Celebrate Diana Wynne Jones!

"To take the most obvious first: I found myself thinking as I wrote, “These poor adults are never..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:02:41 -0400

“

To take the most obvious first: I found myself thinking as I wrote, “These poor adults are never going to understand this; I must explain it to them twice more and then remind them again later in different terms.” Now this is something I never have to think when I write for younger readers. Children are used to making an effort to understand. They are asked for this effort every hour of every school day, and though they may not make the effort willingly, they at least expect it. In addition, nearly everyone between the ages of nine and fifteen is amazingly good at solving puzzles and following complicated plots - this being the happy results of many hours spent at computer games and watching television. I can rely on this. I can make my plots for them as complex as I please, and yet I know I never have to explain them more than once (or twice at the very most). And here I was, writing for people of fifteen and over, assuming that the people who read, say, Fire and Hemlock last year have now given up using their brains.

This is back-to-front to what one usually assumes, if one only looks on the surface, but I found it went much deeper than that. At first I thought it was my own assumption, based on personal experiences. Once when I was doing a signing, a mother came in with her nine-year-old son and berated me for making The Homeward Bounders so difficult. So I turned to the boy to ask him what he didn’t understand. “Oh, don’t listen to her,” he said. “I understood everything. It was just her that didn’t.” It was clear to both of us that his poor mother had given up using her brain when she read. Likewise, a schoolmaster who was supposed to be interviewing me for a magazine explained to me that he had tried to read Charmed Life and couldn’t understand a word, which meant, he said, that it was much too difficult for children. So he didn’t interview me. He was making the surface assumption that children need things easy. But since I have never come across a child that didn’t understand Charmed Life, it occurred to me that he was making the assumption about himself. But it was a hidden one, and when I came to write for adults, I realized that it was something all adults assumed. I grew tender of their brains and kept explaining.

This makes an absurd situation. Here we have books for children, which a host of adults dismiss as puerile, overeasy, and are no such thing; and there we have books for adults, who might be supposed to need something more advanced and difficult, which we have to write as if the readers were simpleminded.

”

- Diana Wynne Jones, “Two Kinds of Writing?” (via delirious-bitter-gardens)

spring snow: It dawned on me that tennis stars were perfect models of heroes – all...

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:02:45 -0400

spring snow: It dawned on me that tennis stars were perfect models of heroes – all...:

It dawned on me that tennis stars were perfect models of heroes – all kinds of heroes – folk tale, myth, comicbook, and above all modern fantasy. And I found myself attending closely and thinking very hard indeed.

For a start, they all had that larger-than-life quality. They stood out among…

cricketforchris: Chrestomanci in one of his dressing gowns. And...

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:02:39 -0400

cricketforchris:

Chrestomanci in one of his dressing gowns. And yes, I did post an earlier version of this drawing in the beginning of my tumblr career but this one is (if I may say so) greatly improved! :)

thebooker: Books more people should read» A Tale of Time City...

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:02:27 -0400

thebooker:

Books more people should read
» A Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones «

{GOODREADS}

Time City - built far in the future on a patch of space outside time - holds the formidable task of overseeing history, yet it’s starting to decay, crumble …. What does that say for the future of the world … for the past … for the present? Two Time City boys, determined to save it all, think they have the answer in Vivian Smith, a young Twenty Century girl whom they pluck from a British train station at the start of World War II. But not only have they broken every rule in the book by traveling back in time - they have the wrong person! Unable to return safely, Vivian’s only choice is to help the boys restore Time City or risk being stuck outside time forever.

Recommended by likealittlechild

Click here to read more about the underrated book project

You Can Never Have Too Many Books: Diana Wynne Jones

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:02:42 -0400

You Can Never Have Too Many Books: Diana Wynne Jones:

“Diana Wynne Jones is that kind of writer, some one who makes her characters real, and the family situations are always funny and very realistic, and the magic is of the kind that everyone wishes they had when they are young.”

Author You Should be Reading: DIANA WYNNE JONES - Please Don't Read This Book

Fri, 03 May 2013 12:02:28 -0400

Author You Should be Reading: DIANA WYNNE JONES - Please Don't Read This Book:

Diana Wynne Jones Now this edition of Author You Should Be Reading is as much for myself as it is for you, dear reader. This is because, though I’ve read and re-read and re-read HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (read our review here), THE GAME, and FIRE AND HEMLOCK, I have yet to delve into her other books! Of which there are 40! So may this edition of AYSBR serve as a reminder to all of us to get our butts in gear! First, a bit on Diana Wynne Jones, plucked from her website: Diana Wynne Jones was born in London, where…

fuckyeahbookhowl: Various cover art for Howl’s Moving...

