Howl's Moving Castle

Re-read review (22 Jan 2021): My first re-read of this book in a super long time and if anything, I just love it even more than ever, I burst into tears when I finished (could also be hormones talking).

I love it that we have this female protagonist who is rather insecure and unsure of herself at the beginning of the story, and it's her younger sisters that are trying to bolster her self-worth, which is such a great twist on that usual “evil stepsisters” trope. I love that so much of this book, even though the sisters were apart from each other, Sophie never stopped thinking about them or caring for them in whatever ways she could. I love that we have one sister who wants to get married and have ten children, and another sister who wants to keep on learning and making a name for herself and both of them are fine with that, support each other and help each other achieve their goals even if wildly different.

I love that it shows so many things that aren't very common but which I really like to see in YA stories: a female protagonist that starts off being insecure, but very gradually starts to realise how powerful she is because she took the first step to get out of her comfort zone, and not because anyone else (and not a dude) told her so; a hero that is endearing but so flawed and annoying at the same time; truly believable chemistry between the two leads which develops throughout the book to culminate in a very satisfying ending (that doesn't even need to show them kissing or being all handsy with each otherThis has always been one of my favourite books of all time, and this re-read has only cemented that status.I just love it, OK? *cries*---------------------I bought this many, many years ago, attracted by the colourful cover and the illustration of a handsome, crazy wizard. I did not regret it.Howl's Moving Castle is the kind of book that I come across only very rarely, where the moment I finish reading the last page, I lean back, exhale, try to digest all the plot twists at the end, then I immediately turn back to the first page and begin re-reading immediately. I am personally someone who isn't in the habit of re-reading books almost ever.Though I have owned this book for more than a decade now, but it's still in relatively good condition and I still occasionally re-read it. I think of it as one of my favourite books of all time, and it introduced me to the magical world of Diana Wynne Jones.

I admitted that i was having a hard time getting into the story in the first quarter of the book. But then, the interaction between Howl and Sophie escalated and baamm just like that i was hooked. Howl was such a drama queen and Sophie was just like, are you done yet. I love them!

There were lot of funny times and moments i found very endearing that made me felt in love with the characters.

Some people just don't “get” fantasy. They are unable to comprehend the appeal of stories full of people who never existed and never could have, genealogical tables composed entirely of unpronounceable names, and endless endpaper maps portraying craggy coastlines that look like Wales, but aren't, quite. They prefer to stay within the known world, with names which somebody, somewhere, can pronounce, and lands reliably mapped by National Geographic.

There's plenty of great reading in the realms of realistic fiction, to be sure; but there is nothing quite like the pleasure of opening a book and stepping into a world that is purely of the imagination, yet inwardly coherent and recognizably real. Something in the human mind and spirit, something of its boundless possibilities, can perhaps best be expressed thus. Some authors, we can feel, are not so much painstakingly inventing a world full of cumbersome accoutrements, but discovering one that reveals a hidden aspect of ourselves.

Such a world is given to us by Diana Wynne Jones in Howl's Moving Castle, one of her blithest and most enchanting novels. “In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three,” she begins, and immediately we are caught up in the realm of fairy-tale logic, where everyone knows the eldest of three is doomed to failure, should three siblings set out to seek their fortunes.

Sophie Hatter, who happens to be the eldest of three sisters, never questions this law of existence. She resigns herself to a mundane existence in the family hat shop (not even being “the child of a poor woodcutter, which might have given her some chance of success”). Her determination to be ordinary is disrupted by a call from the wicked Witch of the Waste, who casts a very inconvenient spell on her; and by the fearsome Wizard Howl, who, in spite of his reputation for sucking out the souls of young girls, allows her in to his mysterious moving castle, and seems to be in need of some saving himself.

As Sophie puzzles through the riddle posed by witch, wizard and castle, she finds that all is not as it seems, including her assumptions about herself. Is magic all about showy transformations and fiery battles? Or is there even more power in the stories we tell ourselves?

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It seems that most people are familiar with this story through the Anime film. I have to admit to never having seen it, so I came to this story with no real preconceptions. The tale itself is wonderfully cute and whimsical. Howl is very much a man child and it is interesting seeing a female protagonist in a fantasy of this vintage who does not fall into the usual stereotypes.

