AUTHOR: Gregory Maguire
AGES: This is not a Young Adult/Juvenile book. At the earliest this book is appropriate for 16- or 17-year olds. This novel has strong sexual, political, violent and cynical elements.
REVIEW: Maguire is well known for creating alternate viewpoints for familiar tales. This tale was also translated into the very popular and award winning musical. The story is excellent and engaging, but it plods along in the beginning and slows at the end. Jay at FantasyBookSpot.com offers another critical stance on this novel. I find three themes woven throughout the text: interconnectedness, power and good v. evil.
Interconnectedness. The characters and story arcs are tightly related. Specifically, Elphaba's (the Wicked Witch of the West) uncertain conception and physical birth defects are intimately connected to the events leading to her death. Mother Yackle, a passing character, pops up over and over.
Power. Both perceived power and real power are toyed with in the novel. The roles and respect for sentient Animals degrade over the course of pages. The theocratic Nessarose (Wicked Witch of the East) receives the title "witch" from her subjects while Elphaba is so labeled from her seemingly mystical actions, frightening appearance and reclusive nature. Similarly, Glinda (Good Witch of the North) prefers the title "sorceress" but accepts the base "witch" from the ignorant commoners. Glinda in fact is the only true witch in the bunch.
Good v. evil. Finally, we as readers are continually asked to question our definitions of good and evil. How individual make seemingly benign decisions and the consequences of their actions — and how they should be interpreted. In the final pages, various viewpoints on the source of evil are considered at a dinner party, ending with Elphaba focusing on the unknowable elements of evil and its secretive nature.
While some instances of this theme are covert, the relationship of good and evil within religion and politics is obvious. Characters continue to credit (blame) religious icons for events. Elphaba, an agnostic, at the very end begins to question her soul, and the Wizard rules the empire of Oz with bureaucratic distance, military threat and a mystical veil.
Like the movie Titanic and the demise of Anakin Skywalker (a.k.a. Darth Vader), we begin this story knowing full well we are heading toward the iceberg and the dark side. The only question is how it happens, and this is what Maguire proffers so well. The empathy we feel for the Wicked Witch of the West is unexpected; her evolution is credible and moving for an iconic villain. When we reach her death (with the pail of water), there are no bells ringing "Ding, dong, the witch is dead!". Instead, we realize the Kansas twister is the smallest tragedy in the whole book, and Elphaba's life is the true disaster.
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