Wed, 01 May 2013 12:02:46 -0400

fuckyeahbookhowl:

Various cover art for Howl’s Moving Castle.

(Very impressive.)

"Sophie reads to me quite often. I like the kind of story with puzzles in, where you have to guess..."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:02:38 -0400

“Sophie reads to me quite often. I like the kind of story with puzzles in, where you have to guess who did the murder. Have you any of those in here?”

- Calcifer, House of Many Ways (via relatedworlds)

bluewillow-redleaves: Howl’s Moving Castle Book 3 : House...

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:02:41 -0400

bluewillow-redleaves:

Howl’s Moving Castle Book 3 : House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

Japanese Book Cover

Illustration by Miho Satake

Cressida Cowell: My favourite children's books - Telegraph

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:02:21 -0400

Cressida Cowell: My favourite children's books - Telegraph:

Cressida Cowell on books to make children laugh out loud, cry on the pages and want to be a hero.

Three guesses who one of her favorite authors might be, and the first two do not count.

drownedinblissfulconfusion: Just finished my third re-read of...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:02:54 -0400

drownedinblissfulconfusion:

Just finished my third re-read of Diana Wynne Jones’ Hexwood. After copious notes, and much skipping back to refer to my bookmarks, i think i finally understood all of it this time! Next stop: Fire and Hemlock for a fifth read!

Oh, I can relate to this! — sdn

obscurefanart: “The latchet of whose skate you are unworthy to...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:02:54 -0400

obscurefanart:

“The latchet of whose skate you are unworthy to unloose!”

A scene from Everard’s Rider by Diana Wynne Jones. LOVED this novella.

haylznoel: The three books I just ordered, all by one of my...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:03:41 -0400

haylznoel:

The three books I just ordered, all by one of my favorite authors, the late and great Diana Wynne Jones.

And Firebird (and I) thank you. — sdn

etirabys: I feel rather guilty posting this as fanart, seeing...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:02:17 -0400

etirabys:

I feel rather guilty posting this as fanart, seeing that I just copied out a photo and made alterations to it to fit the character I had in mind- it’s a bit like photomanip, except without the… the technical part that I suck at. Anyway, this is Tacroy, based on this photo of Riz Ahmed- not quite right, because Tacroy is supposed to be round-faced and Riz Ahmed has a relatively skinny face. (But he had a sort of look to him that was reminiscent of the Tacroy in my head!) First one is the photo of the drawing irl, second one is the digital drawing based off the first. c:

Bookshelf: Earwig and the Witch

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:02:24 -0400

Bookshelf: Earwig and the Witch:

“Earwig’s dilemma rivals that of the young boy in Roald Dahl’s The Witches.”

http://tuulenhaiven.com/2013/03/25/diana-wynne-jones-and-her-amazing-striped-tights/

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:02:25 -0400

http://tuulenhaiven.com/2013/03/25/diana-wynne-jones-and-her-amazing-striped-tights/:

A wonderful collage picture of DWJ based upon this photo.

The Pretty Good Gatsby: On Recommending DWJ and Being a Howl Newbie

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:02:26 -0400

The Pretty Good Gatsby: On Recommending DWJ and Being a Howl Newbie:

“After Chrestomanci, I wanted MORE. Who was this Diana Wynne Jones and what else did she have to offer? Turns out, a lot: she’s written a ton of books and I can’t begin to express how ecstatic I was. I immediately dove into her Derkholm series (GRIFFINS, people!) and the rest is history. I was in love.”

Birdbrained: on The Game

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:02:00 -0400

Birdbrained: on The Game:

“If you like mythology, or DWJ’s weirder books, you definitely need to check this one out.”

"But they do come round, more than once, the times when humanity just sits there and says “Oh no!” to..."

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:02:33 -0400

“But they do come round, more than once, the times when humanity just sits there and says “Oh no!” to anything new. The “Oh no” party is always with us. You can hear them now in the people who refuse to admit that the climate might be changing. They say, “It’s just a blip in the weather,” or “The scientists are being alarmist,” or simply and complacently, “God will provide. We’re okay.” And it really is important not to listen to them, just as it always was. Someone somewhere undoubtedly has the right hidden gift to cope with the coming conditions, but he/she has not recognized it yet. That person could be you. Or if it’s not your hidden gifts that are needed this time, they might be just right for the next time. So please don’t disregard any of the strange notions that come into your heads. They are certainly prompted by your hidden gifts. Just remember how incredibly gifted all human beings are.”

- Diana Wynne Jones, “Our Hidden Gifts” (via delirious-bitter-gardens)

madis-hartte: my poor awkward ducklings—don’t worry, it gets...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:02:26 -0400

madis-hartte:

my poor awkward ducklings—don’t worry, it gets better.