Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Kathleen



Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is the perfect blend of witty narration, crazy characters, and perfect plot. While I've never been able to get three pages into any of Jones' multitudes of other books, this clever fairytale had me hooked from the first sentence.

We open in a small town on Sophie Hatter, the hat maker's daughter. You know how in fairytales only good things happen to the youngest, and stepsisters are always bad? Well Jones takes the angle of the eldest, caring for her young sister Martha and step sister Lettie. Sophie has basicaly resigned herself to being stuck in the hat shop for the rest of her life while her sisters go out and learn magic and meet fantastic people, because she is the eldest and the eldest never succeeds.

Through a wonderfully twisted and cruel trick of fate, Sophie is the only one in the shop on day when the evil Witch of the Waste drops by. Convinced that Sphie, herself, is a rival witch, she puts a spell on Sophie and sweeps out of the store. All of the sudden, young pretty Sophie is a ninety year old woman, complete with backaches and knee pains. To proud to reveal her new self to her family, she leaves home and heads for the hills. She chances upon a huge castle billowing black smoke and moving across the moore. Without waiting to be invited, Sophie lets herself in to give her tired old feet a rest.

Inside she finds the decidedly unplesent Calcifer, a fire demon trapped by a contract. Michel, a young, slightly abused but loyal wizards apprentice. And the Wizard Howl, known where Sophie comes from as an evil man who uses his magic to prey on young girls and eat their hearts (And may or may not turn them into the spiders that spin webs all over his messy house) She offers her services as a house maid, and so begins the captivating story in which Sophie cleanes a wizard's house, induces green slime, casts a few spells, and defeats the Witch of the Waste.

I can truely find no fault with this book. It's one of those that i can read three times a week and still laugh and cry along with the characters. Each and every character is unique and surprising. Jones starts each character very "cartoon" like, but as the story progresses you get a glimpse into each one's anger, love, sadness, and passion which makes them so human it'll feel like a vile crime to shut the book on them. This book is for anybody who ever dreamed of fairytales, from the ages of ten to one hundred and ten.

Oh, and one more thing. There's a movie. It's a anime by the award winning film director Hayao Miyazaki. Please please please read the book first. While the movie is good, it is NOTHING like the book.