Friday, December 26, 2014

Wicked

     First, a synopsis from Goodreads: 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 really, really disliked this book. I'm talking 1 out of 5 stars. It felt to me that every minute detail had to be included for no reason, so many questions were left unanswered, and Elphaba still wasn't likable. The one character I ended up liking was killed off without any sort of pomp and circumstance. I kept reading because I honestly thought it would get better, more interesting, everything would all make sense. Spoiler alert, it doesn't. Another major problem I had with the book was the writing. I know Gregory Maguire has made a fortune off these books of his, but honestly it felt like he was trying way too hard. He was loquacious with irrelevant details, but left me with so many unanswered questions.

     Over all, an incredibly frustrating book. It took me almost 2 weeks to read, which is way long for me. I hope there are others out there that enjoyed this book, but I don't know if I'll even try another one of these for a long time.

  

No comments:

Post a Comment