Wait. Just kidding.
Most people know L. Frank Baum’s fantastical tale of Dorothy Gale’s trip to the Land of Oz.
But what about the nameless green woman who is only known as the Witch? What’s her story? All we know is that she wants her dead sister’s shoes. Does that really make her so wicked?
Gregory Maguire seeks to address these questions in his revisionist novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”
“To the grim poor there need be no pourquoi tale about where evil arises; it just arises; it always is. One never learns how the witch became wicked, or whether it was the right choice for her — is it ever the right choice? Does the devil ever struggle to be good again, or if so, is he not a devil?”
This powerful quote in the novel captures the essence of the theme Maguire is playing at: is one evil simply because everybody believes it so? Maguire forces readers to ponder this question as he tells the story of Elphaba, a little green-skinned girl born to an extremely promiscuous mother with substance abuse issues and a fanatical preacher for a father, along with a crippled sister and an unreliable brother.
While “Wicked” is filled with intense lessons and themes that tell an excellent story, this book is not as enjoyable as the musical “Wicked” would lead one to believe. For every great strength included in this novel, there is an Achilles’ heel attached that completely destroys it.
First, there are the characters. Maguire adds a myriad of dimensions to their developments and roles in the story, and yet there isn’t a single likable one to be found. Glinda? Shallow and fake. Glinda isn’t even her real name. The Wizard? A tyrant.
Even the mysterious Elphaba, our protagonist, possesses some immensely irksome qualities and beliefs. Though they address some of the notions readers have of her from Baum’s classic tale, Maguire risks isolating Elphaba from the sympathy of his readers through some of these poor character traits. That being said, she is still the best character in the story.
Then there’s the style of the novel. Maguire is clearly an imaginative man with a talent for revisionist stories that contain complex, penetrating meaning within them. However, the writing of the novel is sloppy. He enjoys the use of comma splices and semi-colons far too much. It sabotages the flow of the story by constantly tripping up the reader. This distraction makes it very difficult to follow the plot.
Readers may find themselves having to read passages repeatedly in order to understand what’s going on. The unnecessarily pretentious vocabulary doesn’t help, either. While this novel is definitely written for adults, because it is far too explicit for minors to read, very few people outside of word enthusiasts and university professors have a vocabulary as extensive as that used in “Wicked .” Put the thesaurus away, Maguire. It’s okay to occasionally use the same adjectives.
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The worst flaw, however, is not found in the style of the writing or in the unlikable citizens of Oz. The real letdown is in the ending. First, readers get a few major plot twists thrown at them — some expected, some out of the blue, all below the belt. No wonder Elphaba became so wicked after the life she’d lived.
Then there’s the final conclusion that’s supposed to tell the readers what it all means. Instead of being left with a deep lesson learned the hard way or a profound question to mull over, readers are left with a paragraph full of non-committal, paradoxical sentences and the ending of a vexing bedtime story.
“Wicked” may contain a great message, but the conclusion is vague, which undermines the power that it had. While it is a novel worth reading, one might want to consider catching the much-better play first.
Skylar Griego is a book reviewer and freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
