Book Review

[kenjari]

House of Many Ways
by Diana Wynne Jones

This is the second sequel to Howl's Moving Castle. It centers around Charmain Baker, a young woman who is sent to watch over her Great Uncle William's house while he is away. William is also the Wizard of Norland, and his house is kind of like a Tardis - much larger on the inside and leading to other, more remote places. Once there, Charmain becomes involved in averting grave danger to the royal family of Norland.
While it had a lot of neat things in it, House of Many Ways wasn't quite as good as the other two books. I liked the plot, the House of Many Ways, and the way the details really made the book. I also loved the way Sophie, Howl, and Calcifer are brought in. Unfortunately, I did not warm up to Charmain. Her love of books and intellectual curiosity appealed to me, but her utter lack of practical independent living skills (due to her mother's misguided approach to raising Charmain to be "respectable") and subsequent lack of concern about it really annoyed me. Charmain's response to e.g., her inability to fix a proper dinner because she doesn't know how to cook is to just throw up her hands in exasperation at the situation, bury her nose in a book, and avoid the problem. I find it hard to like a character so lacking in competence.

Comments

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

One thing I always have to keep firmly in mind, when reading DWJ's novels, is how long she's been in the business and how many Young Adult Novel trends she's seen come and go. This affects her characterizations sometimes in ways I vaguely grasp, but don't enjoy.

I liked Charmain a little better once I thought of her as an attempt to refute the 'spoiled princess who magically becomes good at every real-world task she attempts, despite never having gotten within spitting distance of the real world' trope. But I still find almost all of DWJ's other teenage protagonists more appealing.

[kenjari.livejournal.com]

That does make sense, and I can definitely admire what DWJ is doing. I suppose what annoyed me most was not precisely Charmain's lack of skill at real-world tasks, it was her attitude towards that lack. She never seemed to quite get it that acquiring those real-world skills would be important to her future independence.