Reading: Diana Wynne Jones 'Enchanted Glass'
Every time I think Diana Wynne Jones has stopped writing her best books and is down to just very good YA and kids' fantasy books, she surprises me again.
I remember reading 'Eight Days of Luke' when I was a child and it's stayed with me ever since. I still don't know that she's written anything better, but 'Enchanted Glass' is right up on that sort of level (along with 'Hexwood', 'Fire and Hemlock', 'Howl's Moving Castle', and so many others).
Jones is almost always playing 'spot the literary/mythological/folklore references', which is a game I love even when that's all there is in a book, but this one also has a wonderful sense of place, of family history (including the fact that we never really know everything about anyone -- not our parents, not our other relatives, and not even ourselves, really), and of character and the way different people react to each other differently. I particularly like the way the different characters show different sides of themselves depending whom they're dealing with.
The plot is very satisfying, with enough twists and turns to be interesting, enough loose ends wrapped up to feel finished and complete, and enough foreshadowing to keep me interested in what's going to happen. I love the twist in the epilogue.
I must buy this as soon as I can, so I can give this copy back but still read it over and over again.
I remember reading 'Eight Days of Luke' when I was a child and it's stayed with me ever since. I still don't know that she's written anything better, but 'Enchanted Glass' is right up on that sort of level (along with 'Hexwood', 'Fire and Hemlock', 'Howl's Moving Castle', and so many others).
Jones is almost always playing 'spot the literary/mythological/folklore references', which is a game I love even when that's all there is in a book, but this one also has a wonderful sense of place, of family history (including the fact that we never really know everything about anyone -- not our parents, not our other relatives, and not even ourselves, really), and of character and the way different people react to each other differently. I particularly like the way the different characters show different sides of themselves depending whom they're dealing with.
The plot is very satisfying, with enough twists and turns to be interesting, enough loose ends wrapped up to feel finished and complete, and enough foreshadowing to keep me interested in what's going to happen. I love the twist in the epilogue.
I must buy this as soon as I can, so I can give this copy back but still read it over and over again.