This is essentially an early YA story, but it is certainly one that has aged well. DWJ has created a wonderful world of whimsy and mystery. The moving castle itself is an intriguing concept and all the characters have a fun feel.

Light and fun and an easy read. I will have to go and check out the film version now!

A fun fantasy book. Quick searching found it in the public library, and I almost abandoned ship when I got there and saw that it was in the children's section - NOT the Young Adult section, the actual board books and first-word children's section. But I had taken a 30 minute train just for this book, so hell's bells, I'm getting it. WORTH IT! Fun, light, fast-paced fantasy book, great for those of us who are still new/fairly new to the fantasy genre. It was also nice that there was not any real violence in the story; I seem to appreciate violence-free stories more and more as I grow older. Highly recommend.

As much as I love the Ghibli movie, this book is so much better. The movie leaves out most of the story in favor of a general feeling of plotless whimsy, and so the story here feels almost brand new. It's a truly great fantasy novel, easy to read and get lost in with memorable characters and imagination to spare.

Segunda vez lido em... muitos anos.

Como li uma edição diferente, acabei perdendo o rastreio (meu Goodreads deve estar uma bagunça).

Seguimos.

Estou mais velha, mais “lida” hehehe, e este livro segue... surpreendente. É um livro para criança pelo tom da escrita, pela proposta, as personagens o sistema mágico simples e descomplicado, e a leitura fácil. Ainda assim, todos os personagens, até mesmo os secundários, embora menos desenvolvidos, possuem caracter, personalidades definidas, e são presentes.

Tive algumas realizações que não havia percebido na primeira leitura, que me deixaram em estado de graça.
Howl é do País de Gales (se você leu Lisa Kleypas na vida, a imagem de qualquer homem de lá, falando inglês britânico com um leve sotaque, é extremamente útero supressor), extremamente sarcástico, vaidoso, mas apaixonável a sua maneira. Como a autora disse em sua entrevista, “muitas meninas querem casar com Howl”. Eu sou uma delas. Versão do filme, versão do livro, qualquer versão.
Sophie é MUITO RELACIONÁVEL. Sem um pingo de paciência com frescura, decidida, e um pouco traumatizada com seus próprios valores, o que a “ofusca” um pouco seu real potencial.

Para quem conheceu castelo animado primeiro pela animação, pode levar um grande choque ao ler a obra original. Miyazaki, embora sua versão tenha sido aprovado pela própria Diana, usou o esqueleto do Castelo Animado, alguns de seus personagens centrais, alguns pontos altos, e transformou na aclamada animação - com um total toque japonês - que tem praticamente NENHUMA similaridade com o livro.
Pode considerar como duas obras completamente diferentes.

Amo o filme mais que pipoca doce. E acho que o desenvolvimento do romance foi muito mais estruturado e progressivo no filme. No filme, Howl e Sophie praticamente se odeio em todos os momentos, por nenhuma e todas as razões, e apenas têm um momento de “amor” que seria o final (com a Bruxa e o retorno ao castelo). O que deixa o filho deles em The Castle in the Air meio que um passo muito grande num romance tão juvenil. Por isso, mais uma vez, um livro para crianças. Não precisamos falar de baixaria com eles.

O que realmente me segurou nessa segunda leitura foi que, por mais que o filme seja EXCELENTE, perdeu-se MUITAS COISAS que tronam um dos livros de fantasia mais cativantes.
A magia ser um sistema normal, que permeia a família de Hatter, e neste mundo, que faz com que você escolher a magia seja uma opção tão sadia quanto vender chapéus. De as irmãs Hatter serem três, de Fanny não ser tão interesseira, mas uma mulher em desespero. Michael ser mais velho, um adolescente, apaixonado por Martha e espero em suas magias (mais do que um garotinho com capa que o deixa um anãozinho de barba comprida, como o Gimli). A própria Bruxa das terras Abandonadas. Uma mulher camaleoa, malvada e cheia de ódio, que também vendeu o coração a um demônio do fogo, mas que foi corrompida. O Mago Suliman, o Cabeça de Nabo, como o irmão entojado do rei - e a falta da própria figura do rei - e a magia bem da assustadora, com o corte de corpos e junção de pedaços, que os envolviam através da Bruxa. Os poderes de Sophie, naturais dela, que conseguiam trazer a vida às coisas, mas seu dom natural em possuir magia. O CORAÇÃO DA BRUXA - Srta. Angorian - que me deixou com cara de "misericórdia, que doideira é essa". Como podem ver... muita coisa me pegou de jeito.

