Spring Break
Karen's Book Nook: 'A Lion Among Men'
Karen Tableriou
Issue date: 11/12/08 Section: The Edge
"We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz!"
Those memorable words from the classic 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz" have sparked "wiz mania" in today's culture-rich world. From the latest TV adaptation, "Tin Man," to the acclaimed Broadway musical "Wicked," the classic Oz story never goes out of style.
In the literary world, award-winning author Gregory Maguire gives the Land of Oz new life in his latest novel, "A Lion Among Men," telling the tale from the viewpoint of the "overlooked" characters originally created by L. Frank Baum.
Before reading "A Lion Among Men," check out Maguire's other two Oz novels.
The first novel, "Wicked," paints a different picture of the land Dorothy visited in the movie. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, acclaimed ruler and altogether great guy, turned out not to be so wonderful after all. The Wizard of Oz was a tyrant who oppressed the people of Oz.
Maguire instead gave the world the real hero (or heroine) in the Land of Oz: public enemy number one, the Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba Thropp, the supposed Wicked Witch, was born green, cursed to a destiny as an outcast. She was an "evil witch" fighting against the Wizard, trying to free the land from an oppressor, and spent her life doing what she thought right.
In death, she left behind her young son Liir, whose story is told in Maguire's second novel, "Son of a Witch."
In "A Lion Among Men," the latest tale of Oz follows the Cowardly Lion, Brrr, on a mission to record the truth behind Elphaba's infamous past and find the Grimmerie, her mysterious magic book - all to keep his own hide out of jail. War looms on the horizon between Oz and the seceded Munchkinland, and the enigmatic Clock of the Time Dragon roams again around the countryside.
A newly self-appointed emperor sits on the throne and is a new-fangled tyrant in the making. In a world where magic exists and the politics of the Emerald City choke the land, it's up to the cowardly, wicked and morally corrupt to break free of their own infamy and save Oz.
Those memorable words from the classic 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz" have sparked "wiz mania" in today's culture-rich world. From the latest TV adaptation, "Tin Man," to the acclaimed Broadway musical "Wicked," the classic Oz story never goes out of style.
In the literary world, award-winning author Gregory Maguire gives the Land of Oz new life in his latest novel, "A Lion Among Men," telling the tale from the viewpoint of the "overlooked" characters originally created by L. Frank Baum.
Before reading "A Lion Among Men," check out Maguire's other two Oz novels.
The first novel, "Wicked," paints a different picture of the land Dorothy visited in the movie. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, acclaimed ruler and altogether great guy, turned out not to be so wonderful after all. The Wizard of Oz was a tyrant who oppressed the people of Oz.
Maguire instead gave the world the real hero (or heroine) in the Land of Oz: public enemy number one, the Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba Thropp, the supposed Wicked Witch, was born green, cursed to a destiny as an outcast. She was an "evil witch" fighting against the Wizard, trying to free the land from an oppressor, and spent her life doing what she thought right.
In death, she left behind her young son Liir, whose story is told in Maguire's second novel, "Son of a Witch."
In "A Lion Among Men," the latest tale of Oz follows the Cowardly Lion, Brrr, on a mission to record the truth behind Elphaba's infamous past and find the Grimmerie, her mysterious magic book - all to keep his own hide out of jail. War looms on the horizon between Oz and the seceded Munchkinland, and the enigmatic Clock of the Time Dragon roams again around the countryside.
A newly self-appointed emperor sits on the throne and is a new-fangled tyrant in the making. In a world where magic exists and the politics of the Emerald City choke the land, it's up to the cowardly, wicked and morally corrupt to break free of their own infamy and save Oz.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Jake
posted 11/13/08 @ 4:38 PM CST
Thanks for writing this up. The Cowardly Lion was always my favorite character, but I couldn't get through the first Wicked book-- I rented it through BookSwim and found myself mailing it back after the first two chapters. (Continued…)
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