I Capture the Castle

The gift I like the best at Christmas time: a good book. I got three this year. I Capture the Castle is one of them. Written by Dodie Smith in 1949, the book is set in the English countryside in the 1930's. I was intrigued from the first line of the story which goes: I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. And from there it is the narrative of seventeen year old Cassandra Mortmain's attempt at a practice journal for her writing. She lives in the ruin of a castle with her older sister who is a beauty, Rose and her young brother Thomas, as well as her Father, a famous writer and her step mother, the very worldy and unconventional Topaz. There is also a servant boy who is devoted to her named Stephen who lives there with them.

The book spans the time of six months and within those six months a couple of American brothers, Simon and Neil, who have inherited the castle from their grandfather come to be quite friendly with the family. The whole book follows Cassandra as she realizes her first love and her first heartbreak.

Most of the book deals with the mystery surrounding her father. He hasn't written anything for years and the family finances are in ruins. This book is funny, eccentric and romantic. At first I wanted to yell at Cassandra. You either know you love someone or you don't. But after thinking about it a while I remembered how I used to believe I was in love with any boy I was attracted to in middle school. Although the story is set in another place and time I think alot of us could relate to the confusion and the awkwardness that being a teenager entails.

"I Capture the Castle" captures the many facets of the relationship between sisters, the poignancy of first love, and the bonds that hold a family together.

Apparently it is a film as well but when I went to add it to my Netflix I noticed it was rated R. People, there is nothing that is R rated in the book, what the hannah? It said R for brief nudity. I expect it's due to the step-mother's odd habit of communing with nature in the buff. Thanks alot Topaz! And if it's rated R for brief nudity how brief can it possibly be? Seems to be a bit of a conundrum to me. Oh well. The books still good. But a word of caution, don't expect a neat and tidy happy ending.