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freestylefantastic: Favorite Fictional Women: Sophie Hatter Sophie Hatter is the protagonist of Diana Wynne Jones’ novel Howl’s Moving Castle, its sequels, and the gorgeous Hiyao Miyazaki movie adaptation. She’s basically just fantastic: a sensible, kind-hearted young woman who spends her adolescent days convincing herself that she is not in any way destined for greatness or adventure, and then finds greatness and adventure anyway. All it takes is a witch’s curse (which turns her into an old lady) an “evil” wizard, a fire demon, Wales, and a magical castle. (Mild spoilers below!) The thing about Sophie is that she, like the Wizard Howl, is not at all what she seems.  Where Howl is less powerful and also less evil than he lets the world believe, Sophie hides a unique power beneath her supposed mundanity.  Her will and her words are enough to bring to life the lifeless, inspire luck and love, and break powerful enchantments.  She has this power all along, but the witch’s curse frees her to discover it: in the shape of an arthritic old women, Sophie is more willing to be “selfish” -or rather, quit sacrificing her happiness for everyone else’s sake -and take back some control over her life and her surroundings. She learns to keep Howl in line, breaks several terrible curses (while subconsciously clinging to her own) and generally helps put things to rights. And that’s only the stuff that happens before she grows up, has a kid, and gains a reputation as the most powerful sorceress in the land. If you’ve only ever seen the movie, reading (and re-reading) the book is more than worth your time. Miyazaki builds a beautiful, enchanting world, but Wynne Jones’ plot is more complex, her humor more acute, and her ending more satisfying. It’s labeled a “children’s book”, but take it from a very sophisticated big-girl reader: it isn’t just for children.
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freestylefantastic: Favorite Fictional Women: Sophie Hatter Sophie Hatter is the protagonist of Diana Wynne Jones’ novel Howl’s Moving Castle, its sequels, and the gorgeous Hiyao Miyazaki movie adaptation. She’s basically just fantastic: a sensible, kind-hearted young woman who spends her adolescent days convincing herself that she is not in any way destined for greatness or adventure, and then finds greatness and adventure anyway. All it takes is a witch’s curse (which turns her into an old lady) an “evil” wizard, a fire demon, Wales, and a magical castle. (Mild spoilers below!) The thing about Sophie is that she, like the Wizard Howl, is not at all what she seems.  Where Howl is less powerful and also less evil than he lets the world believe, Sophie hides a unique power beneath her supposed mundanity.  Her will and her words are enough to bring to life the lifeless, inspire luck and love, and break powerful enchantments.  She has this power all along, but the witch’s curse frees her to discover it: in the shape of an arthritic old women, Sophie is more willing to be “selfish” -or rather, quit sacrificing her happiness for everyone else’s sake -and take back some control over her life and her surroundings. She learns to keep Howl in line, breaks several terrible curses (while subconsciously clinging to her own) and generally helps put things to rights. And that’s only the stuff that happens before she grows up, has a kid, and gains a reputation as the most powerful sorceress in the land. If you’ve only ever seen the movie, reading (and re-reading) the book is more than worth your time. Miyazaki builds a beautiful, enchanting world, but Wynne Jones’ plot is more complex, her humor more acute, and her ending more satisfying. It’s labeled a “children’s book”, but take it from a very sophisticated big-girl reader: it isn’t just for children.
Zoom

freestylefantastic:

Favorite Fictional Women: Sophie Hatter

Sophie Hatter is the protagonist of Diana Wynne Jones’ novel Howl’s Moving Castle, its sequels, and the gorgeous Hiyao Miyazaki movie adaptation. She’s basically just fantastic: a sensible, kind-hearted young woman who spends her adolescent days convincing herself that she is not in any way destined for greatness or adventure, and then finds greatness and adventure anyway. All it takes is a witch’s curse (which turns her into an old lady) an “evil” wizard, a fire demon, Wales, and a magical castle.

(Mild spoilers below!)

The thing about Sophie is that she, like the Wizard Howl, is not at all what she seems.  Where Howl is less powerful and also less evil than he lets the world believe, Sophie hides a unique power beneath her supposed mundanity.  Her will and her words are enough to bring to life the lifeless, inspire luck and love, and break powerful enchantments.  She has this power all along, but the witch’s curse frees her to discover it: in the shape of an arthritic old women, Sophie is more willing to be “selfish” -or rather, quit sacrificing her happiness for everyone else’s sake -and take back some control over her life and her surroundings. She learns to keep Howl in line, breaks several terrible curses (while subconsciously clinging to her own) and generally helps put things to rights. And that’s only the stuff that happens before she grows up, has a kid, and gains a reputation as the most powerful sorceress in the land.

If you’ve only ever seen the movie, reading (and re-reading) the book is more than worth your time. Miyazaki builds a beautiful, enchanting world, but Wynne Jones’ plot is more complex, her humor more acute, and her ending more satisfying. It’s labeled a “children’s book”, but take it from a very sophisticated big-girl reader: it isn’t just for children.

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