This Friday's book is by Gregory Maguire. And it's not Wicked. I read Wicked and thoroughly disliked it. But I decided his version of the fractured Fairy Tales was worth a look and was pleasantly surprised.
Of the six books I read this week, I liked Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister the best. The story is obviously a twist of Cinderella in a devil's advocate kind of way. We learn through one of the stepsisters much later in life that perhaps Cinderella didn't have it as bad as that poor child in the Disney cartoon and the nasty stepsisters weren't quite so evil. It has taken the black and white of childhood and shaded it gray in a very appealing way.
The only disconcerting thing about the story is Maguire's choppy writing style, which I got used to and really didn't detract from the story considerably. I have even added Mirror Mirror to my list. If he can make the Wicked Queen in Snow White sympathetic, then I'll be really impressed.
4 comments:
I picked up "Wicked" at a library book sale for a quarter, but haven't read it yet. I'd heard good thing--why didn't you like it?
Or "things," if you will.
I was not a fan of "Wicked" but have not read "Confessions" - I will have to do so before commenting. I am also unfamiliar with Gregory Maguire or any of his other works.
Let us know if you liked anything else he wrote.
I think it was mostly the Munchkins that made me hate it, Jim. But there were so many things about it that rubbed me the wrong way.
I was never a big fan of the Wizard of Oz either, though, so take it with a grain of salt.
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