Howl’s Moving Castle is a fantasy novel created by British author Diana Wynne. This book is the first of a trilogy and was published in 1986.
The main character in this novel is Sophie Hatter, the eldest daughter of 3 at 18 years of age. As you may guess, Sophie’s family specializes in… selling hats. The adventure begins with Sophie being turned into an elderly old woman by the Wicked Witch of the Waste. This is where Sophie’s adventure begins as she seeks Wizard Howl, an infamously known wizard that “preys on young ladies’ hearts”. In hopes of finding a way to remove the curse, Sophie encounters strange characters such as a demon, a scarecrow, and even a “dog-man”, as described by Sophie. I will not explain much more as I do not want to spoil this action-packed adventure and it would be best to read it for yourself!
I have never read this book until now and I thought it was the perfect time to start as it was on my want-to-read list for a while. I first watched the movie and was amazed by the artwork and musical score, it’s one of my favourite animated films and I thought it was worth checking out the book as well. This story is nostalgic for me as it was a film I watched with my family and close friends. Although there are several differences between the book and movie, they are both great in their own ways. The book goes into further detail about Sophie’s relationship with her family whereas the movie focuses on the adventure itself, in addition to some modifications to the story.
I think this book may be a good read for any student who wants an action-packed fantasy adventure experience and that they should watch the movie after! (believe it or not, Batman, A.K.A Christian Bale, plays the English version of Howl)
Hi Kevin,
Like you, I knew about the movie before the book and it was one of my favourite things to watch as a kid. I had to read the book for a course a few years ago and I was struck with how Wynne was able to build such a unique and creative world. I love that this book plays on different fairy tale tropes, twisting and transforming them into something different and funny. While I still enjoy the film, the exploration of relationships and the world inside of Howl’s mind was really exciting to read about.
Hi Kevin!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about Howl’s Moving Castle. In all honesty, I had never thought to read the book until your mention of it here. I have seen the animated film a number of times (and other Studio Ghibli films of course!) but I will most definitely look into picking up a copy of the novel. I’m interested in seeing what other differences there may be between the two versions of the story.
My first time watching the movie was in 2015. I haven’t seen it since, but I feel like reading the book and then watching the movie again just to compare them. Thank you for the recommendation! I look forward to reading it 🙂 I’m also excited to know more about Sophie’s past and the relationship she has with her family. I really just feel like I don’t remember much at all except that I liked the movie.