Wicked Book Review

Title: Wicked
Author: Gregory Maguire
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction,

In Wicked by Gregory Maguire It tells the story of the Wizard of Oz from an entirely different point of view. In Wicked we learn about a green child called Elphaba and her armless sister, Nessarose. These two characters are more commonly known as the “Wicked witch of the west” and the “wicked witch of the East”. During Elphaba’s school years she becomes pals with the Galinda (the good). We know how the wizard of Oz ends but in wicked Dorothy is only seen in the Prologue and in the final section of the story; but what does Elphaba think of Dorothy? She did kill her sister after all.

The main character in this book is Elphaba. Elphaba is more commonly known as the wicked witch of the west. She has green skin and black hair; she grew up with her mother and a Nanny. Her father, Frex who is a priest was almost never around for her childhood. A glass blower, Turtle Heart lived in their household also. For the most part Elphaba is realistic, if you forget about the green skin of course. She had a hard childhood and is teased for being different. She has a love of books and will read all day if she has the chance. I think that Elphaba is not a typical stereotype; but there are other characters that have the terrible childhood background. I do like Elphaba because she is a twisted fresh look on a classic witch. Elphaba is the main character in the novel Wicked. Another important character is Galinda (the good). Galinda is Elphaba’s roommate at Shiz University. Galinda has creamy ringlets of hair, perfect red lips and she is very smart. Galinda is very realistic. She comes from a rich family, is beautiful, very smart and is a popular person in school. Galinda is very stereotypical because she is popular blond of Wicked, just as Elphaba is the ugly outsider. I am not very fond of Galinda because she seems to be to perfect and right all the time. Galinda’s importance in the Wicked is she will end up becoming “Galinda the Good”.

In the novel Wicked some issues/ideas include Family life, Religion, Mystery, friendship, death and horror. Family life is a theme of Wicked because Elphaba is raised by her Mother, Father, Nanny and Turtle Heart in the country side. Religion and mystery are themes because Frex, Elphaba’s father; is a priest. He tells us about a Dragon clock tower and its mysterious powers. Friendship is a theme because Galinda and Elphaba gradually become friends as they spend their time at Shiz University together. Death and Horror are also themes because of the death of loved ones and the disasters that follow in the ripples of those deaths. This book makes you think about what good and evil truly is. Is Elphaba the bad witch like she is made out to be in the Wizard of Oz? Or was she just misunderstood and mourning over the death of her sister. Is Galinda really all good and no evil? Or will Dorothy the bad guy this time?

I really enjoyed Wicked, although Munchkinlanders was a little boring the pace picks up in Gillikin. Wicked has affected my outlook on good and evil because it is just really point of perspective. I cannot personally identify with the characters of Wicked but I can imagine what it would be like to be in their situations. Like Elphaba being the outsider; Galinda the popular girl or Melena the cheating wife. From this book I have learned that you should give people a chance to get to know them before you decide if you like them or not. I also learned that you should not judge people from the color of their skin (Elphaba being green).

Vocab #4

Scrutinized
to examine in detail with careful or critical attention

Backlit
A past tense and a past participle of backlight

Underdone
to do less or in a lesser fashion than is usual or requisite.

Fervently
having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm, etc.; ardent: a fervent admirer; a fervent plea.
OR
Hot, glowing, burning

Impediments
any physical defect that impedes normal or easy speech; a speech disorder

Journal 3

An important character is Elphaba. She is the daughter of Melinda and Frex. Her skin is green because her mother cheated on her frex. She has sharp teeth and loves to bite things. She cannot speak.

Why is s/he important in the novel?
She is important because she will soon become the wicked witch of the west.

Would you like to be the main character? Why or why not?

No, I would not like to be the main character because she green and everyone is either scared disgusted because she is green. She is known green frog which it not a name that you would want to be called because your skin is a different color.

Would you like the main character for a friend? Give your reasons.

No, I do not think I would like Elphaba as a friend because she is violent and she has green skin. She likes to bite and pound things with rock, that would lead to me getting hurt or it would lead to someone I know getting hurt. The fact that she also cannot talk is also why I would not like her to be my friend.



Thanks,
Melrose

Vocab #3

Upraised-
A depressed or dejected humor; cheer


Derivative-
Copied or adapted from others


Ruminated-
To chew again or over and over.


Unkempt-
Unpolished; rough; crude


Determination-
The act of coming to a decision or of fixing or settling a purpose.

