Wicked

I am reading a book called "Wicked." It is a book about the life story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Yes, the green witch from The Wizard of Oz. I had a little trouble getting into it at first. Mainly because us (meaning me) as Americans (meaning me again), have had it ingrained in our (me again) brains that green skin = totally evil witchiness. I believe that comes from breathlessly waiting for The Wizard of Oz to have its annual showing on television. My mom would make popcorn and I would plant myself in front of the television in breathless anticipation. Obviously this was before the days of VCRs, and I don't need any smart ass remarks from the gallery about my age..k?

Obviously, as a child I LOVED the movie The Wizard of Oz. Poor beleaguered Dorothy, her much loved dog ruthlessly yanked away from her by the mean old rich lady, to be killed without a second thought because the little dog had the nerve, yes the nerve to bark at the mean rich lady's cat. And then.... to have the dog run away from the mean old rich lady and come back to Dorothy, only to eventually be blown away by a Kansas tornado to a land of color and short people, where the truly evil ones are made obvious by their green skin.

This book has changed my entire perspective regarding the green=evil thing. Yes she was green, but she was misunderstood. She had a harsh childhood, being the child of an itinerate preacher man and a mentally unstable nymphomaniac. Her sister (yes, the squished one from the movie), was born deformed (but not green) and grew up to be a religious zealot. The misunderstood green woman stayed away from her family for her own mental stability. She took on a married lover, who was later murdered because of his affection for her. Glinda, The Good Witch of The North, was the Green Witch's college roommate, and they only had their falling out when Glinda gave Dorothy the ruby slippers, which the Green Witch only wanted because they were sentimental and made by her father.

Oh, and the Wizard is an evil dictator who ruled with an iron fist. It was his way or you die a slow, painful death.

I'm not quite finished with the book, I have another chapter or two. I have just read the real twist to the book, and am breathlessly anticipating the climax. I won't spoil it for you because I know that most of you are going to want to run right out and get the book.

Boondoggled Assessment:

4.2 out of 5 stars.
Slow start, but grabs your attention after the first couple of chapters. Who knew that the Munchkinlanders were such horny little fellers.