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Nov. 14th, 2011 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsIf anyone ever asks me what my favorite Diana Wynne Jones novel is -- well, actually, the thing is that nobody ever would ask me that because they know very well it would set off an eternal round of "the Dalemark books are so excellent as a whole -- no wait maybe Hexwood, it is just so hilariously weird! -- but Howl's Moving Castle is a book nobody could dislike, so --" and eventually end in Out of Cheese Error, Reboot From Start. BUT if I was forced at gunpoint to pick a top five, The Homeward Bounders would definitely be in there floating around near the top.
The thing is I just think -- setting aside all personal preferences and cool bits -- it's one of the best books that she ever wrote. For one thing, unlike with many DWJs, the premise is simple enough to be summed up in a sentence: twelve-year-old Jamie Hamilton stumbles upon Beings Of Terrible Power playing games with the world and promptly gets kicked out to wander the multiverse until he can find his way back Home. For another thing, again unlike with many DWJ's, it has an ending that's actually an ending, and it's a killer one.
And for yet a third thing, it has Helen Haras-uquara, PROPHESIED SAVIOUR OF HER WORLD, POSSESSOR OF THE MAGIC DEMON ARM, and the most badass and least socially competent teenaged caterpillar collector in the multiverse; and it has Joris, who is polite and helpful and the best boy scout demon hunter ever, and who is full of simmering anger about being a slave; and it has Konstam Khan, who is ten feet tall (sort of) and strong and brave and handsome and totally blind to his own privilege; and Adam, who is an admirable and terrible person in the way that cool-headed, clever children are admirable and terrible; and Vanessa, who lets everyone cry on her shoulder but forgets basic kindness towards her family; and Jamie himself, who is funny and resilient and callous and a smarmy little brat and a survivor, and an amazingly unreliable narrator, and who breaks my heart every single time.
And every time I read the book I love them all more, and then I have to find someone else to make read it so I have an excuse to babble about it all over again.innerbrat fell on the bullet after this particular reread, but watch out; YOU MAY BE NEXT.
The thing is I just think -- setting aside all personal preferences and cool bits -- it's one of the best books that she ever wrote. For one thing, unlike with many DWJs, the premise is simple enough to be summed up in a sentence: twelve-year-old Jamie Hamilton stumbles upon Beings Of Terrible Power playing games with the world and promptly gets kicked out to wander the multiverse until he can find his way back Home. For another thing, again unlike with many DWJ's, it has an ending that's actually an ending, and it's a killer one.
And for yet a third thing, it has Helen Haras-uquara, PROPHESIED SAVIOUR OF HER WORLD, POSSESSOR OF THE MAGIC DEMON ARM, and the most badass and least socially competent teenaged caterpillar collector in the multiverse; and it has Joris, who is polite and helpful and the best boy scout demon hunter ever, and who is full of simmering anger about being a slave; and it has Konstam Khan, who is ten feet tall (sort of) and strong and brave and handsome and totally blind to his own privilege; and Adam, who is an admirable and terrible person in the way that cool-headed, clever children are admirable and terrible; and Vanessa, who lets everyone cry on her shoulder but forgets basic kindness towards her family; and Jamie himself, who is funny and resilient and callous and a smarmy little brat and a survivor, and an amazingly unreliable narrator, and who breaks my heart every single time.
And every time I read the book I love them all more, and then I have to find someone else to make read it so I have an excuse to babble about it all over again.
innerbrat fell on the bullet after this particular reread, but watch out; YOU MAY BE NEXT.
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Date: 2011-11-14 09:54 pm (UTC)And oh, Joris! I actually forgot about Joris until you mentioned him, but I loved him so much that I still say the phrase "Oh, as to that..." all the time. And Konstam! And Adam! And... oh, crap, I think I may have to go read this again. Except for the last page. :P
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Date: 2011-11-14 10:07 pm (UTC)Joris! <33 He is such a sweetheart, everybody should give him a hug. (And possibly some therapy.) Every time I read the book I get more impressed with what a good idea you get of the characters through Jamie's unreliable narration. I love that moment when Joris shouts "I HATE BEING A SLAVE" and Jamie is just like "uh, how long have you hated it for, like five seconds?" because of how clear it makes it that oh, Jamie, you just DO NOT GET IT.
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