Just a clarifying note since I noticed a comment on the subject:
Wynne Jones’ series includes Howl’s Moving Castle (1986), Castle in the Air (1990), and House of Many Ways (2008). Although all three include similar fantastical worlds and the Wizard Howl, House of Many Ways is technically the sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle while Castle in the Air is simply a “companion” novel.
Technicalities, technicalities.
Because I love technology we’ll try this again. Just finished a post on these two books when my page disappeared into the magical worm-hole that is the Interwebs. So…Take two.
Here it is, short and sweet. Have you started seeing those handy summer reading lists popping up everywhere? It is that time. I love this time of year, and I am on a roll! Water for Elephants and The Night Circus are a few years old, but they are exciting, page turners for the start of summer. I’ve never been a fan of circuses—blame the clowns—but I’ll love anything on the backdrop of a particularly romantic historical period; Elephants is set in Depression-era America and Night Circus spans a chunk of the late Victorian period in America and Europe.
Neither book focuses on the circus itself, or the spectator experience of visiting the big top. Both authors tell the stories of lives lived behind the scenes and the dreams that create and keep circuses going. In the case of The Night Circus the circus merely serves as the venue for a showdown between two illusionist and their apprentices. While Night Circus follows Le Cirque de Reves from its origins in the minds of a handful of people, Elephants is told from the perspective of an outsider who finds a job with Benzini Brothers when he has no other options.
Reason to read: Both are good, easy starts to any summer reading line-up. Elephants is on the more mature side, so it may not be for the lighthearted or young readers. Although both explore the mysterious world of circuses, each writer approaches it from a different perspective; Elephants is more down to earth, while Night Circus is supernatural. The romanticism behind each story is contagious.
I got hooked on anime—correction…I became addicted to Hayao Miyazaki’s anime feature length films in my high school art class. My teacher showed us Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, and I was lost to it. I, the future children’s and Y.A. librarian, an ashamed to admit that I had no idea Howl’s Moving Castle was based on a Y.A. series by Diana Wynne Jones until a couple months ago. I spent a little graduation money on them, and I’ve already finished two of the three novels. Miyazaki’s film is a wonderful adaptation of the novel and it is clear when you read the story that his very traditional style animation is the perfect visual medium to bring Wynne Jones’ story to life. Because honestly, the story comes to life on its own, and Miyazaki’s animation simply adds fuel to the fire (we’ll call him Calcifer) that’s already burning within the pages of Howl’s.
Howl’s Moving Castle (1986) and its sequel, House of Many Ways (2008), are inventive and exciting, and really capture the angst that’s pretty much essential to Y.A. literature. Yeah, angst. I’m not being melodramatic when I say angst is essential because what any young adult—we were all one at one time—is looking for in literature is a little understanding. In Howl’s it’s the understanding that Sophie Hatter has of herself as the eldest child who will never amount to anything. And in Many Ways Charmain Baker is given adult responsibility and realizes that she doesn’t have the first clue what that means. She soon finds out that it means having to put her book down and do laundry or wash dishes every once in a while. The stories don’t just end with communicating simple facts about young adulthood. No, that would be horribly boring and I probably would not be recommending them if that were the case. They’re fantasy through and through, with little connection to the world as we know it.
Reason to read: Y.A. is a fun genre when you get GOOD books. It’s disappointing when Y.A. books focus solely on generic topics and handle them in the typical ways. I’m just out of college and I enjoyed these, so age isn’t really a factor. They’re fun books.
The story is light and fun, but definitely aimed at young adults rather than children. It’s a love story, but the stronger plot points are about Sophie (the protagonist) and Howl (her wizard friend) finding their individual identities. With an ensemble American cast the film transports you into a fantastical “steampunk” world inhabited by witches, wizards, and talking fireplaces.
There are a few changes from book to film, but nothing that I can complain about. Both are excellent stories for their medium.
