Wicked

[swatkat]

I'm done with Wicked. Oh jaybee65, it was just so *amazing*! Elphaba! I just –

There are no words.

This has got to be one of the best books I've read in recent times. It's *epic*. And *tragic*. I can see why you like her (is it possible not to?) - Elphaba's marked from the very beginning, like in the Greek tragedies. But what makes her tragic is the way she lives her life – she thinks, she hates, she cares and *loves* (loves too much, you could say) and makes her own destiny, not bowing down, ever. And the way she *feels* - about good and evil and everything else. She's green – green is for life, isn't it? It's like she's *marked* to live, truly Live, in the way other people can't (won't. contrast Glinda, who's smarter than she lets on and could've been a true ally to Elphie, had she only tried. hence her fate is Chuffrey, who's 'dry'). The world isn't ready for her – that's why she only gets failure and scorn. It sucks the spirit out of her, bit by bit, till the end, where she's almost crazed from loss and what she calls 'hollowness'. And what a *wonderful* touch it was in the end – making Dorothy her innocence, her *soul*, how Elphie can't bring herself to hate Dorothy, and her death as a forgiveness… *glurble*

And oh, Elphaba/Glinda! So much potential, so much *love* - all gone to waste. Elphie understands so much, yet there's this one thing she never could quite fathom (the weight of the shoe). And Glinda, Glinda who can think and feel only if she wants to, but she takes the easy way out and ends up alone, with her painted society life and Chuffrey. Glinda is *afraid* to feel, because it makes her vulnerable. Such a contrast to Elphie, who lives her life passionately. (White/green, cool/passionate)

Do I sound like a sappy shipper? I am. A sappy shipper. (yes, the Elphie/Fiyero section is beautiful, and Elphie loves him so much, but Fiyero doesn't do much for me) And thank you, Gregory Maguire, for making it canon. I was afraid it would be yet another Gemma/Felicity. Or a Buffy/Faith. There, but not quite. But then, this book isn't squeamish about sex. (God, a threesome involving a minister?)

What was the movie about again?

Also, the Sister would like to thank you for the rec – though she hasn't finished it yet (I stole it. And I'm a very fast reader), she has enjoyed what she's read so far.



I think I'll go look for some Elphaba/Glinda now.

Comments

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Yes!!!!!

I *knew* you would love this. For all the reasons you mentioned above. And the writing, OMG. And the worldbuilding! And the range of characters! And the depth of meaning and multiple layers of meaning. *Worships Gregory Maguire*

Here's the thing, though.

There's this Broadway musical out there, you see. Which bears the same name as the book, and includes main characters with the same names and general appearance, and a plot that, well, sort of resembles the book. Except that it bears the same relationship to the book as the book does to its source material: they're all really independently existing AUs. And, alas, the musicalverse Wicked eliminates all of the qualities that I loved in the bookverse Wicked. (It does so in order to make it work as a musical, which I understand completely -- but as a result, it is a completely, and I mean *completely!!*, different animal.)

Which is all fine and good. I adore the book and dislike the musical, no problem -- no one's forcing me to buy a ticket and go to a performance. Except that the Wicked fandom is almost pretty much all about the musical. And let me tell you, if you thought fic (and especially femslash) in Desperate Housewives was sappy, you have seen nothing yet.

To make matters worse, there are no bookverse-specific fic sites/LJs -- you really do have to weed through all of it to find them. (Although sometimes people are kind enough to label their fic as either bookverse or musicalverse, which helps a great deal.) Lately, I have zeroed in on a few writers I think do good stuff, although I haven't had the time yet to go through their stories properly. (My fannish time has been sucked up by working on a website, but that's almost done, yay!)

But here are some names to get you going:

lfae is the person I wrote my Wicked ficlet for in the fic exchange recently, and she writes excellent stuff from what I can see.

Two other names recommended to me, but which I haven't gotten around to reading yet, are recrudescence and chudley_cannon. If you read them before I do, let me know what you think!

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Er, speaking of Wicked fic, I'd be genuinely grateful if you went back and took a look at the ficlet I wrote (it's a few entries back on my LJ), now that you've read the book. I'm considering writing more stuff in that fandom, but am a little unsure of myself there -- especially as to whether I'm capturing the right tone. So a bit of critical feedback from someone who knows me *and* the source material would really be a huge help.

