基本信息出版社：Harper Paperbacks
页码：448 页
出版日期：1996年11月
ISBN：0060987103
条形码：9780060987107
版本：1996-11-06
装帧：平装
开本：20开 Pages Per Sheet
丛书名：Wicked Years
外文书名：新绿野仙踪
内容简介 在线阅读本书
Book Description
When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her archnemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?
Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like firstclass citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middleclass stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little greenskinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.
From Publishers Weekly
With a husky voice and a gentle, dramatic manner that will call to mind the image of a patient grandfather reading to an excited gaggle of children, McDonough leisurely narrates this fantastical tale of good and evil, of choice and responsibility. In Maguire's Oz, Elphaba, better known as the Wicked Witch of the West, is not wicked; nor is she a formally schooled witch. Instead, she's an insecure, unfortunately green Munchkinlander who's willing to take radical steps to unseat the tyrannical Wizard of Oz. Using an appropriately brusque voice for the always blunt Elphaba, McDonough relates her tumultuous childhood (spent with an alcoholic mother and a minister father) and eye-opening school years (when she befriends her roommate, Glinda). McDonough's pacing remains frustratingly slow even after the plot picks up, and Elphaba's protracted ruminations on the nature of evil will have some listeners longing for an abridgement. Still, McDonough's excellent portrayals of Elphaba's outspoken, gravel-voiced nanny, Glinda's snobbish friends and the wide-eyed, soft-spoken Dorothy make this excursion to Oz worthwhile.
From School Library Journal
YA?Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, has gotten a bum rap. Her mother is embarrassed and repulsed by her bright-green baby with shark's teeth and an aversion to water. At college, the coed experiences disapproval and rejection by her roommate, Glinda, a silly girl interested only in clothes, money, and popularity. Elphaba is a serious and inquisitive student. When she learns that the Wizard of Oz is politically corrupt and causing economic ruin, Elphaba finds a sense of purpose to her life?to stop him and to restore harmony and prosperity to the land. A Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, and an unknown species called a "Dorothy" appear in very small roles... The story presents Elphaba in a sympathetic and empathetic manner-readers will want her to triumph! The conclusion, however, is the same as L. Frank Baum's. The book has both idealism and cynicism in its discussion of social, religious, educational, and political issues present in Oz, and, more pointedly, present in our day and time. The idealism is whimsical and engaging; the cynicism is biting. Sometimes the earthy language seems appropriate and adds to the sense of place; sometimes the four-letter words and sexual explicitness distract from the charm of the tale. The multiple threads to the plot proceed unevenly, so that the pace of the story jumps rather than moves steadily forward. Wicked is not an easy rereading of The Wizard of Oz. It is for good readers who like satire, and love exceedingly imaginative and clever fantasy.
Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Book Dimension
length: (cm)23.1 width:(cm)15.5
作者简介 Gregory Maguire is the bestselling author of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Lost, Mirror Mirror, and Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, the basis for the Tony Awardwinning Broadway musical. Maguire has lectured on art and culture at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the DeCordova Museum as well as at conferences around the world. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts, and in Vermont.
媒体推荐 书评
--USA Today
"An outstanding work of imagination."
From AudioFile
Did you ever wonder how Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, got that way? Maguire tells all in this imaginative, satiric biography of the one character in THE WIZARD OF OZ destined to give children nightmares. John McDonough''s narration is smooth and soothing, unfazed by the greenness of Elphaba''s skin, the viciousness of her personality or the strangeness of the societies of Oz. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.
--Lloyd Alexander, author of the Chronicles of Prydain
"A magnificent work, a genuine tour de force."
School Library Journal
"It is for good readers who like satire, and love exceedingly imaginative and clever fantasy."
The Times-Picayune
"Children - children of all ages, as Maguire reminds us in this splendid novel - need witches. Gregory Maguire has taken this figure of childhood fantasy and given her a sensual and powerful nature that will stir adult hearts with fear and longing all over again. It''s a brilliant trick - and a remarkable treat."
Newsday
"Listen up, Munchkins. Stop your singing, stop the dancing. The Wicked Witch is no longer dead. But not to worry. Gregory Maguire''s shrewdly imagined and beautifully written first novel, "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," not only revives her but re-envisions and redeems her for our times."
School Library Journal
"It is for good readers who like satire, and love exceedingly imaginative and clever fantasy."
Lloyd Alexander, author of the Chronicles of Prydain
"A magnificent work, a genuine tour de force."
Kirkus Reviews
"... [a] magical telling of the land of Oz before and up to the arrival of Dorothy and company.... A captivating, funny, and perceptive look at destiny, personal responsibility, and the not-always-clashing beliefs of faith and magic. Save a place on the shelf between Alice and The Hobbit that spot is well deserved."
USA Today
"An outstanding work of imagination."
Los Angeles Times
"It''s a staggering feat of wordcraft, made no less so by the fact that its boundaries were set decades ago by somebody else. Maguire''s larger triumph here is twofold: First, in Elphaba, he has created (re-created? renovated?) one of the great heroines in fantasy literature: a fiery, passionate, unforgettable and ultimately tragic figure. Second, Wicked is the best fantasy novel of ideas I''ve read since Mervyn Peake''s Gormenghast or Frank Herbert''s Dune. Would that all books with this much innate consumer appeal were also this good. And vice versa."