Wicked

How the hell did they make this into a musical? This is one of the most serious books I've ever read and it's disturbing that way.

It's been a while since I've read the the Wizard of Oz series and longer since I've seen the movie.

This story follows Elphaba, the nameless Wicked Witch of the West. (Name is created from L. Frank Baum - LFB - Elphaba) From her birth, to her death. With big chunks taken out in between. So, the narrative follows her from birth to about 4, and then college, then five years later. The gaps are disconcerting but not terrible.

This is a book about philosophy, not about Oz. There's a great moment when the striped stockings are mentioned, and then the ruby slippers show up. It's 3/4 of the way through the book until Glinda becomes Glinda the Good Witch shows up, thought she's a major character long before that, and Elphaba and her sister are named the Wicked Witches of East and West.

The Wizard is Evil, Dorothy is seen by some as salvation, there's all kinds of religious philosophy and talk about man over beasts, machinery over man, self fulfilling prophecy and all kinds of frightening things.

This is a fascinating book, and when Dorothy shows up, it's both a relief (because Elphaba's life is spiralling out of control) and a burden (because she has to die. Obviously). You actually get emotionally involved in her life, which is a pretty good feat for a woman who is green.

My one problem with this book is the list of reader's questions at the end- suitable for a bookgroup sort of thing. I don't know why, but putting them there really irked me.

I still don't understand how they could make this into a musical. Or how it ended up as a best seller- most things that are serious as this rarely do.