The Source of Wicked- Page 2

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 8:32am

When I heard it was going to be made into a Broadway show, I got the book and read it. I thought it was fairly good, not the best writing in the world, but an interesting story that kept me involved. It made me completely hate the Musical, because they took all the darkness out of it, made it trite and fluffy, and the lyrics are some of the worst ever written. Though I didn't completely love the book, I'll take it over the show any day.

[uncageg]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 11:14am

I read both The Da Vinci Code and Wicked!! It took awhile for me to get through Wicked. I had the OBCR and had tickets to see the show in May of 2004. I started reading the book in January. It took me a good month to get through it. I enjoyed it and wish that the Musical had included more of the book. But, as stated here, the musical was family friendly. The book was not.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 11:24am

I think they were both fascinating and worked equally well, but on two entirely different levels. They are not the same, and I'm totally happy with that.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 11:29am

I thought the book was blah.

[Pippin]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 11:32am

my thoughts are the same as best 12, though at first I was pissed off at the producers for "disneyfying" the show for broadway, but what are you gonna do?

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 11:43am

I read the book years ago and really enjoyed it, though Maguire's writing style did require some rereading of lines. I truly didn't want it to end. (I have yet to get through Son of a Witch.) It's funny that someone mentioned disliking the part about Elphaba's childhood. I loved that. I think it gave a better understanding of the woman she grows into. I liked that Galinda was pretty useless in the book, as I never could stand her in the movie. I wish he would have taken a different path with the birth of Liir. Seeing Elphaba dealing with a pregnancy and child would have been much more interesting than, "here take him with you."

I like showing people who have read the book this doll:


It's fantastic.

Updated On: 2/21/06 at 11:43 AM

[Stewart]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 11:55am

I think it helps to think of the book as a companion to Wizard of Oz the book and the musical as a companion piece to the movie. The book differs from the movie a great deal in both plot and tone (The Wizard explicitly says he sent Dorothy off to the Witch hoping she'd be killed).

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 11:57am

JG - I LOVE that picture.

Funny, I actually enjoyed her childhood stuff. It's when she grows up that I get bored.

[My Strongest Suit]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 12:03pm

i would try finishing the book if i were you. it took me so long to finish it but i did and it does leave you with a sense of accomplishment, plus the end section is worth reading the rest of the book for. i'm sure that most people found the begining difficult to read. i feel your pain. :)

[peach]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 1:53pm

I read the book long before seeing the musical. I enjoyed it immensely.

I have to agree with best12bars here. They are both great, but on different levels. They both work in their own way.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:10pm

Roscoe sums up the book perfectly! BRAVO!

I love this book. I think the writing style is a non stop riot. Like everyone, childhood is a major influence on how they grow up and I think if he were to skip over it, it would be a horrible book.

I started reading LOST, but couldn't get into it, but I really enjoyed Confessions and Mirror, Mirror.

But for those who have read SON, what the hell happened in the end? Did he find Fiyero's daughter? Either I missed that part, or he left it out.

[elmore3003]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:26pm

I thought the novel WICKED was an amazing somersault on the WIZARD OF OZ, particularly the innocence of the film, beginning with the sexual imagery of the clock and Elphaba's mother. I liked its metaphor of the Wizard as a Hitleresque dictator and Oz a totalitarian state annihilating all the non-Aryans and undesirables. Elphaba's character was a study in how an outsider becomes a liberal activist amd enemy of the state, rather as the liberal left deplores the current religious(?) right in this country. I thought Maguire's thesis was clever, well-written, and politically astute.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:38pm

elmore3003---I completely agree.

But I also agree with producer Marc Platt's decision to transform it (fairly drastically) for the musical stage show. Lengthy discussions about political and religious agendas and theories would land like a lead balloon in a theatre. The show would have closed by intermission, IMO. And rightfully so. These are fascinating to read in a book, but not to see "talked about endlessly" on a stage.

I was very pleased with the (loose) adaptation and the new direction they took with the musical. While others bashed Holzman and Schwartz's approach, I think they rose to the occasion beautifully, even if they took a completely different road to get to Maguire's "point."

