In Which There is a Moving Castle (WARNING - SPOILERS)

I love Diana Wynne Jones' books. I have done for years and years, since I first met Christopher Chant in Wells library. I hunted down all of her books which I could find, (many 2nd hand) and  later, buying then new, as they were published. I had the pleasure of meeting her once, at the Bath Festival of Children's Literature, and she sent me a lovely, personal reply when I wrote her a fan letter.

So I was excited and nervous in equal measure when I found out that there was to be a stage adaptation of 'Howl's Moving Castle', one of DWJ's YA books.

(Picture from theatre website - southwarkplayhouse.co.uk )

I have a very soft spot for Howl, and for Sophie, and so while I was excited to see how the story would work on stage, I was also afraid that it would be spoiled, or that whoever played Howl might be un-Howl-like...

But I decided that I would have to see it for myself, and judge, so I got in contact with my theatre-going, retired librarian cousin, and booked tickets for the production, at the Southwark Playhouse. And that is where I went, yesterday.

The play was in the Vault, at the playhouse, which is a very small space, under the railway arch near London Bridge station.


Good start: The set consisted of a couple of burning torches, and then, in the stage area, a large castle, like a paper cut out. There was very little in the way of props - all of the rest of the set and scenery was done by way of lighting and projections, so when the Castle was moving, we had a panorama of mountains, at other times, the streets of Market Chipping, fantastical bare trees with living branches for the Witch's domain, and moving light for Calcifer. When Howl went to fight the Witch, the castle had (projected) propellers, and Howl's silhouette was projected - All the 'son et lumiere' parts of the production were excellent.

The play itself is but a shadow of the novel. There are only 3 actors (plus a recorded narration from Stephen Fry, and the voice of Calcifer) - Howl (Daniel Ings), Old Sophie (Susan Sheridan) and Young Sophie/Witch of the Waste (Kristen McGuire) and play lasts for less than 90 minutes, so the story has, inevitably and of necessity, been hugely cut and simplified.

I rather enjoyed Howl. He had more or less the right combination of cleverness and vanity, although I didn't feel his underlying goodness came through. I felt (old) Sophie came across well - determined, and more than a match for Howl,  but the Witch of the Waste was simply a pantomime villain - you expected her to start sending for her flying monkeys at any moment, which was a bit disappointing.

Over all, I felt that the play had tried for the feel of DWJs work, and had succeeded, up to a point, but only up to a point.For me, too much of the plot, and as a result, too many of the things which make the book so good, had gone.

I enjoyed it, but I felt that it had lost a lot in the adaptation. I still love the book best. So, if you have the opportunity, do see it. It's fun, and much more interesting than your average chirstmas pantomime, but it's not DWJ's story.

In Which There Is Science Fiction, Religion And Theatre (Part 1)

The reason I was rushing around like a mad thing to catch a train on Friday was in order to travel up to London to visit my cousin J & his partner and to go to the theatre. The origianl plan also involved meeting up with more family mambers for a meal, but due to their ill-health that fell through, but the silver lining was that it left more time for visiting museums.

First port of call was the Bristish Library, to see their Out of this World exhibition about Science Fiction. When we got to the library we realised that there was also a mini exhibition about Mervyn Peake, which was a bonus!

The Science Fiction exhibition was very good, starting with the ancient Greeks, and moving on to Sir Thomas More, Bishop Godwin and Voltaire, and of course many more modern writers, and ones more likely to be thought of as SciFi writers.

I like seeing books I know and love and own being displayed and taken seriously in the British Library.

I particularly liked finding the Discworld Mappe displayed alongside the Bronte sisters' maps of "Gondal", and coming upon Diana Wynne Jones' Deep Secret  (although not the edition with the Charles Vess cover|), and finding The Absolute Sandman (open to the start of 'Season of Mists') rubbing shoulders with Lord Dunsany and George MacDonald Fraser and H.P. Lovecraft. Then of course there was Frankenstein, The Handmaiden's Tale, 1984, Children of Men, The City and The City, FlatLand .....

The majority of the exhibition was, inevitably, of books, but there were also some sculptures - a wonderful (War of the Worlds) Martian Tripod, the TARDIS, and an awesome miniture steampunk K9, plus various film and audio snippets, computers set up for chat (to see whether they could pass the Turing test) and selections of music to listen to.  Sadly you aren't allowed to take pictures in the exhibition.

