I also have to wonder just what exactly broke the spell on Sophie. The death of the Fire Demon? Although her hair apparently was back to normal just before that... I don't know. Howl implies that the spell is at least partly her own, but I'm wondering why it'd drop just right then.
Yes indeed! Having finished up, what I really wanted to ask you all was, OK, when did the spell break on Sophie? The movie version of this goes along well with the "it's partly hers" theory from the book, with her becoming uncursed (disenchanted?) when she was too busy to remember how old she was, and then reverting back once the action slowed down again. But, I didn't get a sense of her hair changing colors anywhere except the end, or her joints getting (much) better in the middle, etc. Given how much other story elements are telegraphed a mile away, I lean towards thinking that curse broke when the Witch died.
BTW, some of those goes back to the very first chapters, where we were surprised by her complacency in adjusting to the curse, and then we thought, "Well, maybe it was partly shock-induced after all". I'm back to thinking that she was partly responsible for the curse, and thus didn't mind it so much. After all, she goes on & on about how she's the eldest, right? It's not just eldest daughter, she's eldest, period, apparently.
I did like the reveal that Howl knew she was cursed, and was secretly taking her around to places to second opinons on how to cure her. =)
My main problem with the book would probably be the pacing at the end. The speed and ease with which Howl defeats the Witch (although granted I guess the Fire Demon is actually supposed to be the real "big bad," and the swiftness and neatness with which all the plot threads are wrapped up and tidied away at the end.
Yeah. Holy plot wrap-up, Batman! Zoom and we're done. I definitely would've liked some more book there.
Speaking of more book... While looking to see if other people complained about the pace of the ending (they do), I learned something. I knew that _Castle in the Air_ was a sequel to the book, but apparently there's another sequel to that, _House of Many Ways_, published in 2008!
Yes indeed! Having finished up, what I really wanted to ask you all was, OK, when did the spell break on Sophie? The movie version of this goes along well with the "it's partly hers" theory from the book, with her becoming uncursed (disenchanted?) when she was too busy to remember how old she was, and then reverting back once the action slowed down again. But, I didn't get a sense of her hair changing colors anywhere except the end, or her joints getting (much) better in the middle, etc. Given how much other story elements are telegraphed a mile away, I lean towards thinking that curse broke when the Witch died.
BTW, some of those goes back to the very first chapters, where we were surprised by her complacency in adjusting to the curse, and then we thought, "Well, maybe it was partly shock-induced after all". I'm back to thinking that she was partly responsible for the curse, and thus didn't mind it so much. After all, she goes on & on about how she's the eldest, right? It's not just eldest daughter, she's eldest, period, apparently.
I did like the reveal that Howl knew she was cursed, and was secretly taking her around to places to second opinons on how to cure her. =)
My main problem with the book would probably be the pacing at the end. The speed and ease with which Howl defeats the Witch (although granted I guess the Fire Demon is actually supposed to be the real "big bad," and the swiftness and neatness with which all the plot threads are wrapped up and tidied away at the end.
Yeah. Holy plot wrap-up, Batman! Zoom and we're done. I definitely would've liked some more book there.
Speaking of more book... While looking to see if other people complained about the pace of the ending (they do), I learned something. I knew that _Castle in the Air_ was a sequel to the book, but apparently there's another sequel to that, _House of Many Ways_, published in 2008!
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