For adults only
WICKED<br>by Gregory Maguire<br>Headline pp 512, ISBN 0755331605
"We're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz!" The well-known and much-loved movie starring a young Judy Garland was a staple of my childhood and I must have watched it dozens of times. 'Somewhere over the rainbow' can still bring a tear to my eye (especially if sung by Eva Cassidy).
How many times, during a particularly boring day, have I wished for a pair of ruby red slippers that would whisk me off to a magical world! I would have no problem vanquishing wicked witches with bucketfuls of water, or an errant flying house, just as long as I had my trusty sidekicks, a helpful wizard and, of course, a cute black dog, to aid me.
Recently, the phenomenon that is Wicked the Musical, hit Broadway and, a few months ago, the West End in London, to rave reviews. With songs like Popular and One Short Day, it is definitely on my list of "must-see musicals", as most of my friends who have seen it have nothing but praise for this theatrical production.
But before I get down to actually watching the musical, I was glad of the opportunity to read the book of the same name that inspired it. Gregory Maguire's novel starts off very promisingly with the story of Frexpar and Melena. Frex, as he is known, is a minister who goes round Oz trying to keep people away from temptation. His wife Melena is heavily pregnant with their first child. And when she does give birth, what a shock she gets. For her child is as green as an emerald and, moreover, she has such sharp teeth that she bites the midwife's finger right off!
Melena enlists the help of her old Nanny to try and cope with this child who grows up as wild as the grass is green. Early on, there is a suggestion that the child may not be Frexpar's after all; however, Melena professes not to remember if she had betrayed her husband in the past or not. She says there could have been a time when, inebriated with illicit herbs, she could have been "careless" with someone else...
The novel is divided into chapters and the first one, Munchkinlanders is probably the one I enjoyed the most. It charts the childhood of Elphaba, as they decide to name the child, and features the Nanny, whom I found a very sympathetic character. It also introduces the character of Turtle Heart, an outsider with whom Melena, and later her husband Frex, falls in love with. From that last sentence, you may have gathered that this is by no means a book for children.
In fact, I must say that although overall, I did enjoy reading this book, as it gives a different perspective, if you like, of an oft-told and watched story, as I said, I much preferred the beginning of the book where there was still a suggestion of innocence lost. As the book progresses, there is rather a lot of violence and even a few sex scenes - only one of which I found very tender - while the others I thought, were just silly and so explicit that in my opinion, they jarred with the rest of the book.
But, back to the plot. In the second chapter, Gillikin, Elphaba, who as you perhaps guessed by now will eventually turn into the Wicked Witch of the West, meets with Galinda, who of course is the younger version of the good witch Glinda, at university. Maguire's writing skills come to the fore here as he creates a number of situations where the girls come together and, eventually become friends with each other and also with a number of other characters. We also meet with one of their teachers, Dillamond, a Goat (with a capital letter, as opposed to a "goat" as he has the same characteristics of a human) and the scary, fish-like headmistress with the apt name of Madame Morrible.
But the core of this book is rather more complicated than that. It basically deals with the profound subjects of dictatorship, animal rights, fascism and racism which make this chapter and the ones after, much darker and deeper. To be honest, I think I had been lulled into a sense of false security after reading the first chapter and got a shock when suddenly it all became so serious. A particularly nasty part concerns the murder of a Bear cub in front of his mother which is told in a horrible, heart-rending way.
This is not to say that I did not enjoy the book. I did, very much. It is just that I, the incurable romantic, would have preferred a little bit more of the "sweetness" of the movie and a bit less of the blood, sex and violence. At least I am reliably informed by those friends of mine who have watched the musical, that although the above-mentioned themes are still present in the stage version, it concentrates mainly on the delightful relationship between Elphaba and Glinda which, I guess, is more my cup of tea!
• Ms Borg graduated with a BA (Hons) in Communications from the University of Malta. She works as a drama teacher with Stagecoach Malta and moonlights as an actress.
• A review copy of this title was supplied by Books Plus of Bisazza Street, Sliema.
How many times, during a particularly boring day, have I wished for a pair of ruby red slippers that would whisk me off to a magical world! I would have no problem vanquishing wicked witches with bucketfuls of water, or an errant flying house, just as long as I had my trusty sidekicks, a helpful wizard and, of course, a cute black dog, to aid me.
Recently, the phenomenon that is Wicked the Musical, hit Broadway and, a few months ago, the West End in London, to rave reviews. With songs like Popular and One Short Day, it is definitely on my list of "must-see musicals", as most of my friends who have seen it have nothing but praise for this theatrical production.
But before I get down to actually watching the musical, I was glad of the opportunity to read the book of the same name that inspired it. Gregory Maguire's novel starts off very promisingly with the story of Frexpar and Melena. Frex, as he is known, is a minister who goes round Oz trying to keep people away from temptation. His wife Melena is heavily pregnant with their first child. And when she does give birth, what a shock she gets. For her child is as green as an emerald and, moreover, she has such sharp teeth that she bites the midwife's finger right off!
Melena enlists the help of her old Nanny to try and cope with this child who grows up as wild as the grass is green. Early on, there is a suggestion that the child may not be Frexpar's after all; however, Melena professes not to remember if she had betrayed her husband in the past or not. She says there could have been a time when, inebriated with illicit herbs, she could have been "careless" with someone else...
The novel is divided into chapters and the first one, Munchkinlanders is probably the one I enjoyed the most. It charts the childhood of Elphaba, as they decide to name the child, and features the Nanny, whom I found a very sympathetic character. It also introduces the character of Turtle Heart, an outsider with whom Melena, and later her husband Frex, falls in love with. From that last sentence, you may have gathered that this is by no means a book for children.
In fact, I must say that although overall, I did enjoy reading this book, as it gives a different perspective, if you like, of an oft-told and watched story, as I said, I much preferred the beginning of the book where there was still a suggestion of innocence lost. As the book progresses, there is rather a lot of violence and even a few sex scenes - only one of which I found very tender - while the others I thought, were just silly and so explicit that in my opinion, they jarred with the rest of the book.
But, back to the plot. In the second chapter, Gillikin, Elphaba, who as you perhaps guessed by now will eventually turn into the Wicked Witch of the West, meets with Galinda, who of course is the younger version of the good witch Glinda, at university. Maguire's writing skills come to the fore here as he creates a number of situations where the girls come together and, eventually become friends with each other and also with a number of other characters. We also meet with one of their teachers, Dillamond, a Goat (with a capital letter, as opposed to a "goat" as he has the same characteristics of a human) and the scary, fish-like headmistress with the apt name of Madame Morrible.
But the core of this book is rather more complicated than that. It basically deals with the profound subjects of dictatorship, animal rights, fascism and racism which make this chapter and the ones after, much darker and deeper. To be honest, I think I had been lulled into a sense of false security after reading the first chapter and got a shock when suddenly it all became so serious. A particularly nasty part concerns the murder of a Bear cub in front of his mother which is told in a horrible, heart-rending way.
This is not to say that I did not enjoy the book. I did, very much. It is just that I, the incurable romantic, would have preferred a little bit more of the "sweetness" of the movie and a bit less of the blood, sex and violence. At least I am reliably informed by those friends of mine who have watched the musical, that although the above-mentioned themes are still present in the stage version, it concentrates mainly on the delightful relationship between Elphaba and Glinda which, I guess, is more my cup of tea!
• Ms Borg graduated with a BA (Hons) in Communications from the University of Malta. She works as a drama teacher with Stagecoach Malta and moonlights as an actress.
• A review copy of this title was supplied by Books Plus of Bisazza Street, Sliema.