| $@%&! level: None "Bedroom" level: None Violence level: Low (A walking stick is the deadliest weapon) Back Cover: “Sophie has the great misfortune of being the eldest of three daughters, destined to fail miserably should she ever leave home to seek her fate. But when she unwittingly attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, Sophie finds herself under a horrid spell that transforms her into an old lady. Her only chance at breaking it lies in the ever-moving castle in the hills: the Wizard Howl's castle. To untangle the enchantment, Sophie must handle the heartless Howl, strike a bargain with a fire demon, and meet the Witch of the Waste head-on. Along the way, she discovers that there's far more to Howl—and herself—than first meets the eye.” |
What I love about this book is the way that Dianna Wynne Jones plays with fantasy stereotypes. I think she's trying to point out that just because all the fairy tales say the world should work a certain way, that doesn't mean that the world actually will work that way. Sometimes you have to be your own fairy godmother, and the happily ever after doesn't mean that everything will be perfect. It's a rather nice breath of reality. In fact, Sophie goes into the happily ever after with a clear understanding of all the faults and foibles of her future husband, and knowing that they'll both have to work at it in order to make their marriage a success. That's an excellent message that gets passed up way too often.
And if you don't care about deep, inner truths, Howl's Moving Castle is still just a plain good story. There's a couple of mysteries to solve. There's some good action at the climax. I was a bit thrown off because this takes place largely in a fantasy world, but they do take a brief field trip into modern reality. Still, she carried it off, and I was willing to go along with it. The build-up to the climax is perhaps a bit slow, but you don't notice it because of all the humor. You come to love these characters, faults and all. Altogether, this is just excellent story-telling.