Howl's Moving Castle
by Diana Wynne Jones
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Book Reviews of Howl's Moving Castle
Book Review: "You can find out what it is if you watch and listen carefully...."
Summary: 5 Stars
Howl's Moving Castle is a brilliant book, well on its way to becoming a classic. With its spare language and dense content it's like a poem. With its suggestions, hints, and wickedly unreliable narrator, it's like a puzzle. With its allusions both overt and subtle, it's a gateway book: Jones sends the reader out of the story world to visit or re-visit everything from Donne, Shakespeare, and Austen to folklore, botany, and rugby songs (which, as this reader has learned, can be really, really raucous). These forays are worth the effort. You return to HMC with better understanding of bookish Sophie, vain Howl, stern but loving Mrs. Pentstemmon, and the rest.
But as Calcifer, Howl's enigmatic fire demon, suggests, you really do have to watch and listen carefully. Otherwise you might breeze right past what is really going on emotionally behind Howl's and Sophie's frantic teasing, bantering, arguing, sulking, cleaning, courting, "exploiting," slithering out, slicing suits to ribbons in fits of jealousy, and so on. Very deftly, Jones demonstrates the real pain that both characters bring to the story. Part of solving the puzzle is in realizing that Howl and Sophie each have strong defenses and idiosyncratic, often very funny, ways of dealing with feelings and drives for which they are not prepared. Howl's Moving Castle is, after all, the fairy-tale romance of a young woman who emotionally is an old woman, and a young man who emotionally is a boy.
Depending on the reader's age and perspective, it is also a clear-eyed look at marriage in all its aspects, from the mundane--washing dishes and cleaning toilets--to the mystical--both partners' dead-on capacity to heal one another's deepest psychic wounds, all the while driving each other stark raving bananas.
Highly recommended.
Book Review: A wild ride in a moving castle!
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow! What a ride. From the start, Howl's Moving Castle grabs you and takes you on a wild ride of magic, adventure, mystery and love.
At the beginning of the story, we meet Sophie, a plain young hat-maker. For some reason, the Witch of the Waste casts a spell on her and Sophie is instantaneously an old woman. She can't tell anyone about the spell and ironically sees the spell as an opportunity to set out on her own.
Tired and weary from a day of walking, Sophie must seek refuge in Howl's moving castle. Inside, she finds an unholy mess. She then meets the fire demon Calcifer, Howl's apprentice Michael, and eventually Howl.
Despite his reputation for evil-doing, Howl is not one to turn out someone in need. When Sophie tells him that she is the new cleaning lady, he allows her to be that and she sets to the task (barring a few limits which Howl has placed upon her cleaning.) The ragtag team of people in this 'household' become close.
Sophie learns about the ties that bind Howl and Calcifer. She learns much of the magic of the house and even comes to find out she has some magic herself. To no avail, she tries to help Howl elude the responsibility of finding the Prince and the Wizard of Suliman. She roots for Howl in his fight with the Witch of the Waste but she is still concerned over his womanizing and the inevitable heartbreak which will befall her sister Lettie.
So much happens in so many interesting places, I would do a disservice to say that this is a summary of the book. Suffice it to say, that I recommend that you read this book. It's a fun-filled adventure that will leave you breathless.
Book Review: Whimsical and Hilarious
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this book. I don't think I've ever read something quite so unique. The cast of characters is not one you've likely seen before. It includes a girl with a curse upon her that's made her an 80-year-old woman, a fire demon, a spoiled sorcerer, and his apprentice, so there's no shortage of variety.
The characters are truly what brought this story alive for me. They are not without flaws - in fact, Howl would be downright intolerable to live with, and Sophie too at times - but that's what makes them so charming. Much of this story's whimsy comes from its sense of humour. I probably looked like a lunatic, laughing on my own as I read about Howl's bewitched jacket that had grown so large it trailed behind him all the way down the hall. The image of him tugging yard after yard of fabric into the bathroom was hysterical. That said, I've never met a character quite like him. He's vain, fickle and extremely high maintenance, but then he does something small that surprises you, and you wonder if maybe he's a lot more than that beneath it all.
The magic of the castle had me pretty enamoured with this world - I would love a house with a door that changed locations so I could visit friends in far away countries if I wanted. That sort of home-made portal is fascinating. The story itself is a meandering sort - you aren't always entirely sure where it's going to lead you. I found it really appealing, like reading a book for children that's actually written by someone whose really well-connected with their inner child. Overall, there's very little I didn't like about it and I'd love to read it again and again.
Book Review: Thank You, Diana Wynne Jones!
Summary: 5 Stars
It was great timing the product arrived just after I had a job interview. I've been eagerly waiting for this to arrive and a few days after the estimated delivery date it did. At a perfect timing even.
Howl's Moving Castle is one interesting book. Diana Wynne Jones puts it in a way where one has to keep reading in order to understand what the deal really is. As I read, my mind wanders off to what could happen next given all the details I've read so far and I couldn't be quite too sure at first, especially with Howl's unpredictable behavior. The story takes place in Sophie's perspective and as I was reading I seem to think and feel like her as well.
I loved the part where everything slowly revealed (it was almost near the end of the book) itself until in the end the good always prevailed. I have to agree with one of the reviews that the ending seemed to be a bit hurried and I would've wanted a little more detail to it. But then again, it is normal for writers to want to hurry finish putting their ideas into writing that sometimes it affects the ending. It is understandable.
As for the book copy, it may just be me but I think I found quite a few typographical errors but it doesn't much affect the standard of the book.
As for the extras, I was expecting more than just the interview with Diana Wynne Jones. It's funny yet quite true what she said about girls falling in love with Howl. It just goes to show that this book is very inspirational. Thank you, Diana Wynne Jones for this amazing novel.
Book Review: Pretty good.
Summary: 4 Stars
I too got turned on to Diana Wynne Jones after the Howl's Moving Castle anime. I read her Chrestomanci series first and now I finally read this book. Many reviews have already done a decent summary, Sophie, the eldest of 3 sisters is resigned to the fate of the fairy-tale trope 'eldest child' who stays home and isn't successful. Even from the beginning however, DWJ shows that she's bent on turning tropes on their heads. The step-mom is young, pretty and kind to Sophie. The step-sisters love each other, the most beautiful and beloved sister isn't the main character but one of the other sisters, etc.
The main problem I had with the story is that a lot of 'obvious' things weren't obvious at all, especially Calcifer's clues. Even though I knew from the anime what the 'contract' was supposed to be, his hints were so vague that I ONLY knew they were hints because i had knowledge before-hand.
Near the ending, a million characters come out of nowhere and it's frustrating when all the readers want to see is Sophie and Howl have their moment with 20 people interrupting and pulling at their sleeves.
Howl wasn't a very enticing character and I really wasn't rooting for a romance while reading the book, the 'moment' at the end was super rushed as if DWJ was saying 'Oh yeah, here's the obligatory fairy-tale romance at the end.'
All in all i think it was one of DWJ's best efforts. I'd recommend watching the anime first because DWJ is not very descriptive at all, the story is very action-oriented.