"How about making a bargain with me?" said the demon. "I'll break your spell if you agree to break this contract I'm under."
In the land of Ingary, where seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, Sophie Hatter attracts the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste, who puts a curse on her. Determined to make the best of things, Sophie travels to the one place where she might get help - the moving castle which hovers on the nearby hills.
But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the hearts of young girls...
4.75 Charming book that really manages to build up and subvert fairy-tale clichés while also presenting characters that are mostly believable and a story that starts out as really opaque and mysterious, but step by step manages to explain the craziness (though thankfully not exhaustively). It's still very enjoyable to read after watching the Miyazaki's amazing movie since almost nothing but the three main character's main plotline is the same. The interviews with the author in my edition were also very nice showing the mutual admiration of Jones and Miyazaki.
I first learned of this novel because of Hayao Miyazaki's film of the same name. To be fair, I love the movie more than the book. This is something that's a bit rare for me because I don't often say that; there's only one other novel where that's true (and god, it's a novel I hate). But I digress!
This book is, on its own, really good. It's an interesting story with some great elements, such as the kind of curse that is placed upon Sophie. She's as old as she feels; she's always able to break her own curse, but she never does because she (almost) gives up. The kinds of characters in this novel are absolutely fantastic.
However! There are a few elements that really make the movie better:
The dynamic between Calcifer and the other characters (especially the Calcifer/Sophie and Calcifer/Howl dynamic) are less of a focus. …
I first learned of this novel because of Hayao Miyazaki's film of the same name. To be fair, I love the movie more than the book. This is something that's a bit rare for me because I don't often say that; there's only one other novel where that's true (and god, it's a novel I hate). But I digress!
This book is, on its own, really good. It's an interesting story with some great elements, such as the kind of curse that is placed upon Sophie. She's as old as she feels; she's always able to break her own curse, but she never does because she (almost) gives up. The kinds of characters in this novel are absolutely fantastic.
However! There are a few elements that really make the movie better:
The dynamic between Calcifer and the other characters (especially the Calcifer/Sophie and Calcifer/Howl dynamic) are less of a focus. In the movie, there's a kind of care that Howl appears to give Calcifer (because of what Calcifer is to him) that doesn't seem to be present in the novel. Calcifer's personality is more hopeful, though he's still shown as being frustrated. In the novel, Calcifer really seems to have given up; he relies so heavily on Sophie and doesn't... really do anything other than complain or give cryptic (but really obvious) clues (that somehow go over Sophie's head).
The dynamic between Sophie and Howl actually make their becoming a couple more logical in the movie; Howl may still have the same rumours being told about him, but he's not being written in a way that make him sound like a total womaniser (who comes across as weird when redeemed). In the movie, he's the kind of man who starts off as not treating women with total respect but recognising some of their abilities; he doesn't take love seriously and ends up hurting them. In the movie, Sophie doesn't spend the whole time complaining about Howl's womanising; she doesn't waste time thinking about all the women he's trying to woo. In the novel, this was something that I felt was super distracting. She's complaining about it all the time, which makes it feel... less interesting when they finally get together at the end.
There are more characters involved (she has another sister), and Howl's story puts him as being an ordinary man from Wales who went off to become a wizard somewhere else. It's a weird story in some ways, making it feel awkward to place Howl's loyalties and feelings.
This is a wonderful, magical book in several senses of the words (although, sadly, I don't think there any actual spells contained within it). I loved Sophie, and Howl, and Calcifer, and all the other myriad characters. The anime film version of Howl's Moving Castle was already a favourite of mine, which meant that the stories and characters in the book were comfortingly familiar and at times jarringly strange, both at the same time, which made for an interesting read. In some ways I wish I had read the book first, but then perhaps I wouldn't love the film quite so much, which would be a shame.
In any case, whether you've seen the film or not, I wholeheartedly recommend this book if you like magical fantasy at all.
Subjects
Children's fiction
Wizards, fiction
Fantasy fiction
Howl, the magician (fictitious character), fiction
