meteordust | Howl's Moving Castle

So anyway, Studio Ghibli's next movie is going to be based on Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. Figuring I ought to read the book beforehand, I borrowed it from my local library last week.

I've read some of DWJ's stuff before - she's written a great deal over her long career, and she's often described as "Britain's premier writer of fantasy for children". She's also the author of The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, a painfully funny book that skewers the most embarrassing cliches of the fantasy genre. But my favourite book of hers has to be Dogsbody. It's the story of Sirius the Dog Star, accused of murder and sentenced to be reborn on Earth in the form of a dog. He has one chance at redemption, but a slim one, especially trapped without his powers or even all his memories...

I love Dogsbody. But Howl's Moving Castle seriously threatens its position as my favourite.

It's the story of Sophie, a girl who lives in the kingdom of Ingary. She's the eldest of three sisters, which means - according to all the fairytales - that she's destined *not* to have a great destiny. But when she gets cursed by the Witch of the Waste, Sophie has no choice but to leave home and seek her fortune. She ends up working for the Wizard Howl, who has an even more fearsome reputation...

Nothing is as it seems in this story, and the plot has many a twist and turn. The characters are wonderfully drawn and their interactions are a delight to read. It's a book full of warmth and wit and humour - the kind of book you want to share with other people.

And I can see why it would make a good Studio Ghibli movie. Apart from being a great story in itself, it contains themes and elements echoed in other Ghibli works - a courageous young heroine, a fantastic world to explore, charming, quirky characters, and a journey of change and self-discovery.

If it were anyone else filming this book, I'd probably be apprehensive about what they might do to it. But this is Miyazaki we're talking about. And if the movie is even half as good as the book, I'll probably end up with a new favourite Ghibli movie too.