I was expecting to enjoy the exhibition. My cousin J, who I think was mostly there in his capacity as a Good Host (he's not into SciFi) came out saying how interesting it was, which I think counts as a win on both counts.  Well worth a visit!

Then, (after a brief pause for tea) we went on to the British Museum, to see the Treasures of Heaven exhibition, which is all about saints, and relics, and reliquaries. I found it interesting that the exhibit starts with a little background, with an Etruscan (and so of course very much pre-Christian)sarcophagus showing an 'angel', to illustrate that the images we associate with angels go back well before chritianity, and also some Roman glass - one showing a couple with a figure of Mercury being asked to prtect them, and a second, almost identical one, with a figure of Christ, but otherwise indistinguishable.

The majority of the exhibits however were reliquaries from the medieval period, most of them showing amazing craftsmanship (if also considerable credulity!). I particularly liked the Franks Casket (which is an amazingly detailed box made from carved whalebone, with runes and images of pagan myths., as well as saints) and also a reliquary for the arm of St George (who would appear to have had fairly short arms, if it is to be believed), which was topped with a delightful little silver-gilt dragon.

I have decided that I thoroughly approve of St. Hedwig of Silesia, who not only had a very cool name, but also had the enviable gift of turning the water in any beaker from which she drank into wine. She must have been a popular party guest.

I learned some things I didn't previously know. In particular, did you know that after the 2nd Nicean Council (in the 8th Century) you weren't allowed to consecrate a church & alter unless you had a relic to go with it? (and that relics used to be kept under the alter, with a hole to allow pilgrims to dangle bits of cloth down to soak up the holiness).

And did you know that King Charles II was made into a saint (the only one ever created by the church of England) after the Restoration? A more unlikely candidate for sainthood it would be difficult to imagine, and either Queen Victoria or her ministers apparently thought the same, as she rescinded his Sainthood.

The exhibition finishes with a short film showing images of devotion - including not only events such as Mother Teresa's funeral, and worshippers venerating St Theresa of Liseux when her coffin went on tour a few years ago, but also images of the queues to visit Lenin's tomb, Mikhail Gorbachev visiting the British Museum Reading Room to see the desk used by Karl Marx, The flowers left outside Buckingham Palace after Princess Diana's death, and Elvis's grave at Graceland.

Both exhibitions are well worth visiting, should you find yourself in London.

Diana Wynne Jones

I woke up on Saturday morning to learn that Diana Wynne Jones had died.

I only ever met Diana once, when she appeared at the Bath Festival of Children's Literature in 2008, but she has been one of my favourite writers for over 20 years, and knowing ahe has gone leaves a little hole in my heart.

I remember when I first found her work. It was in 1988, and I came across 'The Lives of Christopher Chant' in my local library, and fell in love.

In the years that followed, I searched out everything she wrote. It wasn't always easy, as many of the books were out of print - it gave me a sense of triumph when I managed to track one down, but always mingled with baffled anger at the fact that these wonderful stories had been allowed to go out of print.

A few years ago I wrote to Diana, via her publisher, to tell her how much joy her work had given me, how much I loved the variety, and how much certain books had meant me. I was surprised and delighted to get a lovely, warm, personal letter back.

I was encouraged to attend my first Con by reading 'Deep Secret', which left me feeling that a con might be the kind of place I'd fit in (Although I have never, yet, met a centaur at one)

I know we have all known for some time that Diana was very ill, but hearing of her death still came as a shock.

I am so glad that she did get to see her books come back into print, and to see the 'Howl's Moving Castle'. I mourn the fact that she had to endure a horrible illness, that she had to go when she still had new, fresh stories unwritten.
My deepest sympathies are for her family and her friends, and I do hope that they will, now or soon, take some comfort from seeing how much she was loved and valued by so many of us who knew her only through her books.

I shall be re-reading my favorites this week.

Thank you again, Diana. Rest in Peace.

Some Book Reviews

So, the blog has been very heavy on music and theatre recently, so I've decided to do a post about some of the books I've been reading recently, and what I thought of them. All titles are links to the relevent amazon page, in case you get a sudden urge to go shopping!

