Redheaded Jill

To be perfectly honest I only know what this book is because I watched the movie first and I only watched the movie first because Christian Bale was the voice of Howl for the English dubbed version.

But here we go. *SPOILERS AHEAD*

The book was great. I love how the magic is described, I like how we see the curse from the Witch of the Waste slowly come true throughout the book. I like Sophie’s family and I adore Calcifer.

I might have just missed something major in watching the film, but Sophie is a witch. She is a good witch, she talks life into things. She uses this skill at the end to save Calcifer and Howl from their bargain. I really like the dynamic between Howl and Michael (the assistant) and Sophie and Calcifer. You go the whole book thinking Howl is selfish and immature, and he might be… but there’s a reason for it. The king is a good person and very likable. It’s hilarious when Sophie goes to beg him to release Howl from the mandate and the King is like, “You’re trying so hard to talk me out of this, that’s how I know he’ll do a good job.” There’s lots of reverse psychology in this story.

When comparing book to movie. Differences: Sophie has 2 sisters and a stepmother. The Witch of the Waste is evil through and through. Howl is from Wales and has a sister and niece and nephew there. Suliman is not a woman. Howl’s teacher doesn’t work for the king. The king is talking about war, but Howl isn’t helping him fight a war yet. Michael (Markel in the movie) is old enough to have a love interest. Lettie plays a much bigger role in the book, and Sophie getting cursed is directly connected to Lettie. There are lines from the book used directly in the movie which make me so happy. Especially where Calcifer is concerned. I could hear Billy Crystal’s voice in my head the entire story. In the book Sophie is considered unlucky because she’s the oldest of three. She’s the least beautiful of all the sisters, but she’s still considered beautiful.

I understand why they made the changes they did for the movie. I think the movie is sweet, but I like some things about the book better. I like getting to know Sophie’s family. I like seeing Howl explain why he was acting so childish at the end. Things fall into place and it all makes sense.

There are two more books. I just finished A House of Many Ways. Maybe I’ll write a review on that later. It involves a separate story, but there are parts that include Howl, Sophie and Calcifer. It’s not a bad tale, but I definitely prefer the original characters to the new ones introduced.

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