Only if you have time, of course.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

I *knew* you would love this. For all the reasons you mentioned above. And the writing, OMG. And the worldbuilding! And the range of characters! And the depth of meaning and multiple layers of meaning. *Worships Gregory Maguire*

Yes to everything you said! I am quite out of words - it's just so *amazing* - but be sure I'll keep babbling about it for days now. THANK YOU! *loves*

About the fandom - argh. Why are they so obsessed with the musical? And I'm all for vulnerable Elphie and loving Elphie (because. she loves too much. *sigh*), but sappy? Did the musical have sappy canon G/E? Why???

I'll check out these authors tomorrow. Meanwhile, I found this: Like Magic (http://silverlake.imjustsayin.net/amy-likemagic.html), by fox1013. Good. Very good G/E. *g*

(PS - What website? Care to share? *g*)

Swatkat

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

I HAVE LOTS OF TIME! Especially when it comes to reading your fic. Which, IIRC, had a lovely Glinda. Today, I ignored T.S.Eliot to finish this book - while I can't afford to that any longer, I'll *definitely* be reading fic tomorrow (or rather, later today, since it's 1 am). *g*

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

About the fandom - argh. Why are they so obsessed with the musical? And I'm all for vulnerable Elphie and loving Elphie (because. she loves too much. *sigh*), but sappy? Did the musical have sappy canon G/E? Why???

Well, the musical is probably less demanding of its audience and a little easier to get into than the book, and then there's always the factor of Teh Pretteh to consider: that is, good-looking performers whom you can use as your visual anchor to the story. (You've seen that in HP, I'm sure.) And of course lots of people love the songs, too. I'm not a good judge of their quality, because I dislike musical-style music as a genre, but I know it's a major draw for lots of fans.

There are a lot of differences, plot- and character-wise. For example, the musical involves a rather conventional love triangle between Glinda and Elphaba over Fiyero (who has had a personality transplant with Avaric from the book). The major difference, however, is in the ending -- I won't spoil, but I will say that it, in my opinion, completely guts and undermines the entire *point* of the book. But if you stop comparing it to the book, I think it could be a perfectly enjoyable and uplifting musical about grrrlpower and love-type themes -- fine for what it is, but not my cup of tea.

And thanks for the rec! I'll check that out tonight or tomorrow. (I know I've seen her name around somewhere, too -- maybe I've read some of her stuff in another fandom?)

As for the website, expect it to be up and running in about a week or two. There will be many (MANY, OMG so many!) screencaps for your iconing pleasure, too.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

For example, the musical involves a rather conventional love triangle between Glinda and Elphaba over Fiyero

Ew. Ew. Just... ew. That's just *wrong*.

who has had a personality transplant with Avaric from the book

They would, wouldn't they? Because the malicious bickering between Avaric and Elphaba is oh-so-attractive. *headdesk*

The major difference, however, is in the ending -- I won't spoil, but I will say that it, in my opinion, completely guts and undermines the entire *point* of the book.

Please spoil me? I couldn't care less about the musical, now that I've read the book. Is it Fiyero/Fae happilyeverafter with nasty Glinda dying? What?

and then there's always the factor of Teh Pretteh to consider: that is, good-looking performers whom you can use as your visual anchor to the story. (You've seen that in HP, I'm sure.)

I'm all for Teh Pretteh, really, because of the reason you say - visual anchor to the story. It helps in HP (but not with all the characters), it helps in LOTR and Narnia, and I suppose it might help here, too, but somehow I have difficulty matching the dark world of the book with the slightly frivolous mood of a musical that features a *love triangle*. I'm all for musicals too (I'm Indian. we judge our movies by the quality of their songs *g*), but this is just plain ridiculous.

I know I've seen her name around somewhere, too -- maybe I've read some of her stuff in another fandom?

I've read her Buffyverse fic - she also writes in a number of fandoms, so maybe you've seen her there.

Screencaps! *SQUEE*

Swatkat

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Rather than spoil you here, where someone might inadvertently read it, I'll give you a link. Scroll down, and you'll find an extremely detailed synopsis of the musical including a spoiler about the end. If you read this, you'll understand just *how* completely different the musical is from the book. (And not for the better, in my opinion.)

Wikipedia entry on musical (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_(musical))

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

I see. Well, I don't like it. I'll not spoil either, but the musical retains nothing of the characters I loved in the book. It works as a musical, I suppose - but I'll stick to the bookverse. *g*

Swatkat