Howl's Moving Castle

What's commendable to me about Wynne Jones's writing is the deft hand with which she undertakes the children's / teenage fantasy genre. To be more precise, the deft hand which makes the story unfold in tens of confident plot strands, turns as well the most obvious–and perhaps most base–
readerly expectations of loud or bombastic showdowns of witches/wizards into a narrative ultimately entrenched in endearing-intelligent sense of humour.

One requires perhaps a patient tracking down of the narrative movement, following the t0-be-tied-down-later threads of the plot, the eventual ‘understanding' of the metaphoric import, however, emerges as a rewarding and satisfying read. That someone like Miyazaki would be convinced by the tale to be brought to the celebrated Ghibli anime repertoire, is testament to Diana Wynne Jones's command over craft.

In the world of the ‘moving castle', dogs, cats and people (the eldest of siblings take special mention) – (discount not the hats and dresses) are so much more than who we might expect them to be.
The final image that would stay with me, and which the book crystallizes into, is the inevitably ‘moving' castle, which accommodates as many and much as the colours of the door-knobs would allow.