'Stories' Neil Gaiman & Al Sarrantonio

I was fairly confident I'd find stories I'd like here - partly because I knew Neil Gaiman and Diana Wynne Jones are two of the contributors, and they are 2 of my favourite writers, but also because I trusted Neil in picking writers and stories (Not to say I couldn't also trust Al Sarrantonio, but I am not familiar with his work)

Inevitably there were some stories which I liked better than others, but there weren't any which I disliked, or felt I had wasted my time by reading, although I am sure that there are some I will re-read less frequently than others.

The stories in the collection are not limited to a single genre or theme, which adds a sense of adventure when dipping into the book - you never know what you are going to get!

I was not expecting to find Joanne Harris writing about fading gods hunting one another through modern New York, or Roddy Doyle a darkly funny story about vampires, for instance, whereas Michael Marshall Smith's dark assassination tale is perhaps more what I might have expected from him. Both were very good, and are stores I will undoubtable re-read in the future. Neil Gaiman's own 'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains' is a very bleak tale of Jacobites, treasure and revenge, and Laurence Block's 'Catch and release' and Richard Adams' 'The Knife' are both chilling. Bycontrast, Diana Wynne Jones' Samantha's Diary is very funny, and will definitely be re-read at the appropriate time of year. The collection is heavy on the darker side, and has certainly made me interested in exploring further the works of some of the contributers.

'Troubadour' Mary Hoffman

Mary Hoffman is primarily known as a writer for young adults, I particularly enjoy her 'Stravaganza' series. This book was also only the YA shelves at my local library; It is a historical novel, with the protagonist being a young noblewoman, Elinor, living in the Langue D'Oc region of Medieval France, and living through the Cathar pogroms and crusade in the early 13th Century.

I found the book interesting - I knew next to nothing about the Cathars or the way they were treated, and the story provides that information, and whetted my appetite to learn more, but I was less gripped by it as a story - I never really felt I got to a point where I cared deeply about the characters, and did have several 'yes, but ' moments - would a group of troubadours really be willing to help their patron's daughter to run away from home? And would such a girl have been quite so shocked by the thought of being married off to a man chosen by her father?

All that said, I did enjoy the book, but I don't think I shall be rushing out to buy my own copy.

Perhaps unfairly, I think I would probably have rated the book more highly had it been written by someone else, so I wasn't comparing it to other books Mary Hoffman has written, but I have very high expectations of her which this book didn't quite meet.

'Between the Woods and the Water' Patrick Leigh Fermor

This is the second part of Leigh Fermor's autobiography charting his travels, as a young man, from England to Constantinople (the first part being 'A Time of Gifts', which is well worth reading, and which you should probably read first, in order to follow the journey in order) In 1933, having left school and finding himself at something of a loose end, Leigh Fermor set out to travel, on foot, to Constantinople. Between the Woods and the Water covers the section of the journey from the Danube to the Iron Gates (Ada Kalah, in Romania)

It is absolutely fascinating, as travel writing but also as anthropology. Leigh Fermor made most of the journey on foot and mixed with peasants, gypsies and down-and-outs, but also, through a series of friends-of-friends and introductions with various members of the nobility and gentry - so he found himself sleeping with gypsies one day, then playing bicycle polo with archdukes the next. The writing is beautiful, and the books give a fascinating insight into the period, as well. Leigh Fermor is clearly very erudite and well read, which means when reading I spent a lot of time making notes of various reference to go & look up later. He rather endearingly assumes that his readers are just as familir with classical allusions, and just as able to read Greek or Latin, so (in the edition I was reading, at least) there are no footnotes, and no translations of classical quotations. Don't, however, let this put you off. If stopping to look up quotations part way through a book isn't your thing, you can skip the Greek and just enjoy the writing!

Highly recommended!

Bluestockings Jane Robinson

I picked this up on impulse, and found it very interesting - it is a study of women's education, primarily focusing on women's access to, and involvment in university education in England, at the end of the 19th and start of the 20th Century, bilding largely on diaries, college records and personal memories. This makes for an interesting read, but does mean that it is difficult at times to determine which experiences are unique to one person, and which are examples of a more general experience.

Similarly, although very readable, it is occasionally unclear when the author has skipped from 1870 to 1920 or 1930! It's certainly an interesting, and very readable introduction to this area of social history, and also a salutory reminder of how far we've come.