I'm too stuffy and coughy and achy to sleep, so I've been reading Wicked. It's a bit like a cross between The Wizard of Oz and The Big Chill. A group of college friends, among them the green-skinned Elphaba Thropp, are finding their way in an unstable world. Oz has been hit hard by the Wizard's coup, religious conflict, inflation, drought, and you-name-it. The only thing that could make it worse would be flying monkeys (or are they elves?), and there's no sign of them yet.
I'm a little over halfway through and still completely in the dark as to how and why things turn out as they do. How could the chattering, self-absorbed Glinda ever become angelic? Does she intentionally remake herself in the image of the fabled pagan queen, Lurline, with a wand and a nimbus of blonde hair? Why did the plot against the Wizard fail? What could possibly turn Elphaba, the radical Animal-rights crusader, into a notorious villainess? What becomes of her armless, religious-nut sister?
6 comments:
Oh wow. I like the sounds of this one. That was just enough info to get me intersted..
I know! I know! Pick ME!
Do you really want me to answer those questions? ;)
It got better and better with every page...don't tell me anything, I'm only about 50 pages from the end! I just got to the part about the Wizard searching for a book that Madame Blavatsky described. That's interesting because I think L. Frank Baum was a Theosophist, and Blavatsky talked a lot about an ancient book that only she had access to, called the Book of The Dzyan or something like that.
That fact added an interesting twist to the story.
It gives a whole new perspective to Oz, doesn't it? Who knew they were so political? ;)
Be sure to read Son of a Witch right away. You don't want to forget details from Wicked before you read it. I want to read them again so I can highlight some of the deeper passages I liked.
One spoiler: Glinda's a twat!
You and Tweety, I can't believe how good you two are to stick with these types of books!!!
I failed on trying to read Lord of the Rings!!!
Heh, you aren't alone there Bridg! I couldn't handle LOTR. Elven language, armies of creepy-crawlies (why are the bad guys in fantasy fiction always ugly, anyway?), short hairy guys getting lost in the woods for hundreds of pages....NO THANKS!!
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