[BSoBW3]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:40pm

I think it would have been more effective if he tried to emulate Baum's style (though at the same time make it his own).

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 2:47pm

"I was very pleased with the (loose) adaptation and the new direction they took with the musical. While others bashed Holzman and Schwartz's approach, I think they rose to the occasion beautifully, even if they took a completely different road to get to Maguire's 'point.'"

I think they missed the point completely.

I'm surprised no one's been like "SEARCH FOR IT!" I thought one or two posters would have already bashed this thread for being a repeated discussion.

I just wish they wouldn't have changed SO much of the story.

[greeneyed_one]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 4:12pm

>>I think it helps to think of the book as a companion to Wizard of Oz the book and the musical as a companion piece to the movie. The book differs from the movie a great deal in both plot and tone (The Wizard explicitly says he sent Dorothy off to the Witch hoping she'd be killed).<<

Well said Stewart, I agree.

[best12bars]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 4:55pm

Captain_Obvious---If you disagree and think the show missed the point completely, I'm curious as to what you think "the point" of Wicked is?

By the way, Maguire, the author, doesn't think they missed the point of his book.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 6:37pm

The point of the book is about Elphaba, and I think the musical was too much Glinda. I know she's telling the story and all, but I wish they would've told it a different way.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 7:20pm

Wait, that doesn't make any sense. Are you saying the point of the book is to tell the story of Elphaba? I think the novel is much more complex than that. The point of the musical is to put a spin on The Wizard of Oz and make young girls feel good about themselves. But it's a 2 hour stage show. They couldn't get into the story much. Besides, isn't Winnie Holzman's only other writing credit doing scripts for some preteen soap opera ala Degrassi? The fault for not finding depth lies mostly on Stephen Schwartz's shoulders, since that is what lyrics are for.

I disagree with most that Maguire is a poor writer. I think he's inconsistent, but often reaches moments of greatness that make it all worthwhile, and he has a quirky sense of humor that not everyone will notice. Ayn Rand is much denser than Gregory Maguire :P

Best12bars said:

"Lengthy discussions about political and religious agendas and theories would land like a lead balloon in a theatre. The show would have closed by intermission, IMO. And rightfully so. These are fascinating to read in a book, but not to see "talked about endlessly" on a stage. "

There's a whole lot of theater that does those sorts of things, and good writers know how to imply their themes. Stephen Schwartz does take steps to address the political themes in the story. They are juvenile, but it is a show meant for juveniles. Lucky for us they write plays and musicals for adults too!

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 7:29pm

I couldn't get through the book either.

I thought it was painfully slow and boring. I just kept saying "Who cares?"

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 7:34pm

I liked both, for the reason cited by best12bars and others.

I thought the music could be a bit more complex, but they were not going after the adult, thoughtful market (IMO). They targeted a specific market, and did so very well.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 9:31pm

I would finish it but I have another, better long book to read: Atlas Shrugged.
It wasn't taht I didn't like the part about her childhood, it was just that it went on far too long. I use it as a good example of the poor editing of the book. It dragged on, and on, and on, like many other sections in the book.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 9:41pm

Who cares how long a book is? Do you read at the rate of a grade school student? Judging your prose, I'm going to take your criticisms with a grain of salt. Although I always do that with anybody.

[grizzabella]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 9:42pm

I read Maquire's book several years back, and was impressed with it as a very dark and very serious allegory of the free thinker, or marginalized citizen in a totalitarian state. When I found out it was going to be a musical, I honestly couldn't imagine how it would ever work. Obviously, it worked, but with a sea-change in the point of view and focus of the story.
I have to agree with Best12bars, that musings on totalitarianism and the resulting social upheavels don't always work in musicals. It seems to me that Sondheim tried it with The Frogs, and it was considered one of the major faults of the show.

[ALWrules]

Posted: 2/21/06 at 9:45pm

"Judging your prose, I'm going to take your criticisms with a grain
of salt"

Hmmm... last I checked I'm a high school student, not a professional writer, and McGuire is a best selling author. So I think his standard should be set a little higher than mine.