Journal #2

1.Wicked is told in third person by a narrator. At the moment, the story is being told from Melena’s point of view.2.The point of view is effective because it allows you to see the story from your own point of view because you can see everyone else’s thoughts and determine what will happen next in the story.

2.The point of view is effective because it allows you to see the story from your own point of view because you can see everyone else’s thoughts and determine what will happen next in the story.

3.
Mommy was making breakfast but it’s too bad I can’t have some! I think I will cheer mommy up. I think I will sing to mommy! I start to sing a sweet little song, one wit out a melody, just a song that sounds like a dream. I feel mommy stop moving, I guess she likes my song. I’ve done this before and I hope that mommy doesn’t mind. I think that I’ll keeping singing so that I can keep mommy happy. Oh mommy’s moving again, I guess she is talking to someone, I hope its daddy. I like my daddy! I feel some food slowly start to move it way to her stomach and I know that she’s is eating. I really hope that mommy doesn’t throw up again; she’s been doing that a lot lately! I start to sing the chorus of my song but I think that I’m distracting mommy. Uh oh I think daddy said something bad because mommy is getting mad! I hear a crash against something hard. I look around in my dark cramped room...if it’s even a room. I stretch out my arms but I hit a wall, sorry mommy! I feel mommy flinch and hurry somewhere. I hear a door close and she leans over. Oh no she’s going to throw up again! I start to sing again and hope that this will calm her down a bit.

Discussion director questions #2

Discussion director questions

1. Do you think that the Dragon clock tower will come up later in the book? And why?
2. Why do you think the baby is green?
3. Do you think that Melena cheated on her husband?
4. Do you think that these chapters are try to teach us a lesson? If so what lesson?
5. If frex being a priest and yet has a green daughter could tell us something?

(If you want to answer leave YOUR answer in a comment!)

MelRose :)

Journal #1

1. The setting so far in wicked is in Munchkinland, a town just outside of Emerald City and A little cottage in the countryside. The thing newest to the town is a fake clock called “Time Dragon Clock”.

2. We have been introduced to a husband and wife. Frex who is a priest and Melina who has no job but is pregnant. Melina hopes that her baby will be born and that her husband will be happy. There are no conflicts between these two characters.

3.
Melina- “there’s not a lot of choice involved. From what I hear. Your body gets big and it takes over- if you can’t accommodate it sweetheart, you just get out of its way. It’s on a track of its own and nothing stops it now” This a perfect quote for Melina, it shows that she is still trying to do her every day activates but still thinks about the baby. Also it shows that she loves her husband.
Frex- “you’re not angry in leaving you today?” This is a good quote for Frex because it shows that he cares about his wife but also that he is committed to his work.

Summarizer~ #1

Hai Thar!

So this week I am the summarizer so I will be summing up "The root of evil" and "The Clock of the Time Dragon".

The Root of all Evil

This Chapter starts with Frex getting up and getting ready for his day. His wife wakes up and we learn that she is pregnant. She was telling Frex that she feels tired and that she feels like a hostage to herself. We learn that Frex is a priest and that he has a busy day ahead of him. Melena (Frex's pregnant wife) heard a singing like sound from inside her and she thought it was the child. Frex leaves and Melena wishes him good bye.

The Clock of the Time Dragon

In the beginning of this chapter Frex was worried about his wife. He looked at a letter that talked about a clock. It is as tall as an giraffe and is like a huge theater. On top of the tower of rooms is a giant dragon. This dragon was green leather, silver eyes, ruby eyes and scales that are made out of overlapping plates of metal. Some of the doors on the tower opened and it played at story with puppets. The story seemed to be true as the dragon called up two people and it showed how A mans wife cheated of him. The two people who were called up ran away and were never seen again. After Frex read this story he continued on his way.


So this was my summery for the two chapter and I hope you liked them!!!


Thanks,

MelRose

Gregory Maguire

Gregory Maguire got his PH.D in English at Tufts University. He is a founder of a educational foundation in 1987 and is an author for adults and children. Gregory lives in Concord, Massachusetts and Vermont. Gregory Maguire is a best selling author for many books. Some o f them would be Confessions of an ugly stepsister, Lost and Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.
"People who claim they're evil are usually no worse than the rest of us. It's people who claim that they're good, or any way better than the rest of us, that you have to be wary of. " — Gregory Maguire (Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West)




http://www.gregorymaguire.com/about/


http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/gregory-maguire/

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7025.Gregory_Maguire

Other information from Wicked.

