Scan barcode
A review by latad_books
The Land of Ingary Trilogy by Diana Wynne Jones
4.0
2024-05: Howl’s Moving Castle: 4.5 stars.
I had forgotten that Diana Wynne Jones included scenes in our world, when Sophie, Howl and Michael head to Howell Jenkins’ sister’s home in Wales in pursuit of a spell accidentally sent there.
Sophie’s tart responses to Howl’s behaviour and messy home continue to amuse me, and the story delighted me all over again, and everything I enjoyed about it last time I read it (see review below) did it again.
2021-09: Howl’s Moving Castle: 4.5 stars.
Unlike the lush, sweeping and romantic feel of the Studio Ghibli interpretation of this work, Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl has a tartness, and sharpness to the characters statements interactions, as well as to Sophie’s thoughts about the situations and people surrounding her.
The story was fun and amusing, and I loved how unflattering Wynne Jones made Howl’s behaviour, with his “slithering out” of answering questions and of commitments, his moaning and tantrums.
Sophie is all kinds of wonderful, and I loved how no-nonsense curious, and kind she was, no matter whether she was faced with a fire demon, a melodramatic Howl or a door leading to different places, even while gradually becoming aware of her own magical abilities.
I had read his book many years before, and a recent rematch of the movie prompted me to pull this book back off the shelf.
I found the stories and characters delightful, and picked up on Sophie’s magical abilities much earlier and better than I had the first time I read this. Sophie’s wonderfully rendered, feeling incapable of pushing against her sisters and stepmother, and it’s once she’s suddenly made an old woman and faced with a recalcitrant fire demon that she starts to really take charge of her life. It’s wonderful to watch her come alive, sarcasm, inventiveness, and tartness included.
I had forgotten that Diana Wynne Jones included scenes in our world, when Sophie, Howl and Michael head to Howell Jenkins’ sister’s home in Wales in pursuit of a spell accidentally sent there.
Sophie’s tart responses to Howl’s behaviour and messy home continue to amuse me, and the story delighted me all over again, and everything I enjoyed about it last time I read it (see review below) did it again.
2021-09: Howl’s Moving Castle: 4.5 stars.
Unlike the lush, sweeping and romantic feel of the Studio Ghibli interpretation of this work, Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl has a tartness, and sharpness to the characters statements interactions, as well as to Sophie’s thoughts about the situations and people surrounding her.
The story was fun and amusing, and I loved how unflattering Wynne Jones made Howl’s behaviour, with his “slithering out” of answering questions and of commitments, his moaning and tantrums.
Sophie is all kinds of wonderful, and I loved how no-nonsense curious, and kind she was, no matter whether she was faced with a fire demon, a melodramatic Howl or a door leading to different places, even while gradually becoming aware of her own magical abilities.
I had read his book many years before, and a recent rematch of the movie prompted me to pull this book back off the shelf.
I found the stories and characters delightful, and picked up on Sophie’s magical abilities much earlier and better than I had the first time I read this. Sophie’s wonderfully rendered, feeling incapable of pushing against her sisters and stepmother, and it’s once she’s suddenly made an old woman and faced with a recalcitrant fire demon that she starts to really take charge of her life. It’s wonderful to watch her come alive, sarcasm, inventiveness, and tartness included.