Diana Wynne Jones
Hardcover | Pages: 332 pages Rating: 3.87 | 5383 Users | 623 Reviews
Particularize Books As Enchanted Glass
| Original Title: | Enchanted Glass |
| ISBN: | 0007320787 (ISBN13: 9780007320783) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Andrew, Jocelyn Brandon Hope, Aidan Cain, Mr Brown, Stashe, Mrs Stock, Andrew Hope |
| Setting: | Melstone,2010(United Kingdom) |
| Literary Awards: | Locus Award Nominee for Best Young Adult Book (2011), Carnegie Medal Nominee (2011) |
Description During Books Enchanted Glass
One thing I've always liked about Diana Wynne Jones' books for children is that she makes no artificial barrier between adults and children; they're all people. So rather than have the grownups dismiss or disbelieve the children's real concerns for no apparent reason other than that they're grownups, in her books parental and other adult figures listen, understand, and get stuck in to the magic. In Enchanted Glass, Diana Wynne Jones takes this a stage further: even though the book is obviously aimed at children and young teenagers, the main protagonist is an adult in his thirties — and a real adult at that, not just an older person with a childish personality. I found the switching of viewpoints between him and the twelve-year-old secondary protagonist a good way of showing that there is no real difference between people of different ages, just different personalities.In this book, Diana Wynne Jones takes a lot of themes she's touched upon in previous stories, reworking them and improving them in new ways. Melstone House has a very similar atmosphere to Chrstomanci Castle, with Andrew Hope as a more believeable and rather more interesting Chrestomanci reminiscent of a more sympathetic Rupert Venables from Deep Secret. There's a lot about names, their power and variation (think Eight Days of Luke); some clannish villagers, some wise, some annoying (like The Pinhoe Egg); and references to greater powers (Black Maria or, better, Power of Three). And I've always loved the way she depicts the working of magic: natural, powerful, and almost instinctive to the practitioner, not at all mechanical the way Harry Potter magic can be.
There's a well-constructed plot, with a nice little — not so much a twist as a flourish— at the end, but this takes second place to the enjoyable character interactions and atmosphere. This was a nice gentle change for me from plot-driven books where bad thing after bad thing happens and only begins to start coming right near the end. I particularly liked her handling of Andrew and his half-forgotten memories of his grandfather, subtly hinting — but never explicitly saying — that his grandfather had made sure the memories would resurface as they were needed.
I have a suspicion that in writing this book towards the end of her life, Diana Wynne Jones is deliberately looking back over her career and picking out some of her favourite ideas and giving them a work over. And I think she succeeds: it was certainly good enough for me to read it twice in quick succession, just because it was such an enjoyable world to be in, with such nice people to get to know.
Define Out Of Books Enchanted Glass
| Title | : | Enchanted Glass |
| Author | : | Diana Wynne Jones |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 332 pages |
| Published | : | April 6th 2010 by HarperCollins Children's Books (first published January 1st 2010) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Young Adult. Fiction. Childrens. Middle Grade. Magic |
Rating Out Of Books Enchanted Glass
Ratings: 3.87 From 5383 Users | 623 ReviewsCrit Out Of Books Enchanted Glass
When Andrew's grandfather Jocelyn Brandon Hope dies, Andrew Hope inherits Melstone House and land. However, all is not what it seems -- Jocelyn Hope was in fact a magician and the surrounding land is deemed a 'field of care', meaning that Andrew has to 'beat the bounds' in order to retain its magical power. Andrew's childhood fondness for Melstone House now becomes complicated by its infusion with magic, especially the strangely coloured glass on an inside door and a counterpart he discovers inThis was an enchanting story, full of magic. I dont usually read childrens books, and I never read Diana Wynne Jones before although I watched and liked the Manga version of her novel, Howl's Moving Castle. This book I fell in love with. I enjoyed it tremendously and Im definitely going to read more of this writer. Much more.This particular tale is a quiet one. There are two protagonists: Andrew, an adult, and Aidan, a child. Andrews grandfather, the magician, died, and left Andrew a legacy:
I love DWJ and would rather have a new book from her than almost any other children's author I can think of, and I had a lot of fun reading this one: neat magic, excellent characters, very funny. That said, though, I did think it was rather derivative of a couple of her other recent books (The Pinhoe Egg and House of Many Ways came to mind a lot), so I wouldn't put it with her top-rank books.
One thing I've always liked about Diana Wynne Jones' books for children is that she makes no artificial barrier between adults and children; they're all people. So rather than have the grownups dismiss or disbelieve the children's real concerns for no apparent reason other than that they're grownups, in her books parental and other adult figures listen, understand, and get stuck in to the magic. In Enchanted Glass, Diana Wynne Jones takes this a stage further: even though the book is obviously
I've followed DWJ's books for a loooong time - I can't say with authority that I've read all of them, but I've certainly read most, at one time or another. My husband grabbed this for me when he saw it at the library. It's engaging and well-constructed, with likeable characters, as usual... but there are a couple of things about it that really kind of bother me. First, within the first two chapters, we have three dead mothers and a dead grandmother in the backgrounds of the various main
I think I might be in love... I gulped this book down marveling all the while how can a story so magical be so casual, so matter of fact about it? The mythical characters strolling nonchalantly into the story, the ancient magic radiating from everything in sight brought with them only the surprised remembrance, as if like Andrew I had simply forgotten about it all and now that I have remembered again nothing could be more natural.It's one of those books that make me bemoan the fact that I did
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