CASTLE
IN THE AIR: Which is rather full of magic carpets, djinns, and genies
The
story follows Abdullah, a young carpet merchant from Zanzib. One day, a
mysterious man sells him a magic carpet, and this carpet leads him into a
lovely garden. There, he meets and falls in love with the princess Flower-in-the-Night,
only to have her snatched by a djinn. Now, Abdullah sets off to rescue his
love, with nothing but a magic carpet and his wits.
Castle
in the Air is a companion book to Howl’s Moving Castle, and like Howl’s Moving
Castle, it starts off with an elaborate narration about the city the main
character lives in. It’s an effective tool for exposition. It helps the readers
feel -- and perhaps discover -- the complex world Diana Wynne Jones has
created. But doing it the second time, the first time being in Howl’s Moving
Castle, makes it a little off for me. I think she should have used a different
method, like directly mixing exposition with the story progression itself.
Don’t
get any weird ideas. I really like the book, and the thing stated above is the
only part I can consider a flaw. It isn’t even an inherent flaw -- it’s more of
subjective.
I
admit that Diana Wynne Jones’s way of storytelling really impresses me. She has
a way of juggling her plot points and characters that I don’t see on other
writers. Seemingly random scenes, objects, and characters, always turn out to
be important in the long run. And what I really like about them is that they
are hidden quite well.
I’ve
mentioned in my book review of Howl’s Moving Castle that halfway reading that
book, I started giving particular attention to little details, because I
already got the impression that they will play a big role in the end. I did the
same thing in Castle in the Air. I gave particular attention to everything, but
unlike in Howl’s Moving Castle, I was unable to predict which of these details
will turn out to be important.
In this
sense, Diana Wynne Jones continues to surprise me. She gives me this impression
that everything in her story fits together. Scarcely a word is wasted in her
storytelling.
Speaking
of storytelling, Castle in the Air’s does require a little suspension of
disbelief. Abdullah becomes too attached to Flower-in-the-Night rather quickly,
and he has gone to many adventures for someone he barely knows. It’s a rather
understandable plot point however.
The
point I like best is the fact that the magic carpet and the genie are not
utilized for deus ex machina, which always happens when these kinds of powerful
elements are at the disposal of the characters. The limiting of their power has
been reasonable as well, so it doesn’t appear to be forced.
As
for the characters, they are actually very noble when compared to the
characters of Howl’s Moving Castle. Howl’s Moving Castle’s characters have a
lot of flaws in them, and that makes them more interesting. Castle in the Air’s
characters, on the other hand, have very limited flaws, especially the two
characters that support the overall story -- Abdullah and Flower-in-the-Night.
I would have preferred them to have more inner conflicts and such. But overall,
I think the characterization of Castle in the Air is fine. I find the
characters inspired from the Arabian Nights quite interesting.
Overall,
Castle in the Air is a fascinating read. It deserves to be a companion book to
the highly renowned Howl’s Moving Castle. In fact, Castle in the Air is better
than Howl’s Moving Castle in something -- pacing and division of chapters.
If
you find my review lacking because it is based solely on comparisons with Howl’s
Moving Castle, I’m sorry, but I can’t help but compare the two because they are
very similar and very different at the same time. If you think that’s a little
hard to understand, well, me either. But hey, that’s what makes Diana Wynne
Jones stories really fantastic, don’t you think?
Related
posts:
No comments:
Post a Comment