2009-04 Discussion of Diana Wynne Jones

DWJ was always one of my favourite authors as a child, but I've found that I don't like her books quite as much anymore. My favourites were always the Chrestomanci books, especially The Lives of Christopher Chant, but I haven't read nearly everything she's written. I'm planning to read at least one new book for this month.

What are your favourite DWJ books? General thoughts?

fire and hemlock is amazing, it's one of those books I've re-read every year since I was about 10. I also love a tale of time city and I've recently discovered deep secret which I found really funny. it's the prequel to the merlin conspiracy.

I just picked up Howl's Moving Castle from the library. I'll join the chat in a few days after I have had time to read it.

Charmed Life was written over thirty years ago! I have not read any books like it that are so old.

I just read the Dalemark quartet and enjoyed it. Her characterizations are very complex and sometimes bittersweet. Good stuff.

Jones has been one of my favorite authors since I first read the Dalemark quartet in 3rd grade; after reading those I devoured the Chrestomanci books and Howl's Moving Castle. Now I'm a bit older and I've read most of her books several times. My favorites are probably the Chrestomanci books, Howl's Moving Castle, Fire and Hemlock, Year of the Griffin, and Deep Secret. Her books have held over the years and I still get just as much enjoyment out of them as I did when I was 10.

I love Fire and Hemlock! My only complaint with it is that the ending is very abrupt.

Dark Lord of Derkholm is possibly my favorite DWJ, and I love Year of the Griffin, too. Her Tough Guide to Fantasyland is a great complement to Dark Lord of Derkholm.

The first DWJ I read was Howl's Moving Castle, and I loved it! Castle in the Air, not so much -- I just reread those two, though, and I liked Castle in the Air a little better this time through, mostly because I knew what to expect. House of Many Ways was better than Castle in the Air, but not as good as Howl's Moving Castle, in my opinion. I keep meaning to reread it, but there are so many other things. . . .

For me, DWJ is a little bit hit-or-miss: I love some things, think others are okay, and actively dislike a few (Hexwood comes to mind). I liked some of the Dalemark books but not others -- and I don't feel really compelled to reread or own them. I like all of the Chrestomanci books (I have a bit of a literary crush on Christopher Chant as Chrestomanci) and reread them occasionally, but I like Charmed Life and The Lives of Christopher Chant better than any of the others.

Sorry I rambled/babbled! Anyone who's read Howl's Moving Castle and seen the Miyazaki animated film, what did you think of that?

My now 19 year old son and I both have enjoyed the Chrestomanci books the most; he's read more of the others.

I haven't read the book, but as a big fan of Hayao Miyazaki (My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and others), I was a little disappointed by the movie. Others have liked it much more, though.

I have read Howl's Moving Castle and seen the movie! I like the animation but I thought the book had a better plot.

I just finished reading Howl's Moving Castle today. I have to say, as in most cases, I liked the book more than the movie.
I felt there was something missing when I saw the movie. Now I know that what it was missing was the rest of the plot. This book blew me away.

Spoilers

Neat bits:
Sophie has magic
Her sisters
Wales
Actually explaining about the missing Prince and wizard

The happy ending.

Howl's Moving Castle is probably my favourite Diana Wynne Jones book, but I haven't read that many of hers (considering how many she's written). I really liked Hexwood, too.

Ooh, I'm a huge fan of Diana Wynne Jones. I remember starting off in, oh, about third grade, with The Homeward Bounders, which was completely different from anything I'd read before. My favorites are probably Howl's Moving Castle, Hexwood, and Deep Secret. These are the books I've reread so many times that I could recite parts of them by heart. I'm curious, foggidawn, what do you dislike about Hexwood? Because otherwise I agree with a lot of what you said.

I'm always amazed by how her younger characters actually act like children, instead of like smaller adults. A perfect example of this is The Ogre Downstairs, which I managed to get my hands on last year.

Just to make a small plug, in case anyone's interested, there's an lj fan community that occasionally has discussions, links to interviews, and so forth here.

I never read Jones as a child, because she wasn't in print yet then. I found her in my 20s in the 70s, and loved Dogsbody passionately at that time. I don't have all her books, by any means, but I do have 30 of them in my library. My current favorite is Dark Lord of Derkholm, and the sequel, Year of the Griffin, is good as well. My favorite Chrestomancis are Charmed Life, The Lives of Christopher Chant, and The Pinhoe Egg. I love the Howl's Moving Castle series as well, and quite enjoyed the new one this year. Looking her up, I don't have the fourth book of the Dalemark books, which I see was published 18 years after the trilogy--I suspect I have never read it. I have a lot of respect for that series, even though it lacks the sense of humor I love in Jones' work.

#12 -- I'm trying to remember specifics, but I read Hexwood several years ago, so I'm having a hard time remembering even the basic plot. My main impression of it was that I was just confused all the way through, and the resolution at the end was so quick (something that DWJ does in several of her books, so it's not just Hexwood) that I never did figure out what was going on. Perhaps I'll give it a reread for this discussion -- it may be that I'll like it better this time through.

Also, thanks for the link to the fan site -- it looks like there's going to be a new book coming out next year. Exciting!

