had a bit of a sentimental approach when I prepared to read this book, and was curious to see if any comparison could be made between it and the film. For those of you who are unaware of the fact, ...  Read the complete review

Wicked - Gregory Macquire - No Price taken out of library So as we know it Dorothy lands in Oz, she goes on an adventure finding the tin man, scarecrow and cowardly lion and skips down the yellow brick road to the Emerald City. She finds the Wizard, kills the Wicked Witch and clicks her heels back to Kansas. Huzzah! Wicked intends to show the reader another side to Oz, which it does do... but in a totally drawn out way. The story starts with the birth of Elphaba (Wicked Witch of the West) and goes on to unravel her trials and tribulations growing up in a world which is full of deception and lies, much like our own. I guess the big ...  Read the complete review