Wicked by Gregory Maguire

October 30, 2006 Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Location: Pam's house at 6:00 pm

Our first snow may have been what kept Larry away, or perhaps it was because I forgot to send a reminder e-mail. Oops. However, those of us who could make it warmed up to Pam's delicious cider and enjoyed a main course of Judy's carrot orange soup--perfect for Halloween. I brought veggies and Marci brought bread and we all felt very healthy until we ate Kristine's caramel brownies. Sigh. And yes, it was with brownies that Kristine made her debut at book club. We'd have extended a hearty welcome regardless. Yay.

Marci gets the award for the fastest read, though I am afraid I may have enjoyed it a wee bit more than she did. I must applaud her effort considering her long-standing distaste for the film The Wizard of Oz. I have never read any of the original books (there are 14 of them) and have only watched the film, but I suspect after looking at the Annotated Wizard of Oz that I own much of the the original stories tie into this imagined life of Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West. I was surprised by the amount of politics, religion, and sex that comprise this fantastical tale and understand that L. Frank Baum had some things to say in the original tales as well. Now I may have to actually READ them. What I enjoyed most was the way the Maguire story wove in details from the film and I realized just how much I like the "literary allusion." Judy says, "It rewards the reader" and perhaps that is part of the pleasure. I loved how this book gave me a different view on the talking lion and on the yellow brick road or even why the ruby slippers were so important to Elphaba.

Marci and I even engaged in a post-book club discussion and tried to answer each other's unanswered questions and read together our favorite bits over the phone which goes to show that this title definitely was discussion worthy with topics like the nature of evil and hope and goodness and more. Most of our group found the book to be rather long and dense and while it was very appropriate for the Halloween holiday, it was a bit challenging for this time of year. However, I would encourage folks to finish it, if they've started.

Perhaps we should all take in the Broadway musical if we get a chance or read the sequel Son of a Witch. And perhaps we might give some time to the questions in this reading guide.