Wicked- Lit. Circles

Hai thar!

My name is Melinda Rose and I am in grade 8. I'm studying this book for Lit. Circles and I will be posting about my opinion on this novel!

I hope you enjoy my views on Wicked


Thanks,
Melinda Rose

Wicked book reviews

http://www.curledup.com/wicked.htm
When I was a child in the early '70s, one of the Big Three networks aired the classic movie "The Wizard of Oz" with some regularity, about once a year or so. I watched it every time it was on, captivated again and again by the struggle between Dorothy's innocent "good" (ironic, given Judy Garland's eventual reputation) and the absolute "evil" of the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West.
In early junior high school, I discovered L. Frank Baum's whole blessed series of Oz books and raced through them all. I decided that the original creation was far superior to the movie - which I now own on video, so it's still beloved to me - in delving deeper into the society of Oz and depicting in loving detail the quirkier aspects of that enchanted land. It occurs to me that Oz is a venerable ancestor of Piers Anthony's Xanth, but that strays from the point at hand.
A few years ago, I picked up a brand-new hardcover by Gregory Maguire called Wicked, purely on the basis of its subtitle: "The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West." I started reading and honestly could not stop, enchanted by Oz once again, and this time from a vastly different point of view and of sympathy.
Wicked's flavor is the gothic freakishness of Carson McCullers and Flannery O'Connor blended with liberal amounts of dark humor and socio-political satire a la Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Robbins, seasoned with honesty, sympathy and earnestness. It is the heretofore untold story of the Wicked Witch of the West. In it we learn about
her name (Elphaba)
her childhood (really weird parents and unfortunate skin)
her sister (Nessarose, an armless conservative zealot who will become Wicked Witch of the East and who will die when Dorothy's Kansas house lands on her)
her schoolgirl days (where she and Glinda the "Good" will become reluctant pals)
her politics (she becomes a freedom fighter, working with an underground resistance movement to bring social rights to the thinking Animals, among other things)
her life's great sorrow, the loss of her one true love.The infamous Dorothy is seen briefly in the prologue, but doesn't appear in the story proper until the fifth and final part of the book. Dorothy is depicted as a large-boned farm girl, a dull-witted but well-intentioned sort; Toto is "merely annoying." If you rewatch the movie, you'll grudgingly admit that this seemingly cruel characterization is actually pretty on-the-mark as far as the motion picture Dorothy goes.
Kirkus Reviews said "Save a place on the shelf between Alice and The Hobbit -- that spot is well-deserved." Wicked does earn a spot on the shelves of classic fantasy, but so does it earn a niche alongside the best modern literary fiction. Maguire has created a truly great -- and flawed -- heroine in a novel that is a psychological analysis on one of the most "evil" characters of the twentieth century.
I made this book my in-store staff recommendation twice when I was a bookseller, in hardcover and paperback, and my evident love for Wicked caused nearly half our store staff to read it for themselves. Two things we all agreed on: Wicked is one hell of a good book, and we will never look at Oz in the same way.


http://myhaven.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/book-review-wicked-the-life-and-times-of-the-wicked-witch-of-the-west/
It is safe to say that probably everyone, child and adult, knows the tale of “The Wizard Of Oz” that tells the story of a girl from Kansas named Dorothy as she journeys in a magical world of Oz with “unique” looking companions. However, this book is definitely not a fairytale for children; in fact, it is intended for adults and adults only. In Wicked, I was allowed to meet “the real” Witch, as it were, from her childhood innocence, to her ungainly, evolutionary teen years at Shiz University, through her life’s great love affair, and on to her ultimate date with fate at the hands of a confused girl from Kansas. This person, this green girl, lived and breathed for me throughout the pages of Wicked. Gregory Maguire clearly sets out on an ambitious journey into the story that we grew up with, but by giving it a clever twist and fleshing out the characters we never got to know in the original Wizard of Oz. In my opinion, the book begins and ends very strongly, but the narrative sagged a bit in the middle, particularly in Chapter 4 but the pace picked up soon afterward; and from that point on, the novel receives its well-deserved finale, in which it goes out with a bold glory rarely seen in novels.
Don’t expect to read another take on Dorothy or her adventure in the “Wonderful Land of Oz“. She doesn’t even enter into the picture until the very end. What you will find is an incredibly imagined story for adults, full of humor, romance, and adventure. However, It’s important not to take very long breaks in reading this novel, as the details become more important toward the end, when the witch begins looking back upon her life.