Howl’s Moving Castle (Howl’s Moving Castle, #1) in Readers Unbound

Jun 22, 2025 Emily M rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-female-protagonists, humor, witches-wizards, favorite-fantasy

So, I’d put off reading this because I really like the Miyazaki film version, but had heard the book differed rather significantly. And since the book is nearly always better than the movie, I suppose I was a bit scared to ruin it. Well, fear not, Ghibli fans! The two are their own entities, yes, but I actually think it would be quite hard to say whether one is better than the other.

DWJ herself describes it well: “I had not thought of the castle having feet…But I am very fond of Miyazaki’s cast So, I’d put off reading this because I really like the Miyazaki film version, but had heard the book differed rather significantly. And since the book is nearly always better than the movie, I suppose I was a bit scared to ruin it. Well, fear not, Ghibli fans! The two are their own entities, yes, but I actually think it would be quite hard to say whether one is better than the other.

DWJ herself describes it well: “I had not thought of the castle having feet…But I am very fond of Miyazaki’s castle…As for Howl and Sophie, both of them are gentler and more noble than the characters in my books. But I wasn’t surprised by this…I have several models of Howl and Sophie around the house, too, and quite a few Calcifers, one of which sits in the fireplace.” So, yes, that’s one big difference: The banter between the MCs is closer to Shakespeare’s Beatrice and Benedick…who I adore, so no complaints there, even if I do think the shipping would tend to be more immediate with movie Howl! Book Sophie actually has (view spoiler), which arguably makes them an even better match.

"Sophie was almost awed. 'You mean you jilted the Witch of the Waste?' Howl cut himself another lump of cake, looking sad and honorable. 'That is not the way to put it. I admit I thought I was fond of her for a time. She is in some ways a very sad lady, very unloved. Every man in Ingary is scared stiff of her. YOU ought to know how that feels, Sophie dear*.'"
(*This burn is because of the degree to which she’s been bossing him, Michael, and Calcifer around)

There were certain parts of the book that felt delightfully like getting extra tea on why certain movie events happen. For instance, the reason Sophie is lacking in self confidence is that she is the eldest…and the eldest of three siblings is of course always going to fail in seeking their fortune! We meet one of these sisters briefly in the movie (the one who works in a bakery), but here they both have their own storylines and are in fact pretty important to the plot. In fact, you know how Sophie tells someone in the movie after she gets “babushkad*” that she’s going to visit her younger sister? Well, that sister was (view spoiler) Why does Sophie volunteer to be Howl’s cleaning lady? Because (view spoiler) What is Howl’s apprentice trying to hide in his room? (view spoiler) Etc. Also, you know the bit in the film where Howl suggests Sophie could open a flower shop? In the book (view spoiler)
*Credit to Danny Motta for that very accurate description

“‘On the other hand,’ Sophie continued, looking into the orange flames, ‘if the spell was off, I’d have my heart eaten before I could turn around.’ ‘Don’t you want your heart eaten?’ asked the fire. It was definitely the fire that spoke…It’s voice was nearly as cracked as her own, full of the spitting and whining of burning wood.”

The craziest change, though, is that there is no war subplot in the book! In fact, the black door goes somewhere entirely different: (view spoiler) That made me laugh out loud, and I was very eager to see how the climax of the book would ultimately have to be different. Well, here we get (view spoiler) There’s kind of a lot going on in both versions, and both versions are slightly confusing because of that – it’s just different stuff! I think I might marginally prefer the Miyazaki climax, actually, just because with the extra characters in the book it is hard to care as much for some of them…but it is a very close thing.

Howl being even more of a fussy drama queen, though: Priceless.
“the sounds rose to a crescendo in which Howl seemed to be managing to cough, groan, blow his nose, sneeze, and wail gently all at the same time… ‘All right, all right, I get the message!…It’ll be green slime next’…and she climbed the stairs muttering loudly, ‘Really, these wizards! You’d think no one ever had a cold before! Well, what is it?’… ‘I’m dying of boredom,’ Howl said pathetically. ‘Or maybe just dying.’”

Also, this bit?
"Mother knows you don't have to be unkind to someone in order to exploit them. She knows how dutiful you are. She knows you have this thing about being a failure because you're only the eldest. She's managed you perfectly and got you slaving away for her. I bet she doesn't pay you."
Based. ...more

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