Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is one of those books I read as a grown-up and wished I had discovered as a child. It stuck with me enough that when I saw that the Folio Society had produced a copy I needed to get it, and whilst I missed the first print (nobody took the Christmas present hinting I did…) I managed to get it on the reprint and so had a re-read of it this year.
A lot of people will come to this book via Studio Ghibli and whilst that is an excellent film there are enough differences that the book can be regarded as a separate experience.
By all appearances it’s the tale of the oldest daughter of three – Sophie Hatter – who knows she will have a dull life because she is the oldest (and in fantasy worlds it’s always the youngest who will make their fortune). So when Sophie is cursed by a witch to appear old she “runs” away and steals into the moving castle of Wizard Howl. Howl, who by all accounts, steals the hearts of women and is evil and a coward. Howl, who is apparently chasing after Sophie’s younger sister whilst also falling for his nephew’s teacher Miss Angorian, and avoiding his duties to find the King’s missing brother and to destroy the Witch of the Waste.
Of course nothing is quite what it seems and part of the joy of this book is realising how Sophie can be so wrong about so many things because of her own negativity and feelings of inadequacy. On a first read it’s delightful to gradually realise you are seeing Sophie’s perception of events and to take that mental step away and look again from another perspective. The last chapters where events are resolved are a delight in reframing your opinion of Howl and how he has behaved.
It’s a lovely fairytale that stands up to multiple readings as the twists aren’t the point, they’re more there for Sophie rather than the reader. There is just joy in a well told story that understands the value of how fairytales can be misinterpreted even by those who are living in them.
“Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is one of those books I read as a grown-up and wished I had discovered as a child”
Dear God, my sentiments exactly! I really wish someone had given me a copy of this book when I was 9 or 10. Instead, I read it when was nearly thirty.
That’s such a pretty version!
I read this book when I was about 13, and that was a good age for it. I’ve only seen the film once, but I love the book. I should probably revisit soon, as I never read the third book in the series. (Not a huge fan of book two.)
Castle in the Air is, perhaps, my least favorite DWJ books but House of Many Way is well worth the read, in my opinion.
This book kept me comfortable throughout an entire day of In-School-Suspension back in 2005…which I earned by *gasp* skipping too many classes to go hide in the library and read : D
I read this book as an adult and adored it so much that when I finished the last page I flipped right to the first and read it over again.
See, I clearly need to give this another chance, because I came to the book as an adult who loves the Miyazaki movie and I was SO disappointed by the book. I found it lacked pretty much all the magical stuff I love about the film. It’s clearly such a beloved book, but I just couldn’t get over all the differences from the adaptation (and how much less romance there is – it gutted me).