Wicked

This week I've been reading 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West' by Gregory Maguire. I first saw the book when I was out Christmas shopping (for me, mostly an excuse to visit bookshops) but couldn't afford it at the time, when I went back when I could afford it I couldn't remember what it was called or who it was written by... Last Saturday I spotted it in the Waterstones in North Finchley and, being conveniently flush, I purchased it and repaired immediately to the Costa next door. Since then it hasn't quite been "couldn't put it down" but every moment when I've had time to be reading I've spent engrossed in this book. As the title suggests, it is the story of the life leading up to the moment when Dorothy pours a bucket of water over the Witch, Elphaba, but it takes the black and white, good and evil morality of it's source material and turns it on its head. The Wizard is a totalitarian dictator and Elphaba a freedom fighter. Of course the ending couldn't really come as a surprise, but the story leading up to it is frequently surprising, shocking and sometimes very funny. The main themes of the book are the nature of evil and the possibility of free will, but the book manages to avoid getting bogged down in philosophy and is an excellent read as well as a thought provoking one.