I like to think I’m open minded when it comes to buying books, but there’s one type I always try to stay away from, the type of book that I even have a rule for:
If you love the movie, stay far far away from the book it was based on.
This rule wasn’t born overnight – it is the product of a long, sad history of reading the source material of my favourite movies. Apollo 13, The Jungle Books and even my beloved Lord of the Rings – they all followed one of two treacherous patterns.
The movie was too faithful, and therefore reading the book feels pointless, like I’m just reading the screenplay
Or,
The movie wasn’t faithful enough, making it feel wrong to read. The book feels like it’s missing the essence of why I loved the film.
I know how contradictory this sounds – damned if they do, damned if they don’t. If I’m being completely honest, I break this rule all the time and I never seem to learn my lesson. So when my boyfriend bought me Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle for my birthday last year, the concern was there. Am I about to tarnish one of my favourite movies by reading this? I read it, and now there’s an addendum to my rule:
If you love a movie, stay far far away from the book it was based on.*
*Unless that movie was made by Studio Ghibli.
Studio Ghibli, the Japanese film studio helmed by Hayao Miyazaki, are responsible for incredible films such as the Academy Award Winning Spirited Away. They are considered international leaders of animation for good reason, and if anyone knows how to pick the right source material and build on it, rather than clone it or use it as a limp thread to hold a loose plot together, it’s them. Studio Ghibli book-to-film adaptions are a whole other beast – and so, these are my top books to read after watching their movie counterpart, that won’t leave you wishing you’d stuck to celluloid.
Howl’s Moving Castle
The 2004 movie based on the novel of the same name stars Christian Bale in the titular role of the wizard Howl.
By the time I watched Howl’s Moving Castle, I had already seen Spirited Away, My Neighbour Totoro and Princess Mononoke. As much as I loved Howl, it wasn’t my favourite of the bunch – until I read Diana Wynne Jones’ novel of the same name. Knowing the plot didn’t spoil this one at all, because there is plenty in the way of characters and side plots that the movie skims over, which are explored so meaningfully in the book. Sophie’s relationship with her family; Howls origins; even a romance subplot for Markl (Michael in the book). It is now one of my favourite books of all time, and has totally enhanced my appreciation of the movie which now sits firmly in the #1 slot of my favourite Ghibli movies.
Read this one if you want:
- A better developed version of Sophie
- Details on the origins of Howl
- A more satisfying romance
The Secret World of Arrietty (Adapted from The Borrowers)
The film (2009) and the book (1952 both feel very of their own time, which lends a unique spin to each version of this tiny family hiding from ‘Big People’.
It doesn’t take long to see why they chose to adapt this children’s classic. The Borrowers follows a family who are each literally as big as a teaspoon, trying their best to survive beneath the floorboards of a big house in the English countryside. It is as twee as stories come and reflects the joy to be found in the smaller side of life; safety pins used as coat hangers, lovely little pieces of doll-house furniture, and matchbox cupboards. Mary Norton conjures a wealth of mental images that Ghibli only scratch the surface of, and there is a wealth of material for eager readers to explore with the sequels The Borrowers go Afield, then Aloft and finally Afloat.
Read this one if you:
- Enjoy classic post-war children’s stories
- Think tiny objects being repurposed is adorable
- Don’t mind having your heart strings tugged a little
Kiki’s Delivery Service
Written by Eiko Kadono and published in 1985, the first English edition of Kiki’s Delivery Service was published in 2005.
I fell deeply in love with Kiki’s Delivery Service on my first viewing, and it remains visually one of my favourite movies of all time. Kiki, a girl who comes of age as a witch, flies away from home to settle in a seaside town and start a courier service. When I found out it was based on a children’s story, I realised that this book had the potential to be everything I would have loved as a kid. My favourite books were always the ones concerning witches who were, in relatable fashion, stubborn and haughty little girls. They almost always had cats too (as the best witches tend to). It started with The Worst Witch, graduated into Harry Potter and followed me into adulthood with Equal Rites. Despite Kiki being aimed at younger readers, at twenty-five years old I couldn’t have read it at a better time. Like Kiki, I had just moved into a new home in a new town, away from my parents for the first time in my life, and I seemed to be experiencing the same ups and downs – the euphoria at that first feeling of freedom, then the inevitable homesickness and creeping doubts, and finally the bittersweet joy when visiting home and realising that, while you can go back to your childhood house, you can never really go back to being a child. The author based Kiki loosely on her own daughter who was twelve years old at the time of writing, and this maternal tone really shines through in Kadono’s writing, so the book feels almost like a story being told by your own mother, and making it a strong contender for any cosy reading list. Kadono said she wanted to focus on a protagonist who overcomes conflict by having to “use her brain to solve problems”, and in doing so creates a character who is strong-willed without being unkind. I would love to keep reading this series, but it looks like currently only the first book has been translated into English from the original Japanese, so for now I’ll be holding tight (to my broomstick, that is).
Read this one if you:
- Appreciate stories that use magic in unconventional ways
- Want to experience a Japanese children’s book
- Are looking for motivation to get out there and do what you love
There are a few other books that I have read but haven’t got around to watching the Ghibli adaptation of yet, with Tales From Earthsea being next on my list. Not to mention,The Boy and The Heron which was released this year in Japan but is yet to see a UK release date, is also based on a novel I haven’t read. So, given how much I loved the titles above, you can see why I am desperately excited to get started on both of those.
Which Studio Ghibli book-to-film adaption is your favourite and why? Let me know in the comments below!
