Book completed

[eve_prime]

Castle in the Air, by Diana Wynne Jones. I bought this back in 2004, when my step-dad Arnold was in his final illness, as I thought it would be light reading when I visited him at the nursing home. The cover makes it clear that it’s set in a world inspired by the Arabian Nights, and I generally like that sort of thing. It only says in very fine print that it’s the sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle, and if I ever had any idea that it was, I clearly forgot it. I didn’t get very far, though. And I totally forgot the title, because I ordered a new copy for J’s book club, which is reading Howl’s Moving Castle and both sequels this month. When it arrived, I recognized it and dug out my own copy.

Well… it doesn’t start well, or rather, it hasn’t aged well. So many offensive clichés! I cringed several times, and I generally like this sort of thing. Yikes.

However, at the end of Chapter 8, it takes a sharp turn away from its Arabia-Persia-India-inspired beginnings and suddenly becomes very much a sequel to Howl’s Moving Castle, with our hero transported to that part of the world. And from that point on… I liked it quite a bit. It became humorous, and there were good surprises, and the story went well.

So, a mixed review – or rather, positive overall, but with serious caveats.

Comments

[kaishin108]

Some books come across so badly dated and offensive. And then other are okay, it's fascinating actually.

[eve_prime]

If I'd had the energy to analyze it and put my finger on what bothered me, it would probably have been very interesting. J's going to read it soon, and we'll see what he thinks.