Lost, by Gregory Maguire
Gregory Maguire has found an interesting niche. He takes fairytales we all know – stories like The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella, and tells them from another point of view. The first, Wicked, was very very clever, told from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West, who turns out to have been a freedom-fighter, but got a lot of bad press. LLOOLLL. Like, what is not to like about an author who turns “reality” upside-down?
His second book, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, did the same for the Cinderella legend – told it from another point of view, and Cinderella comes out looking not-so-saintly at all.
Both of these books became best sellers, and Wicked even went on to become a long-running Broadway play.
I picked up Lost because of the cover and because I wondered what another take on Alice in Wonderland would look like.
It took me forever to start reading it, and once I started, it did not engage me. We meet a woman, an author, and she is behaving very strangely. As we continue to read, she continues to behave strangely, inexplicably, and as the book proceeds, we begin to get a more complete picture. At no point did I see a clear parallel between this plot and Alice in Wonderland, although the main character’s experiences were equally chaotic and full of non-meanings. The book was opaque, and frustrating – to me. You may have a totally different take on it.
The main character, a successful author, seems to be divorced, and decides to travel to London to see her cousin. When she arrives, he is not at home, his kitchen is being destroyed and renovated, and she moves right in anyway. There are apparent hauntings. When I got to the end of the book, I knew a little more about the character than I knew before – and I didn’t care.
I think maybe the fairy-tales-told-from-another-point-of-view thing has gotten old, maybe a little stretched at this point. He’s now done a couple more Wizard of Oz retellings, and I don’t think I will bother with them.
I DO recommend Wicked, if you haven’t read it. It is fresh, and delightful.
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loved this post!
loved wicked, the novel that is, but felt the broadway musical was dull, lackluster and too over-rated…
interesting how one man can make a living out of another man’s idea/book just by re-writing a different beginning/end or a character twist xx
Baroque – what I am finding is that there are so many GOOD books, I don’t want to waste my time on something that is only like passing the time. I don’t want to kill time, I want time to be my servant, LOL! I want to read only good books!
Lost has nothing to do with Alice in Wonderland. In truth, it ties in more to A Christmas Carol. Did you even bother to read the description? When did Ebenezer Scrooge ever make an appearance in Alice in Wonderland? While I admit to your description of the novel as having a slow start, your critique has lost any and all credence that it may have had by showing your ignorance of the actual plot of both this story and that of Lewis G. Carrol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
I feel so stupid. Of course, you are right. I remember all the references to Christmas Carol and thinking how odd they would be in a book about Alice and Wonderland. I must have slipped a cog or two on that one.
I absolutely loved Wicked! The Broadway and the book are both captivating in its own way. I’m getting ready to start Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister…. any take on that one??? Is it worth the read??
Good morning from Doha, Hannah! I read Confessions . . . actually I liked it, but not so much as Wicked. I really like the way he turns all our assumptions upside-down. Happy reading. 🙂