When I put out my call for book recommendations, Diana Wynne Jones was the author whose name came up the most. At the time, I said that I’d never read Howl’s Moving Castle, just seen the movie. Amongst other titles, I added that one to my book queue and set to reading it last week.
…a second time it turns out, as the further I got into it, the more I realized that my best memories of the movie were actually from the book. Before the American release of Miyazaki’s adaptation, I wrote an article on the movie for the LA Times and I read the book then as research. How I could forget that reading experience is a mystery, as rereading the book now, it is an absolute gem.
Sophie Hatter is such a fantastic protagonist. The way her latent pride manifests as she slips so effortlessly into old age makes for such fun sparks with Howl. And for someone with no compunction about speaking her mind, Sophie is quite the unreliable narrator.
Howl, of course, is one of the most loveable rogues ever put to paper–a master slitherer outer who might not eat hearts, but effortlessly captures them from readers. The book might be 23 years old, but Howl hasn’t aged a day.
As crackling as the chemistry between Howl and Sophie is, what I love most about the novel is how it works as a “domestic fantasy.” The tight family unit of Howl, Sophie, Calcifer and Michael (as well as the Man-dog and chattering skull) are such a wonderful ensemble that even though the lion’s share of scenes are set inside one cramped room, every page is packed with whimsy.
Thanks for getting me to revisit this wonderful book. I can’t wait to see where Jones’ imagination takes me next!
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I am so glad you reviewed this book. Ever since I saw the movie a few years ago, I absolutely fell in love with it, and then I just had to go read the book along with the sequel. It is an amazing story in both writing and film, worked by two great masters. The characters are absolutely the best, and Howl’s unique personality gives the book a spark that not too many authors are able to capture.
oooh, I love this book so much. The movie was beautiful of course, but I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as this endearingly quirky novel.
Miyazaki’s earnestness is certainly a strange bedfellow for Jones’ sass.
I’ve read both this one and the first sequel “Castle in the Air”, and they were both a good read. I liked the first one a tad better, but the second has a lot of good parts. My favorite part of the first one is when Sophie messes up Howl’s suit. Oh, am I glad she doesn’t take care of my clothes.
I’m so glad that you decided to reread this book! It’s so good that it just makes me want to read it again and again. It’ll probably be a book that I’ll read to my children when I have them.
I have yet to read “Castle in the Air,” or “House of Many Ways.” I had heard that Howl and Sophie only made a minor appearance in Castle in the Air, so I didn’t really give it a chance, but now I think I might.
I loved the book from the beginning, and enjoyed the sequels Castle In the Air and recently House Of Many Ways but both sequels lacked the true spark of the Sophie/Howl . The last two books seemed to just help give glimpses into the progression of marriage and children but no real substance, so for the most part Diana let us fans down perhaps just because she never expected Howl and Shopie to take off as popular characters ( so she centered her sequels on other characters and brought Howl and Sophie in as dressing ) Yes Jake, Howl is the MAN!! I would love to see what Howl and Jareth would do to each other if they ever met! . At least Howl played rugby in college!!
They probably would admire fashion, hair products and women who are willful. LOL
I put this off far too long. I’m watching the movie right now for the first time. I knew the plot. It was summarized to me a while back. And friends had been trying to persuade me to see it ever since I revealed my liking of Spirited away. I’ve put this off far too long.
Now as I’m watching it all I can think to say is… I’m twenty minutes into it and already I see where you were being inspired for aspects of Return to Labyrinth. Clever.
I’ll probably watch the rest later. It’s six forty in the morning and I haven’t slept yet. I love it so far. I just ordered the book off amazon.
oooh, if you like this story, then check out Brave Story. Ignore the movie and go for the book that was recently translated into English. It’s best if you go into it unprepared for the story…it’s quite a journey with a spirit of adventure rather kin to Howl’s. I don’t know how much the English version costs in America, but it would run you about 20.00 US in Japan.
That was a beautiful film. I just finished watching it and think I want to watch it again. There’s some nice symbolism however the definition of heart used was something I had to get over. I’m used to the definition of heart being the part of you that makes you care about others, feel love and compassion, selflessness, ect. And it seemed to me that Howl was caring through the whole thing toward his little family, even risking his life for them. He didn’t seem all that selfish without his heart. Once I got past the slightly slantered definition of heart I grew to really like it. It seemed certain characters were defining it as being the part of you that cares about others but Howl was slowly gaining that ability simply from being around Sophie. ‘The heart’ Calcifer had seemed to be the core of his essence and so bound them together but Howl’s ability to feel for others was still within him, just seemed repressed, whereas all along Sophie had his heart in the context that she made him care about others. She did that to him long before she retrieved the literal core of his essence version of his heart from Calcifer. Though literally inside Calcifer I think in a way it was still functioning within Howl in a sort of projection but it seems to me Sophie was able to sway his emotions and had his heart long before literally having his heart. I’m going to be over analyzing this for weeks. And I’m definitely going to have to read the book.
