For those of you who don't know, or have simply forgotten, I'm a huge anime fan. But even more than that, I love the works of Hayao Miyazaki. If you don't know who I'm talking about, I would strongly suggest you head over to Wiki and find out more about him. He has had several anime movies subbed into English and released by Disney such as Princess Mononoke , Spirited Away, and one of my favorites, Howl's Moving Castle.It just so happens that I'm not the only one with an affinity for Miyazaki's works or with How's Moving Castle and when the book was found at our local library some body *cough-mother-caugh* jumped on the chance to check it out.
So this week I decided to pick it up . "Howl's Moving Castle" is by Diana Wynne Jones. It was originally published in 1986 by Greenwillow Books, but has since been re-released by HarperCollins in 2008. I am reading the original hardcover and very much prefer the new cover art (shown at left). I started on page 34 of 212 and would have finished it a lot sooner had it not been 70+ and quite gorgeous outside.
The story starts with the simple fact that in a world of fairy tales not everyone is guaranteed their happy ending. Sophie Hatter, having been born the first of three children, is doomed to a life of failure and misfortune. When her father dies, Sophie's two sisters, Lettie and Martha, are dispatched into different apprenticeships while Sophie remains behind to help run her late father's hat shop. Knowing full well that life doesn't have much in store for her, Sophie contently darns fake roses and ribbons on to bonnets for the ladies of Market Chipping, all the while growing more and more lonely in her quiet little room and growing more and more frightened of the world. A world in which the wizard Howl steels girls hearts and is very much the rake, and the Witch of the Waste is threatening to destroy everything.
It is in her little shop that Sophie happens upon the woman who, with all the haughtiness of a queen, demands the be shown the shop's best hats. Sophie has had a very trying day learning first that her sisters have switched places in regards to their apprenticeship and that she herself has been exploited by her mother-in-law in regards to the shop work. Quickly taking in the woman's expensive gown and extravagant hat, Sophie first shows her the shop's worst hats leading up, as she was told, to the right had. Being presented with such a horrible hat angers the woman who announces herself as the Witch of the Waste and casts a spell of old-age on the unlucky Sophie. Angered by yet another unlucky turn, and knowing her family will wonder why a 90-year-old woman is preforming 18-year-old Sophie's job and sleeping in her room, Sophie gather's herself together and seeks her own adventure.The book varies quite a bit from the movie in such a way that some people dislike it. While the basic idea of plot is relatively the same, circumstances, events, and even characters are vastly different. Yet both the book and the movie are unique that no matter how many times you read or watch them, you'll never tire of them.
I know this isn't much of a review, but I had to get something out for TSS... It's been forever! I'll write an honest review and post it. That is, if a review for this one can be written... ^_^