Como é perceptível, esse livro me pegou de jeito. E adorei demais. Seguramente seguirei com os demais volumes outra vez.

Ehhh, I'm having a hard time rating this book. I liked Howl. Loved even. Sophie was just not it in the book (and I really like her in the movie). Diane did capture the magic of Howl's moving castle and the spirit the film has. I did enjoy the story, I just prefer the film in this particular case (sorry).

This is probably one of my favorite books now. I watched the anime after and didn't like it as much, the characters were too sickeningly, unrealistically sweet and boring. This had me laughing left and right, plus I was really attached to all of the characters. It felt like reading an old fairy tale.

Dur dur de détacher le film du livre pour le coup tellement le film m'avait marqué. Les deux sont assez différents mais se complètent en un sens, l'histoire ici creuse les personnages plus en profondeur, et crée un univers unique autour du château ambulant. Un très bon moment, enchanteur, et assez poétique :)

It's mysterious in that way “the classics” are. They say things like they are but many things are still left up in the air. Sophie's always going on about how being the eldest would prevent her from attaining any happiness, but where did such a nonsensical idea come from and why should anyone take that as fact? Miss Angorian was a fire demon but why was she able to go about all willy nilly, hiding herself in guitars and even owning her own house? The Witch of the Waste killed Mrs. Pentstemmon? Then why isn't the Witch getting executed or put on trial or anything? A great many things seemed to be taken in stride all too easily. I myself find it a bit charming since not everything to do with a book related to magic need be sensical but I figured I should point it out.

And another thing...ALL THE JUICE ALWAYS RUNS DRY BEFORE IT HAS A CHANCE TO START FLOWING. At some point, I was wondering whether this story was going to be a romance at all. It was, in fact, a wonderful romance for the page or so that it was explicitly acknowledged. This book really adds to my appreciation for Howl and Sophie's romance more than the movie had time to. Howl was, in fact, a piece of trash, which the film adaptation glossed over (for the sake of time and fragile hearts, mine included). And yet he and Sophie grew a connection through all the arguments and difficulties of living with another human being. IF THAT AIN'T TRUE LOVE, THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS. To accept each other's flaws and see past appearances to appreciate the other's endearing, if annoying, personality traits...To know both the good and bad of a person...SOMEONE GET THE JUSTICE OF PEACE IN HERE, STAT.

All that being said, it was great. I still think Sophie's stepmom is a lying, lazy, exploitative wench. But I adored how much depth this book went into in my favorite movie's characters.

This book is a warm blanket on a cold day. It's a balm against troubled times and was the perfect thing to read while dealing with this stressful season. It's one of those books that ostensibly gets shelved for children, but is really for the parents to enjoy reading aloud. The prose is lyrical and beautiful. The characters are rich and vivid. And there's a snarky fire demon. I first read this book way back when the Studio Ghibli movie came out, and I think I appreciate it more now just because of my current headspace. Every night when I picked this book up to read, I got a healthy dose of escapism that let me actually sleep. I'd never not recommend this book, but right now, I think it should be required reading for all us anxiety-crippled, pandemic fatigued folks out there.

I've seen the anime film which, after listening to the audio edition of the book, should be said to be ‘loosely based on'. Not so far away as [b:Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? 36402034 Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507838927l/36402034.SY75.jpg 830939] is to the movie BladeRunner but not a true rendition either. I like both. I do have a question about the narrator's interpretation of a Welsh accent. She made it sound more Jamaican to me but I've not heard a native from Wales speak.

Delightful, and definitely something I will read to my daughters one day. The ending was a little too conventional and slap-dashed together for me, but it works in a classic fairy tale kind of way. It's fun and quirky and entertaining, but I'm just not great at honing in my inner child enough to appreciate it in the same way I might have when I was twelve.

VERY different from the movie though, so don't think you know the story because you've seen the movie.

I wanted to read this before watching Miyazaki’s movie, and now that I’ve seen the movie… the book is unequivocally better. I’d actually recommend watching the movie first, otherwise it’s disappointing. The book is excellent and a completely different storyline. My only complaint is the plot is a bit disjointed or hard to follow on a couple points, but it’s still worth reading.