Aspects of the book you wish were in the musical/movie?

I’m currently rereading the book, and I finally feel like I’ve properly absorbed the first part. Turtle Heart is the true formative figure in Elphaba’s life, and it’s a shame most people don’t know who he is.

He’s the first person to understand her personality, he teaches her her first word (“horrors”), and she sees The Wizard’s coming through his spyglass. She learned about compassion traveling through Quadling country as a child, saw what the Emerald City was doing to the land, what would she have been without him?

Another thing I love is Galinda’s characterization. You get to see in her head. She’s actually quite smart and the first girl in her village to be accepted to Shiz. She shares her first scene with Dr. Dillamond on the train in, and it’s great.

I’ve loved this book for almost 20 years, and it gets better each time I read it. It’s very different from the musical, but they share a soul. The audiobook is fantastic too, with a wonderful narrator. Check it out if you haven’t read it, and if you have, share some of your favorite parts that people might not know about. Cheers!