On the Shelf: Out of Oz

OUT OF OZ | GREGORY MAGUIRE | WILLIAM MORROW | 2011

Once peaceful and prosperous, the spectacular Land of Oz is knotted with social unrest: The Emerald City is mounting an invasion of Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, and the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law. And look who’s knocking at the door. It’s none other than Dorothy. Yes. That Dorothy. Yet amidst all this chaos, Elphaba’s granddaughter, the tiny green baby born at the close of Son of a Witch, has come of age. Now it is up to Rain to take up her broom - and her legacy - in an Oz wracked by war.

It is suitable that my first review on I Believe in Story is dedicated to a Gregory Maguire book. Maguire’s writing has inspired me more than any other author’s (the title of this blog comes from his children’s book, What the Dickens). I am a fan of his poetic prose — if you prefer straight-forward writing, then this book is probably not for you.

Out of Oz is the fourth, and presumably final, book i Maguire’s The Wicked Years series. It’s difficult not to compare the story to Wicked, the series’ first instalment, since this last book mirrors so much of the narrative that was introduced in the beginning. No literary character can hold a candle to Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch of the West, but Rain is a good attempt. I fell in love with the young protagonist and was drawn through the story by her similarities to Elphaba — as I waited patiently for any sign of green underneath her tough skin.

The biggest downfall to the story is Maguire’s emphasis on political and social affairs, a topic that he devotes more attention to as the Wicked series progresses. Maguire’s desire to inform readers about his political and social opinions takes away from some of the magic in his writing.

Out of Oz is a fond way to saw farewell to loyal Wicked readers. Is it important as a stand-alone title? Probably not. If anything, this book made me long for the way I felt when reading Wicked for the first time. In my opinion, read Wicked and forget the rest of the series. Elphaba is a literary character worth your attention, but once Dorothy defeats the Wicked Witch of the West, the land of Oz becomes a political wasteland.

---

“Secrets are revealed as you are ready to understand them. It seems capricious and mean-spirited of the Grimmerie to hold back, to yield and then tease with a single page — but then the world is the same way, isn’t it? The world rarely shrieks its meaning at you. It whispers in private languages and obscure modalities, in arcane and quixotic imagery, through symbol systems in which every element has multiple meanings determined by juxtaposition.”