Recycling - Wicked

I’ve been re-reading Wicked, by Gregory Maguire. He recently wrote a sequel. I do have to confess to a book addiction – I’d rather read than do just about anything else. I’m not much of a shopper or a clothes horse, but I have to be careful in the bookstore or on Amazon. I really wish I could figure out how to read and knit at the same time – but I can only knit and watch TV, not read. And sometimes only knit, if it’s complicated. Can’t listen to music and work, which is horrifying.

Anyway, Wicked. I read it years ago, and wanted to remind myself of the original story before I read the sequel. Maguire has retold a number of old tales, and I’m so charmed by his writing. Wicked is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz. He has a totally different take on the story than the movie does – he imagined a real world, not a light fantasy. It’s really a dense book, with politics, tyranny, revolution, class issues, parenting, good and evil, self-doubt, beauty, corruption, ambition, prejudice, religious fundamentalism, sin, forgiveness. There is a sad feeling throughout the whole thing because, of course, we know how it will all end. I think Maguire must have read a lot of the Oz books and created a whole concordance for himself before he wrote this one – it’s very rich and wonderful. Not a light read, really, but you can get lost in it. He’s one of my favorite writers – he’s written some really delightful books for kids, too.