Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

Gregory  Maguire
3 Stars
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious Witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil? Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability, and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to become the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly, and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.

I was excited to read this book, because I had read Confessions of an ugly stepsister and rather liked the story that Gregory Maguire had made up about Cinderella's stepsister. I was also excited to read it because I had heard so much hype about the musical and since I couldn't see the musical I was hoping that I might be able to understand what everyone loved about it. I was utterly mistaken, though the story gave more insight into the land of Oz and the back story of the Wicked Witch of the East (which I found interesting)I felt that the story moved rather slowly and had too much not need information. For instance, I don't understand what the Philosophy Club was about other than a wild sex club, I mean what did that have to do with the story. I also didn't get what the dragon clock was about either was it just a crazy puppet traveling or what?  I liked that it showed the events leading up to Elphaba becoming the Wicked Witch. I would have liked more back story on how or why she was green, not just who her father was and the green bottle that was drunk before her birth. I was able to see the Wicked Witch in a more humane light and was able to understand that she wasn't born wicked or even raised wicked it was a series of events,as well as others opinion of her that ultimately led to her persona as the Wicked Witch. I would have liked more insight into Yackle and what exactly was Elphaba's destiny, but I was never able to jump in and really engross myself in the story. I felt like it dragged too much and was very verbose in the writing, which I believe was unnecessary to the story itself it made it unenjoyable for me. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who doesn't feel like investing much time to try to understand and unwrap the mystery of this book.