At one point in my life, I was a ridiculously voracious reader. I'd read two or three books a day, often more, never less. When you suffer from insomnia beginning as a toddler, I guess you're bound to be either a hard-core reader or a television addict.
As I've gotten older and found that free time is at a premium between my daughters, my students, and the never-ending cycle of grading, planning, keeping on top of professional development and such, I just don't have the time to read that I once did.
It's kind of funny, though ... I always fancied myself something of a literary snob that took pride in avoiding the "book of the moment". I was late to the party in terms of excellent works including Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, and even the dreaded Twilight books (which I couldn't stop reading until I was finished and realized how poorly written and unoriginal they were).
Perhaps the greatest proof of what an idiot I was? I received a copy of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird from my eighth grade English teacher as a prize for a writing contest. Totally refused to read it because it was "supposed to be so great and all the books that have that reputation totally SUCK." Well, it didn't suck (it is, in fact, my favorite book of all time)
I even eschewed Dan Brown for months even when everyone on the planet was reading The Da Vinci Code
.
So I guess it's no surprise, really, that I somehow missed this one.
Published in 1995, Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West tells the backstory of Elphaba (sound out the initials of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
author L. Frank Baum for the pronunciation) ... including her run-ins with Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion.
Can I just say that this book is blowing my mind?
I'm a huge fan of Baum's Oz books, and this book is making me question motivations and points of view and bias and bottom lines and so on to the point where I'm probably going to be rereading Baum's canon as soon as possible (which will probably be next Christmas vacation at this point).
The intent of this post is not to be a scene spoiler (plus, I'm only halfway done the book ... I plan on finishing it tonight), but just to contemplate why I am so reluctant to read "popular" books despite the fact that I am almost never disappointed once I give in ... and to see if anyone else has this tendency.
Also, I've got another conundrum ... I have very strong feelings about movie adaptations of books I've enjoyed. Since Wicked has been made into a very popular musical, should I make an effort to see it, or would it be the same kind of limiting, unsatisfactory experience movie adaptations usually are?
If you've ever turned up your nose at a book, eventually changed your mind, and ultimately loved it, please share titles in the comments (and of course any other thoughts this post might inspire ;-))
As I've gotten older and found that free time is at a premium between my daughters, my students, and the never-ending cycle of grading, planning, keeping on top of professional development and such, I just don't have the time to read that I once did.
It's kind of funny, though ... I always fancied myself something of a literary snob that took pride in avoiding the "book of the moment". I was late to the party in terms of excellent works including Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, and even the dreaded Twilight books (which I couldn't stop reading until I was finished and realized how poorly written and unoriginal they were).
Perhaps the greatest proof of what an idiot I was? I received a copy of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird from my eighth grade English teacher as a prize for a writing contest. Totally refused to read it because it was "supposed to be so great and all the books that have that reputation totally SUCK." Well, it didn't suck (it is, in fact, my favorite book of all time)
I even eschewed Dan Brown for months even when everyone on the planet was reading The Da Vinci Code
.So I guess it's no surprise, really, that I somehow missed this one.
Published in 1995, Gregory Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West tells the backstory of Elphaba (sound out the initials of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
author L. Frank Baum for the pronunciation) ... including her run-ins with Dorothy, Toto, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion.Can I just say that this book is blowing my mind?
I'm a huge fan of Baum's Oz books, and this book is making me question motivations and points of view and bias and bottom lines and so on to the point where I'm probably going to be rereading Baum's canon as soon as possible (which will probably be next Christmas vacation at this point).
The intent of this post is not to be a scene spoiler (plus, I'm only halfway done the book ... I plan on finishing it tonight), but just to contemplate why I am so reluctant to read "popular" books despite the fact that I am almost never disappointed once I give in ... and to see if anyone else has this tendency.
Also, I've got another conundrum ... I have very strong feelings about movie adaptations of books I've enjoyed. Since Wicked has been made into a very popular musical, should I make an effort to see it, or would it be the same kind of limiting, unsatisfactory experience movie adaptations usually are?
If you've ever turned up your nose at a book, eventually changed your mind, and ultimately loved it, please share titles in the comments (and of course any other thoughts this post might inspire ;-))
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This post reminds me how much I miss reading. I definitely have to check this book out. It sounds like a must read for me. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read it. I will check it out.
ReplyDeleteI LOVED the musical but couldn't finish the book...can't wait to here what you think about the rest
ReplyDeleteI turned my back on the 'classics' after being made to read them at school and then forced to disect them. I wanted to read and enjoy, not be forced to learn from them.
ReplyDeleteMany years after I left scnool I saw a fortnighly series called the great writers which contained a book and a magazine about the author and now I have the entire 55 book set and I've read about half of them.
I still think some of them suck (Lord Jim & Little Women for instance), but now I can just read them without being forced to 'understand' or disect them for 'meaning'.
I have a little of the same attitude and I'm always late to catch up on a 'new' trend.
ReplyDeleteI had the opposite problem. My mother got me into "cozy" mysteries, the kind that often have more than one book in a series, with the same characters and are not too violent. You can still learn things from them as they do take you all over the world, but they are as comfortable as an old shoe.
ReplyDeleteI had read some popular fiction, I Don't Know How She Does it" and "The Nanny Diaries" come to mind, but mostly I stuck to my light-hearted mysteries.
About three years ago I decided to step out of my comfort zone and I joined an online book club, and mostly I read what ever they pick, and I have helped to bring a couple of books into the club as well.
http://www.fromlefttowrite.com/
We read mostly fiction, memoirs, and the occasional "chick lit".
I find I like popular fiction the best, and oh, what I have missed throughout the years! I will certainly check out Wicked!
Baum is a god. This book sounds interesting too.
ReplyDelete