More Diana Wynne Jones
Jan. 17th, 2006 10:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petroniaEt de trois. XD
The Magicians of Caprona: I thoroughly enjoyed this. For one, it takes place in Ruritanian Italy. XD Charmed Life also had a whiff of Ghibli Europe about it but this is much more than a whiff; I'm no longer surprised Howl's Moving Castle was turned into a Miyazaki movie even though he did apparently change the plot. I forgive a lot for a picturesque Mediterranean setting in a Canadian January and there's not much here that needs forgiving. A bit of Shakespeare, a bit of Kipling - Romeo and Juliet returned to its original comedic form and grafted as a subplot to a children's political adventure - sort of Sesame Street style in that it takes adult knowledge to appreciate the cleverness, but doesn't detract from the the thing itself. Not at all dark apart from that one moment in the dollhouse with no door (a true-blue horror effect, like the "lives" in Charmed Life). Chrestomanci is very British. Also I kept thinking of Tin's familial anecdotes. XD
My sister read The Lives of Christopher Chant first, then The Magicians of Caprona, and we agreed that DWJ seems as if she must have been a younger or middle child. Eldest siblings or only children wouldn't naturally conceive of sibling relationships in such terms as she writes, I think.
I'm two chapters or so into Witch Week, and I suspect I'm going to find the setting disturbing. (Funny, that. Is it just DWJ or would I find a lot of children's books disturbing, if I first encountered my favorites now?) Reviewers are such wacky people; this is nothing like Harry Potter.
The Magicians of Caprona: I thoroughly enjoyed this. For one, it takes place in Ruritanian Italy. XD Charmed Life also had a whiff of Ghibli Europe about it but this is much more than a whiff; I'm no longer surprised Howl's Moving Castle was turned into a Miyazaki movie even though he did apparently change the plot. I forgive a lot for a picturesque Mediterranean setting in a Canadian January and there's not much here that needs forgiving. A bit of Shakespeare, a bit of Kipling - Romeo and Juliet returned to its original comedic form and grafted as a subplot to a children's political adventure - sort of Sesame Street style in that it takes adult knowledge to appreciate the cleverness, but doesn't detract from the the thing itself. Not at all dark apart from that one moment in the dollhouse with no door (a true-blue horror effect, like the "lives" in Charmed Life). Chrestomanci is very British. Also I kept thinking of Tin's familial anecdotes. XD
My sister read The Lives of Christopher Chant first, then The Magicians of Caprona, and we agreed that DWJ seems as if she must have been a younger or middle child. Eldest siblings or only children wouldn't naturally conceive of sibling relationships in such terms as she writes, I think.
I'm two chapters or so into Witch Week, and I suspect I'm going to find the setting disturbing. (Funny, that. Is it just DWJ or would I find a lot of children's books disturbing, if I first encountered my favorites now?) Reviewers are such wacky people; this is nothing like Harry Potter.