BTW, I noticed an interesting book in Jones' Wiki entry, Four British fantasists : place and culture in the children's fantasies of Penelope Lively, Alan Garner, Diana Wynne Jones, and Susan Cooper, and the San Diego library has a copy, so I've ordered it. I've read all the authors except Lively, and the three others are definitely favorites, so this sounds interesting.

ETA touchstone.

What would be a good DWJ book for my partner to read aloud to our daughters (ages 10, 12 and 13) who like being read to as long as the book has a good, gripping plot? They just finished doing The Hobbit and they loved being read A Wrinkle in Time, Alice in Wonderland, Hill's End, and other fast-moving books. I've read lots of DWJ myself but I'm away from my books (on another continent) and can't remember which might make a good read-aloud. The last DWJ I read was Conrad's Fate which I thought was terrific, but are there better ones to start them on?
BTW, for the discussion in general--when I first read J.K. Rowling I remember thinking, why is everybody so into this stuff when hardly anybody (at least, hardly anybody I knew) reads Diana Wynne Jones? So I'm glad that more people read her now.
To ronincats, Penelope Lively is wonderful. She can probably feel a bit more dated than the others but worth the effort.

#16 -- Our family enjoyed a read-aloud of Howl's Moving Castle, so that's one I'd recommend. If they want to do the Chrestomanci books, I'd start with The Lives of Christopher Chant. Chronologically, it's the first.

The first DWJ book I read was Witch Week, and it was the only one that was read aloud to me. I obviously enjoyed it enough to read more :)

I completely agree about J. K. Rowling! I think it's precisely because no one read DWJ that they were so into Rowling--everyone thought the concept of a boy wizard was so novel and interesting.

the first DWJ book I read was witch week as well:)

I seem to remember starting with Charmed Life. I loved DWJ when I was little, we all had our books signed by her when she did a reading at school, I went to school with her grandson, so she used to do special reading events with the school. I just love her writing, a family favourite and a comfort read. I didn't find her until the 1990's, when I was 9 and would read anything in those days. I have my friends son hooked on them now.

I finished reading House of Many Ways tonight.

Here is my mini-review:
House of Many Ways
Diana Wynne Jones
Greenwillow Books
2008

House of Many Ways is the sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle. Like Howl’s, the story is about a girl finding independence and discovering who she is at the same time. In this story, Charmain Baker, a spoiled bookworm, is sent away from home to look after her great-uncle’s house while he is being cared for by the elves. Her great-uncle happens to also be The Wizard Norland who is the king’s wizard. While living in the wizard’s home, Charmain is exposed to magic, danger, and a mystery about the kingdom’s treasury.

This was a lovely story and a wonderful sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle. And if you are wondering, yes, Howl and his family do make an appearance in this book.

4 stars.

******

On a side note, I was tickled by Charmain's love of books and lack of people skills. I don't see myself in her at all, oh no, not at all...;)

>21 d_perlo: I really liked House of Many Ways when I read it a few months ago as well. I thought it very clever, and loved the role Howl plays in this book.

My first DWJ book was Eight days of Luke, followed by Dogsbody and Charmed life. I remember feeling really clever as I figured out all the Norse gods - ok, I was only 11, and it was the first book I read that really made me realise that authors 'hide' info, or use other material as inspiration. I re-read it recently, and it still ties for favourite with the other two I've mentioned above.
I also adore Year of the griffin, Dark Lord of Derkholm and The tough guide to Fantasyland - always great to re-read, and I do!

Is anyone planning to read or reread any DWJ books for this discussion? I wonder whether it would be useful to try to coordinate--one of the criticisms of general author discussions was that they're not focused enough.

Can someone help?!?

I've just come to the end of The House of Many Ways, but my copy is incomplete!! It ends as:

"Doh!" said Sophie.
"Where are we?" Charmaine asked quickly,

And then the back cover! I've just written to Harper Collins, but it'll be Friday night there and I don't think I can stand to wait at minimum, a whole weekend, and more likely, a few weeks to get a replacement copy.

If there isn't too much more, and it isn't too much to ask,... I'd be ever so grateful. I can be reached at yahoo.com.

TJinTokyo

SOrry to hear about your problem with House of Many Ways.
You are missing abour 22 pages, which is a bit much to transcript. Good luck with Harper Collins.

Howl's Moving Castle is my favorite. I'm not sure why i like it so much but I read it again and again and never get bored.

Thank you, so much for your response, amberwitch. 22 pages more is happy enough news and I shall wait patiently for a response from the publishers!

25- you never know, uours could be from a really limited print run and be worth millions in 10 years:) One can only hope.

I finished reading Charmed Life today. What a great book. I am definitely looking forward to reading the other books in the Chrestomanci series.

Spoilers
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I was really hoping that Gwen would end up learning to be a nice person during the course of the book. Instead she ended up even worse than I thought. Thank goodness she was replaced by Janet!

This seems the best place to post this link. There was just a first-ever conference on DWJ's writings in Bristol, England. Unfortunately, DWJ was unable to be there as she has just been diagnosed with lung cancer. Yes, evidently she is a smoker.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/jul/09/fantastic-diana-wynne-jone...