@Kendra
I can’t say much without spoiling Castle in the Air, but I will say this: Sophie and Howl are in it. They are not the main characters (that honor goes to Abdullah), but they are integral to the plot. Give it a try, you’ll like it.
According to Wiki the real sequel is House of Many ways. And from the plot summary I just read… Hehe. Twinke.
OOh ooh is house of many ways good, anyone? I was scared to read it, because I was afraid Diana Jones was just gonna keep watering their characters down more and more.. castle in the air WAS pretty good, though… hmm.. I should read it again…
I’m not sure but I find the Twinkle idea really funny.
I think I read the book beforehand so that I wouldn’t be lost if the movie turned out to be completely different. This was the first Miyazaki film I got to see in theaters too (my dad had the good fortune of seeing Princess Mononoke on the big screen at a midnight showing) Miyazaki’s films are all superb, and the HMC series is fun and enlightening.
My favorite scene is when Howl throws a tantrum and starts oozing green slime
Oh, and House of Many Ways is very recommendable, though it doesn’t center around Sophie and Howl as much as the first one. Castle in the Air was great too, but Abdullah kind of annoyed me for some reason, and Howl and Sophie are minor characters in this one
Hehe. I loved Howl’s tantrum.
Miyazaki is a total and complete genius. ‘Nuff said.
Abdullah WAS sort of annoying. Haha I loved the brides though.. “Fangs are rather sexy.” LOL.
Yeah, Diana Wynne Jones keeps on making them minor characters in her books after Howl’s Moving Castle. WHYYYYYY, oh, WHYYYY, Diana??
They got their chance to shine in HMC; let’s let some other characters share the spotlight =P Hurray for new character development!
The fangs line made me laugh…it just was totally unexpected since I didn’t think the word “sexy” existed in that world
Lol. It was like a shock out of the blue.. I thoroughly enjoyed it though. Greaaaaat line.
I love the book and the movie
Howl Quote from the movie, “I give up, what’s the point of living if I can’t be beautiful?”
This does not have Howl in it, but I’m in the middle of “Year of the Griffin” by Jones and it is a hoot! It’s magic mayhem galore!
Since we’re talking Diana Wynne Jones, anyone read Dogsbody? I was summarizing it to someone and said, “It’s about a magcial being named Sirius who’s framed for a murder he didn’t commit and gets transformed into a dog. He’s sort of de facto guardian for an orphan living with evil relatives. Their name isn’t Dursley, it’s Duffield. The worst one is called Duffie, not Dudley. Green eyes are important. Half-breed is used as an insult. There’s a character named Remus. A cowardly rat does make an appearance.
“No, no, it’s not like any other books you might have read.”
That said, let me once again plug Clair Dunkle’s “The Hollow Kingdom,” a must read for all Labyrinth fans.
I just read the plot for Dogsbody on wiki. There’s a character named Remus as well. Hmm… So much for Rowling’s originality. and I thought she was being clever, using the name of the dog star. = Serious Black = Black dog star. And the founder of Rome who was raised by wolves = Remus (Remus Lupin in Harry Potter, the kindly werewolf).
I love the Hollow Kingdom!! I read it about a year ago, and fell in love with the series. A bit sad at some parts, but very good! I loved how it was about a goblin king.
You should see Scooby doo and the Goblin King. It came out direct to video last year. It was a bit disappointing because Tim Curry was to voice the Goblin King and he barely says a word. Also the Goblin King has a faery daughter for some reason.
Yeah, I was debating watching the movie. But it looked kinda cheesy, especially with the fairy daughter thing. Not really that similar to any of Jim Henson’s worlds. :/
Just to say this on Dogsbody, it really is VERY different from anything of Rowling’s. I mean, Remus is a cat with a twin named Romulus (their mother’s name is Tibbles, same as one of Mrs. Figg’s cats). They resemble each other the way the comedy, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) resembles Shakespeare’s plays (although, Jones’ humor being what it is, maybe that should be the other way around).
Oh, and Sirius is called Sirius because he IS Sirius, the Dog Star. He’s been framed for murdering another star.
Although the kind of dog he gets turned into is related to the Grim. Death dogs in British folklore can be huge and black or huge and white with red ears, called Yeffs or Yeth hounds. The kind of dog Sirius gets turned into is one half Yeff. The other half is golden retriever.
I just wonder how Tim Curry’s goblin King (Scooby doo and the Goblin King) ended up fathering a pixie. That must have been some awkward relationship with her mother…
You really ought to read Castle in the Air and then House of Many Ways, in that order. Howl and Sophie and most defiantly in both. I’ve read them and you need to read in that order! Castle is kind of a re-imagining of another story with Howl and Sophie (and the others of course) thrown in. House was good too but was less focused on them.