Howl’s Moving Castle By Diana Wynne Jones Release Date: Buy it Today! Eos Ratings Action Romance Characters Overall Purchase on Amazon Purchase at Powell’s Find independent bookstores

Sophie Hatter is an eldest daughter and therefore destined to be a failure. So when the Witch of the Waste comes into her hat shop and turns her into an old woman, Sophie isn’t particularly surprised. In fact, being old gives her a bit of freedom, so she takes her chance to leave and make her fortune.

Her journey leads her to the moving castle of the Horrible (and handsome) Wizard Howl, who steals girls’ hearts, or so the rumors say, where she takes over as cleaning lady. There she strikes a bargain with Howl’s fire demon, Calcifer, who promises to turn her back to normal if she can find a way to free him.

This is a book in which a dog turns into a man, a scarecrow chases a castle, a falling star dies, two sisters switch places, Howl drips slime, and Sophie finds out that being the eldest doesn’t always mean failure.

This is definitely one of those books that I enjoy more and more every time I read it. I always have a memory of how rushed the ending is, and I still think it’s pretty rushed, but I think I understood the book quite a bit more this time. The book builds to a climax, but the actual final battle barely seems to take up many pages and then we have a few pages to wrap up all the plots, via the narrator pointing out various things the audience didn’t know yet.

The complexity of Jones’s writing is one of her greatest skills as an author, but also leads to confusion. Every page of Howl’s Moving Castle is thick with hidden meanings, truths that will be revealed later, and she rarely tells you something that doesn’t have some future meaning. From Sophie’s seemingly unrelated days in the hat shop where she talks to hats as she works to the dog she saves from a bush. Nothing is without meaning. I highly recommend reading this book at least twice to truly understand it.

Howl’s curse still confuses me, no matter how many times I read it. It seems like Jones really liked a poem and thought it would make a good magic curse, so she makes the Witch of the Waste use it as a curse on Howl, but then the curse elements just seem to come true a bit random. Some of the pieces of the curse/poem are instigated by Sophie, but they still don’t quite make sense to me. There’s a sense of “why” missing. The rest of the book though is so wonderful and interesting that I’m willing to put aside my issues with the curse and just assume I’m not getting something.

Pacing seems to be the key to why I have to keep rereading the book. I love the depth of the plot, but Jones keeps such a fast pace, typically telling more than showing, so that I sometimes find myself becoming lost as I try to figure out which are the most important elements. On the second reading though, I already know the basic plot points, so I can enjoy the ride. It’s also important in all three books to know who might be disguised or cursed into a different form.

The newest release of this book includes an interview with Diana Wynne Jones, and I found it pretty interesting. Something I especially liked was how she talks about how many girls want to marry Howl. She tries to tell them they wouldn’t want to live with someone who drips slime whenever his hair color goes wrong, but they see it as a challenge. Personally, while I think Howl is adorable in that “yeah, as long as I don’t have to deal with him…” sort of way, I think only Sophie can really handle him on a day-to-day basis.

Ratings Reasons:
Action 5 - Every page demands to be turned as magical adventure takes the reader on a complex journey.

Romance 4 - I’m not sure why I feel this book is a four, because there isn’t a lot of on-the-page-romance, yet I find every couple adorable and worthy of my attention. The romance is subtle, but the more times I read it, the better it is.

Characters 5 - If there is one thing you won’t find in this book, it’s ordinary characters. Neither of our main characters can be called sweet or normal. In fact, Howl is rather vain and cowardly, and Sophie is rather bossy and nosy.

Overall 4 1/2 - Read this book. Then read it a second time a month later. Then watch the movie, and read the book again.

Extras:
Diana Wynne Jones has written a million books. Well, at least thirty. I’m not going to list them all here. The important ones to know about though are the two other books that take place in this world, and those are Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways (June 2008). I’ll be reviewing both of these soon. I used to think Castle in the Air wasn’t anywhere as good as Howl’s, but, I’m currently rereading it and my opinion is increasing greatly.

A few years back, Studio Ghibli (Miyazaki) made a wonderful film of Howl’s Moving Castle. It’s not the same as the book, but it’s a very enjoyable movie and a fun interpretation of the characters and their world. Granted, I’m not sure about some things, like Howl turning into a giant bird, but oh well. Even my mom, who isn’t big on anime, enjoyed the film. I really like the visual interpretations of the characters and how adorable Calcifer is. Yes, he’s a demon, but in anime, demons are adorable! I’ve got a stuffed Calcifer in my office.

At the same time I read this book, I was also reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman. And what’s rather odd is both books use the same poem as an important part of the story. That poem is Song by John Donne.

Plus, since I love covers, here is a page with a number of different covers for Howl’s Moving Castle. Here is the newest cover, interestingly the castle now seems to be rather influenced by the anime version, whereas it never had legs before.

Parents: 10+ - There is nothing offensive in the book, but I would probably recommend giving it to a bit older pre-teen, just due to sheer complexity and layers of the story.

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