Review "Son of a Witch" By Gregory Maguire
First, after reading this book and thinking about 'Wicked' more over the last few weeks, I am coming to appreciate it a lot more. Mr. Maguire can really write - he is a master at turning out insightful, funny, profound sentences in the key points of a good story.
"Son of a Witch" is the continuing story of Oz after the death of the Wicked With of the West. Her son, Liir, travels with Dorothy and gang to the Emerald City. Of course Dorothy disappears as soon as she can and Liir has to make his own way. Much like "Wicked", I did not enjoy the first third or so of the book. In the beginning of "Wicked" the Witch is a baby, and a strange one. In the beginning of "Son of a Witch", Liir is a boy, and an uneducated sap. But in both books, Maguire does an excellent job of having the characters grow, and change over time. Both the Witch and Liir learn and grow over the course of these two books, becoming much more interesting and complex characters. The books are built on the framework are built of the 'Wizard of Oz' story but are far removed from it in tone and depth.
Like "Wicked", this book contains many contains many complex adult themes - government, religion, sex, the nature of good and evil. And in both books the idea of Wickedness is the key- who is wicked and why and what do we do about it?
In hindsight these are two excellent books that are deep enough for college students to two write long papers about but well written enough to be entertaining and enjoyable. A rare combination!
"Son of a Witch" is the continuing story of Oz after the death of the Wicked With of the West. Her son, Liir, travels with Dorothy and gang to the Emerald City. Of course Dorothy disappears as soon as she can and Liir has to make his own way. Much like "Wicked", I did not enjoy the first third or so of the book. In the beginning of "Wicked" the Witch is a baby, and a strange one. In the beginning of "Son of a Witch", Liir is a boy, and an uneducated sap. But in both books, Maguire does an excellent job of having the characters grow, and change over time. Both the Witch and Liir learn and grow over the course of these two books, becoming much more interesting and complex characters. The books are built on the framework are built of the 'Wizard of Oz' story but are far removed from it in tone and depth.
Like "Wicked", this book contains many contains many complex adult themes - government, religion, sex, the nature of good and evil. And in both books the idea of Wickedness is the key- who is wicked and why and what do we do about it?
In hindsight these are two excellent books that are deep enough for college students to two write long papers about but well written enough to be entertaining and enjoyable. A rare combination!
posted by John Ringer at
9:45 PM
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