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Review Summaries
"Gregory Maguire reimagines L. Frank Baum's world of Oz from the perspective of the Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba is born with the dual disabilities of green skin and a severe allergy to water. The daughter of a preacher and a philandering hedonist, little Elphaba is an outcast in Munchkinland. When she leaves home to attend college in Gillikin, the north of Oz, she rooms with her future archnemesis, Glinda, a shallow and pampered socialite. Elphaba discovers in college both an affinity for the life sciences and a political passion for fighting the dictatorial Wizard of Oz, whose edicts have stripped sentient Animals of their basic rights.
When she leaves college, Elphaba becomes a freedom fighter amidst the corruption of the Emerald City. But when her first true love falls victim to a political assassination, she vanishes to western Oz, the land of Winkies, and, disillusioned and embittered, reinvents herself as the Witch of the West. Elphaba finds a sort of peace among the Winkies until the day a tornado lands a foreign little girl and her dog in Oz, accidentally killing Elphaba's sister. When Glinda foolishly send the little girl to the Emerald City, the child may inadvertently play into the oppressive power of the Wizard and Elphaba must take action against the foreigner and protect the land of Oz."
Jennifer Martin-Romme, Resident Gregory Maguire Scholar
""Wicked" takes the reader to the land of Oz--only this time from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba. Elphaba, is portrayed bu the author as a sympathetic character despite her ugliness. The Wizard is a corrupt politico and a tyrant. Galinda (later Glinda) is a something of a silly snobbish sorority girl type. Animals can speak and are an oppressed minority. The story begins with Elphaba's childhood where she is largely responsible for her younger sister, who has no arms. She goes off to the University, where she becomes involved in a revolutionary movement against the tyranical wizard and his minions.
This is not a children's book. Maguire uses the events and the characters of the original Baum novel to create a world that is quite the opposite of that.
"
Jack Goodstein, Resident Gregory Maguire Scholar
"
Nicholas S. Stember, Resident Gregory Maguire Scholar
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Overall Review
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book Descript. of chases or violence - 10% planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 10% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40% Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 40%
Tone of book
- cynical or dry-wit
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION?
- fantasy world/fantasy past
Coming of age
Yes
Youngster becomes
- a powerful magician
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- 20's-30's
Has magical/special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character:
- can talk to animals
- can fly
- can cast many different spells
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
- emotionally unstable
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- physically sick
Main Adversary
Identity:
- society
Setting
Terrain
- Mountains
- Forests
Earth setting:
- 20th century
A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body:
- humans in a primitive/fantasy society
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Planet outside solar system?
Yes
Style
Person?
- mostly 3rd
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- descript of touching personal anatomy
How much dialogue?
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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