imagines

[unlocked, in case you feel like reccing her work with it]

I'm not sure how to say this without it sounding very blunt: you've probably heard, if you read fantasy novels, but Diana Wynne Jones died yesterday.

Neil Gaiman wrote a lovely post about DWJ. I never noticed that Hexwood (one of my favorites) was dedicated to Gaiman. Bless. I also love that she and Gaiman have approximately the same hair in that photo. More bless.

The post got me thinking. (As well as crying. When people who have touched me have to leave forever, I cry.) I don't know if I have as much to say as he does, or if what I can say is as meaningful, but I wanted to say it.

It's because of kohl_eyed that I started reading DWJ's books (for which I will be forever grateful), and it's DWJ's fault that I admitted I love sci-fi, and also DWJ's fault that I learned you CAN mix witches and spacecraft and have it be amazing. DWJ is firmly on the list of authors who made me say, "Wait, you're allowed to do that?!" I believe that if you're a writer, it is absolutely necessary to realize you are allowed to write any and all stories that want to be told. If that's witches and spacecraft, then god damn, you go for it.

DWJ, along with Madeleine L'Engle (who is sadly also not here anymore), also taught me that women can be badass authors and badass protagonists. These two fantastic women wrote about girls who--yes--fell in love with boys, but A Wrinkle in Time and Howl's Moving Castle are not only about romance, because other things matter to these protagonists. Like having incredible adventures. And saving your family. And saving yourself. And believing in magic. And learning about the universe. And turning the average everyday fairytale on its head.

I'm fairly certain that my first brush with DWJ was through the movie Howl's Moving Castle. I loved and still love that movie, and when I realized that it was actually a book, I'm sure I threw my hands up in glee. So I read the book, and it was delightful.

Others of her books that I highly recommend are as follows:

• If you'd like to start with a taste of short stories (although it's more of a meal, at ~500 pages), there's her anthology called Unexpected Magic.

• If you're intrigued by the idea of witches and spacecraft, then A Sudden Wild Magic is for you. It's been a few years since I read it, but I seem to recall trying to decide if I liked ASWM or HMC better, and I was having serious trouble deciding.

• If you'd prefer something a little more serious, she wrote The Time of the Ghost, which I have a hard time describing without utterly spoiling. But here's an attempt: it is about memory loss, time travel, death, domestic violence, solving mysteries, identity, and (despite the ghostly protagonist) real life. I remember it also made me laugh a lot, which is quite a trick when handling the issues I listed, but DWJ was magic and could do that.

• The Homeward Bounders is NOT to be confused with Homeward Bound, for the record. The latter is about two dogs and a cat, and I liked it only when I was six or so. The former is about Them, who are playing a game with human lives. It is also about a boy named Jamie, who just wants to go home but is trapped playing his own (quite dangerous) game of choice and chance.

• Hexwood will hurt your brain. Badly. But if you love mixed-up timelines, non-linear narratives, and people actually being other people EXCEPT WHEN THEY'RE NOT--which I do--then this book is for you. You will lose track of what's going on. You're supposed to. DWJ wants you to. By the end of it, I felt I was entirely at her mercy, which was when she hit me over the head with the ending.

I have not read the Chrestomanci series, for which kohl_eyed might kill me in my sleep, but I hope to remedy this someday soon. I hear they are crazy good.

All of the above is to say that if you haven't read DWJ's books--or if you've only read a few (as I have)--then you should assuredly, definitely, without an inkling of a doubt, read them. Even if you don't like fantasy, because I don't think she was capable of writing "normal" fantasy. Even if you don't like sci-fi, because at one time, neither did I, and I still thought A Sudden Wild Magic was totally fabulous. Even if you've never heard of her, because no, she's not as famous as Neil Gaiman and Douglas Adams and so many other boys, but she damn well should be.

I just read the most incredible book: The Arrival by Shaun Tan. It's a wordless book, the story told entirely in pictures, and it's beautiful. I took forever to get through it because I had to stop and examine all the stunning little details. If Doctor Seuss and Dali did historical fiction, this is what it would look like. If you want to experience the slow realisation what the book is actually about, do not read the back of the book and do not click the cut.

( Spoilers! )
Don't think of this as a children's book just because it has no words. Any age could definitely appreciate it, though it was in the YA section at my library. I would recommend this to absolutely anyone. I gave it to my mom to read, and after she does I'm going to show it to my two-year-old nephew, and of course I'm telling you all because you have to see this, it floored me. God, I love it when a book makes me feel this good. I need to buy a copy for myself, and do you realise how rarely I buy actual books? Usually I am happy with reading a book once, then giving it back to the library (unless it's Harry Potter or Stephanie Meyer, in which case I am MINE NOW!! about it), but sometimes there are books that grab me and I absolutely need to own them when that happens. I want to put this book in my tea exactly like Pete Wentz wants a certain album in his tea.