[Book Review] Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West

It's been a long time since I wrote about a book. If you haven't heard of it or haven't read it then you've got to go out to your nearest library or bookstore. 

I urge you to pick up a copy and start reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Don't hesitate! I swear, it's worth every cent of it. It's not a bestselling novel for nothing, you know.

When I was a little girl, my mother used to read The Wizard of Oz to me before I went to bed. I was enthralled by the journey of a little girl wearing a pair sparkly ruby red shoes, a scarecrow who wants a brain, a tin man who wants a heart and a lion who wants courage. 

I don't remember much of it anymore except for the Yellow Brick Road, the Emerald City and of course, the Wizard of Oz.  

Yes, I was fascinated by Dorothy's good manners (and good taste in shoes.) She was a little girl like me because all she ever wanted was to go back to Kansas with her puppy and find that place somewhere over the rainbow where she can be happy. So she's just an average girl who happened to drop into another world. (Isekai?)

Everyone knows Dorothy's side of the story but has anyone bothered to find out about the other side? There are two sides to every story. 

Wicked is the Witch's turn in the spotlight. We will meet Elphaba who is cursed with a curious green complexion, sharp teeth and even sharper wit. This is not your average happy fairytale. 

It runs like a cross between a novel, the Witch's biography and then a children's story dreamed up by the Grimm brothers on acid. Trust me, you want to know all of the juicy and salacious bits.

Elphaba is an anti-heroine. She is born to poverty, mad parents and an inexplicable something that lingers around her. She will tell you right from the start that she does not take shit from anyone and that she doesn't hesitate to do anything to get what she wants. 

There is no black and white here. There are plenty of grey areas to explore. She is always asking about the nature of good and evil. She is going to force you to question your beliefs, convictions and faith. She will win you over without even trying.

What will surprise you about the book is how much it resembles reality. There are murders, corruptions in the government, pollution, civil unrest and discrimination. 

There are questions about animal rights, education and careers versus vocations. There is magic and sorcery, paganism and unionism. There are theological discussions about the Unnamed God, the Kumbric Witch and the Time Dragon as the representation of the pleasure faith. There is adultery, madness, tyranny and unfair treatment between children. The author is ruthless in shoving his reader's faces into the mirror of their reality.

Elphaba sits in the center of it all without a care. She doesn't give a damn about what people say about her and she doesn't give a shit about what happens to them. She doesn't care about position, power or wealth. 

All she wants is to be herself. She's accepted her title as a Witch because she is not a sorceress or an Adept. She is somewhere in between. She possesses knowledge about Oz and about other worlds but she doesn't know how to use it. In spite of her apparent gift for magic, she doesn't get the correct training for it. 

Elphaba suffers all throughout the book but she doesn't give up until the end. She just bites the bullet and fights without restraint. 

Elphaba wins her readers without pomp and ceremony. She is our deepest fears, our darkest secrets. She is our madness and certainty. She is the dark secret side of us that is shoved into the backs of our minds because we're afraid that we won't get accepted if others know about her existence. 

This is what makes Elphaba so unique and so daring. She isn't afraid to be herself. And she doesn't give a flying bleep about what others think.

There are plenty of memorable characters in the book too. We'll meet good old Granny, Glinda the Good Witch and Liir the Witch's son. We'll travel around Oz to see it's sights, cultures and climate that is written with such vividness and clarity. You will hardly realize that you're reading a book because of the images that's conjured in your mind.

I read it for three days straight. I couldn't put the book down. It was that good. I've never felt so passionate about a book since I last read Harry Potter when I was 12-years-old. 

If a work of literature manages to imprison you in its grasp and holds you enthralled until you're good and done then that's a book that's worth reading.