Has anyone seen this youtube video yet? I use it in the classes that I teach at HVCC. It was created by a student for a contest that AARP was running. It so clearly illustrates the power of words and writing. If my college students are awestruck and are riveted to it when I show it, that is saying something. Believe me, these students are jaded when it comes to "cool things." Give it a watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA
Friday, October 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Review of Gregory Maguire's Wicked.....reviewed by sbarranca
Wow!
This novel is so much more than a mere novel. Let me start by stating two things: 1) I have read many Maguire novels in the past, and this is by far the best, and 2) I love the "other side" of the story novels.
Wicked is about Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, from The Oz novels, or for most of us, from the Wizard of Oz film. I am fascinated when authors give us the "other side" of these novels. By playing with classics, these authors actually corrupt our prior knowledge of characters that are almost historic. By this I mean, that when you play with the Wizard of Oz, and make Dorothy the sub-plot and the Witch the main plot, it makes one realize the layers of all stories....like for instance, what we think of as history. Isn't history subjective also? We learn historic events through authors, and their bias and subjectivity are naturally captured in their writings, and Maguire puts his own spin on the wonderful world of Oz. Anyway, I digress.
Not only is this novel about the Witch, or Elphaba, but it is also about the fictional world of Oz. Again, what is reality and what is fiction? I cannot help but ponder these ideas because Maguire makes us think about society, prejudice, and oppression throughout this wonderful novel, and he presents his ideas so eloquently. I do not know what genre this novel gets classified into, probably fiction, but I think it is more of a science fiction novel. Not the Star Trek kind of sience fiction, but the Ursula Leguin's Left Hand of Darkness type of science fiction. Wicked makes us think of utopian societies, and dysfunctional ones, and question where our society fits in.
Maguire creates a fictional world for us in this novel. Or, does he? It is eerily reminiscent of the same oppressions and power struggles in our world......if you keep the Nazi's rise to power in the back of your mind, this novel is downright frightening at times. I could not help but compare the oppression of Maguire's Animals with the oppression of Jews in Hitler's Germany.
But again, I digress. Elphaba, the wicked witch, is not wicked at all in this tale. She is the "misunderstood rebel" fighting against the oppression of the...well, the oppressed. This is truly her story: how she was conceived, her childhood, her student years and her adulthood. She is not the carciture of evil presented in the famous film: I must confess here that I have never read Braum's novels, but I think I may have to. I have a feeling the film did to his novels, what Disney did to Lewis Carroll's Looking Glass.
Please, Please please read Wicked. Even if you have read Mirror, Mirror and not enjoyed it (which I didn't), give this one a try. There are so many statements about society, family, and power relations throughout this novel, that it should be taught as a college course somewhere. It is incredibly insightful, but more importantly, it makes the reader think and wonder. Isn't that what our novels should be doing? So few novels do this anymore that it almost comes as a shock when one does.
So think and wonder and read Wicked. If only to read the sequel, A Son of a Witch. With a title like that, how can you not read it?
Keep on reading!
I read to escape and I escape to read!
This novel is so much more than a mere novel. Let me start by stating two things: 1) I have read many Maguire novels in the past, and this is by far the best, and 2) I love the "other side" of the story novels.
Wicked is about Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, from The Oz novels, or for most of us, from the Wizard of Oz film. I am fascinated when authors give us the "other side" of these novels. By playing with classics, these authors actually corrupt our prior knowledge of characters that are almost historic. By this I mean, that when you play with the Wizard of Oz, and make Dorothy the sub-plot and the Witch the main plot, it makes one realize the layers of all stories....like for instance, what we think of as history. Isn't history subjective also? We learn historic events through authors, and their bias and subjectivity are naturally captured in their writings, and Maguire puts his own spin on the wonderful world of Oz. Anyway, I digress.
Not only is this novel about the Witch, or Elphaba, but it is also about the fictional world of Oz. Again, what is reality and what is fiction? I cannot help but ponder these ideas because Maguire makes us think about society, prejudice, and oppression throughout this wonderful novel, and he presents his ideas so eloquently. I do not know what genre this novel gets classified into, probably fiction, but I think it is more of a science fiction novel. Not the Star Trek kind of sience fiction, but the Ursula Leguin's Left Hand of Darkness type of science fiction. Wicked makes us think of utopian societies, and dysfunctional ones, and question where our society fits in.
Maguire creates a fictional world for us in this novel. Or, does he? It is eerily reminiscent of the same oppressions and power struggles in our world......if you keep the Nazi's rise to power in the back of your mind, this novel is downright frightening at times. I could not help but compare the oppression of Maguire's Animals with the oppression of Jews in Hitler's Germany.
But again, I digress. Elphaba, the wicked witch, is not wicked at all in this tale. She is the "misunderstood rebel" fighting against the oppression of the...well, the oppressed. This is truly her story: how she was conceived, her childhood, her student years and her adulthood. She is not the carciture of evil presented in the famous film: I must confess here that I have never read Braum's novels, but I think I may have to. I have a feeling the film did to his novels, what Disney did to Lewis Carroll's Looking Glass.
Please, Please please read Wicked. Even if you have read Mirror, Mirror and not enjoyed it (which I didn't), give this one a try. There are so many statements about society, family, and power relations throughout this novel, that it should be taught as a college course somewhere. It is incredibly insightful, but more importantly, it makes the reader think and wonder. Isn't that what our novels should be doing? So few novels do this anymore that it almost comes as a shock when one does.
So think and wonder and read Wicked. If only to read the sequel, A Son of a Witch. With a title like that, how can you not read it?
Keep on reading!
I read to escape and I escape to read!
Hello all you readers!
We are hoping to get a new blog going for all of us readers! I am beginning to worry that there are not many of us left out there. This site will be for readers to be able to express their opinions on anything in the wonderful world of books!
We are looking for Reviews: Those of you who would like to write book reviews!
We are looking for Rants and Raves: Do you just want to sound off? Or express a strong opinion on a book, or trends in the publishing world?
So come join us...and let's get started reading and writing!
We are looking for Reviews: Those of you who would like to write book reviews!
We are looking for Rants and Raves: Do you just want to sound off? Or express a strong opinion on a book, or trends in the publishing world?
So come join us...and let's get started reading and writing!
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