The Source of Wicked

[ALWrules]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:28pm

When I was stuck in San Fransisco Airport a couple weeks ago and ran out of reading material, I bought the original book and started to read it. I got a little over half way throught it and then I had to put it down because I thought it was so terrible. The prose was so awful, and a lot of the book was really slow and poorly edited. I think how they've redone the story in the musical is a much better version of telling the story
Thoughts? Disagreements? Anyone just feel like venting?

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:31pm

The book is darker and different than the musical. They really lightened up the musical to make it more family-orientated.

[colleen_lee]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:37pm

I think you must be on some sort of hallucinogenic. The book is very well constructed, and the plot has great political undertones. The novel is far more solid than the musical. The musical has plot holes big enough to drive a truck through.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:40pm

I thought that parts just moved far too slowly, and that it got bogged down in unnessecary parts. For example, I thought that too much was focused on Elphaba's childhood when the story should have moved on. And despite the ingenuity of the idea, which is an interesting concept, the writing of McGuire I find is very poor.
Maybe I was just in a bad mood reading the book, because I was stuck in SFO for the 8th millionth time!!!

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:42pm

Thank you.

I thought I was the only one who couldn't get through it.

It is painfully boring.

Then again, everytime I start reading, I get distracted and end up having to start over.

[TheaterAddict7652]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:42pm

I like botht the musical and the book for different reasons. One of the reasons why I like the book is for the characters of Boq and Fiyero. Both roles are underwritten so much- especially Fiyero, since Boq is a much smaller part in the musical.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:43pm

I am not a fan of the novel, but I would take a writing class with McGuire over Winnie Holzman any day...

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:46pm

I'm in agreement with Colleen_Lee here. I think the book is much better than the stage version. I don't say this as a hater of the stage show. I really do enjoy the musical, but I enjoy it in spite of its flaws, which are numerous.

If you only know the story from the musical, I can understand how the book might be a tough sell for you. With the exception of the names of the characters and the basic conceit, one has virtually nothing to do with the other.

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:47pm

It's not the plot I have trouble with - it's the writing style.

So dry.

Everyother sentance had some weird, obscure, made-up object that did nothing for me. Honeybunnyfunny flowers...wtf!?

Updated On: 2/20/06 at 10:47 PM

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:49pm

His writing didn't bother me in Wicked, but that's the only book of his I could get through. I've read every Maguire novel as they were released, and Wicked's the only one that didn't make me want to claw my eyes out.

[Jilani]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 10:59pm

I'm with ALWrules and BSoBW3 on this - and I read the novel way before seeing the musical. I was very excited about the premise, which I thought was fascinating, but the execution/writing was disappointing. It was just too dreary and slow in too many places. It definitely had its moments, but not enough for me to favorably recommend the book to friends.

[greenegirl87]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 11:02pm

I agree with you Kringas. Wicked was by far his best book. I did enjoy Son of a Witch as a companion to it. For the rest of his books he seemed to have just taken the same formula that made Wicked a success, and applied it to another fairy tale without many original ideas outside of the ideas that he used in Wicked(like the old woman).

ALWrules, as slow as the book seems at first, I think that the emphasis on Elphaba's childhood is actually very important in explaining how she gets to be the way she is, and her attitude towards everything.

Updated On: 2/20/06 at 11:02 PM

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 11:07pm

More power to you, greengirl. I was so excited for Son of a Witch as I didn't want Wicked to end after I read it for the first time ten years ago. I just could not get into Son of a Witch. I thought it started strong, but the further it got from Elphaba, the less interesting it became. By the end, my eyes were rolling in the back of my head.

[peggyandvelma]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 11:18pm

I wasn't too thrilled with the style either. For me, it was kind of like "Hello, I'm Gregory Maguire. Listen to my endless metaphors for four hundred pages. Thank you."

I understand why some of you like it, but the novel wasn't my cup of tea.

[Jud Faginsky]

Posted: 2/20/06 at 11:36pm

I first read the book about a year ago, and before I knew anything about the musical. I liked the book OK, but I wasn't crazy about it. Then I started listening to the soundtrack. I saw the show in NYC last month, and I was shocked at the vast number of changes in the story. I liked every change made, the weather talent that Madame Morrible possesses, that Elphaba wasn't afraid of water, the identities of the tin man and the scarecrow, and the ending. Then I went back and read the book again. This time, I loved the book. There is so much there I missed the first time. I read it in a book club, and we discussed many of the themes that appear throughout. One theme that occurs over and over again is the disappearance and reappearance of different characters. Mother Yackel keeps popping up. The witch in the story Sarima tells her children, "Did she ever come out, ... Not yet!" This theme is throughout the book. At one point Sarima says, "So you can disappear but not really be dead." This theme is definitely picked up in the musical, but I didn't notice while watching the musical, nor when I read the book the first time. But having reread the book, it is pretty striking. So I urge fans of the musical to read the book, even if you already read it. Look for the parallels and the differences. It was well worth it for me.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:09am

Maybe my opinion on the plot outline on the story would have been different if I had read the book before seeing the musical, but my opinion on his terrible writing probably would have remained the same.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:16am

The other issue I had was that I really didn't like Elphaba all that much. She was presented as kind of malicious and wicked, to me defeating much of the purpose of the book. I wasn't very sympathetic for her or rooting for her in the book.

[Jud Faginsky]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:21am

I agree that she is a much more sympathetic character in the musical. In the book, she is actually completely ineffectual. She is her father Frex. She is never able to complete anything she sets out to do. Nothing turns out the way she wants it to.

[Dre2387]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:34am

i read Gregory Maguire's book Lost and I hated it. (turns out it was his worse book). they I heard the cast recording and liked it and then saw the musical and loved the idea of the tinman and scarecrow and the lion and how Elphba was really nice. Then I read the book and I was bored and maybe i should have read it first but i thought it was so sad at the end.

also, i thought it was really weird that Fieyro switched very quickly from Glinda to Elphba. I liked that he switched but it happened to quickly.

[arykahmarye]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:17am

Wicked as a novel is a tough sell for some people. I started reading it after first hearing the cast recording of the musical and became completely engrossed. It is very metaphorical, and i think a bit more cerebral than the average book out on the market. It's not really for readers of The Da Vinci Code, if you get my meaning.

The spacing between the different storylines was a great way to move through the space and force you into making conclusions for yourself. I think that may be why i liked it so much, because nothing in the story is drawn out in black and white, but increasingly graduated shades of gray, and the reader is forced into deciding for themselves what they see in the world of Oz. It doesn't spell out Elphaba as a witch or a good samaritan.

Of course, i'm one of the crazies in the world who enjoys reading Ayn Rand, so i may not be the best person to ask.

[emo_geek]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:28am

I saw the musical and then bought the book. I was able to get through the book once...and liked it. I tried to read it again, and I just couldn't. I like reading books over, but not this one.

[Lavinia]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:32am

I read the book about six years ago, and hated it. The story is an interesting concept, but Maguire's writing style really put me off.

[emo_geek]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:45am

Yes...it has a shakespearean air to it.

[Lavinia]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 5:18am

See, but I like Shakespeare. Maybe it was just that Maguire writes kind of arrogantly. I'm not sure though. I can't put my finger on it, but something about his writing really bothered me.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 7:01am

Basically, the book is a serious novel about a woman whose life is a non-stop parade of disappointment and despair. Those who are wild about the musical's easy message of girly empowerment complete with happy ending are bound to find it disturbing.