A Mystery to Me

I finally caught Howl's Moving Castle on DVD. If I hadn't read the book, I wouldn't have had a clue what was going on. In fact, by the end of the movie, I didn't have a clue what was going on anyway.

To me the novel was absolutely made by the presence of one great character, Howl. In the movie he was very lackluster. And a little prone to mood swings. He seemed like a pretty regular guy at first, then fell apart because of a bad dye job. His out- there personality appeared earlier in the book and was more evenly sustained.

This movie was very well reviewed and was an Academy Award nominee. (I don't know if it won.) Another example of Gail just not getting it.

Somebody Gets Gail

It pays to ego surf. Though I would have found the April 5 review for one of my books at Reading YA:Readers' Response, anyway, because I often make a quick stop there.

"...Gauthier kind of makes fun of we earnest, non-leather wearing, tofu-eating types." Nah. I love you guys. When I was a college student in Vermont, I thought I was going to be one of you. Then I left the state and look at me now.