3.26.2011

Diana Wynne Jones

I want to write something beautiful or magical in memory of this wonderful lady. But I really just can't. I feel horribly inarticulate, like I can't express anything correctly. I feel like whatever I say is going to come out warped, not quite coming across as it should. I'm too sad--so incredibly sad.

Diana Wynne Jones is and always will be my favorite author. She's the reason I read. Her books are what made me believe in fantasy, in writing, in reading, in the world.

I want to write so many things about DWJ; paragraphs about every book I loved by her, sentences about the sense of wonder she instilled in me, lines about those countless hours I spent re-reading every word she ever published. I want to somehow capture what she means to me as an author. I'd like to express how much the news devastated me.

I wept when I heard. I haven't ever met her, but her books--oh, they're just everything to me.

Diana Wynne Jones is prolific and wonderful. She needs to be known and read. The best way to honor her is to love her works.

I hope I am honoring her. I wish I had more words in me for this post, but today, they've failed me. I know I can say with certainty that my life would not have been the same without her books--it would not have quite as much magic in it, quite as much hope.

Thank you for that, Diana Wynne Jones. I will never stop reading your books, and I will never stop loving them.

RIP.

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Remilda Graystone's avatar

Remilda Graystone · 731 weeks ago

Hearing the news shocked me, especially since I was hoping to meet her at some point. She is also one of my favorite authors, and I love her books. Oh my God. I can't even describe how I felt when I first read Castle in the Air, how it felt like I was thrown into the world and wanted to live in it--still do--when I read the first words. The news has soured my day, although even that's an understatement.

I just found your tags, and clicked on the one about you eating 'giant inedible vegetables to get your hands on the book' because it caught my eye, and, fittingly enough, the post was about Diana's book Enchanted Glass. I totally believe you might just be her biggest fan.

She truly will be missed.
I feel the same. I've been wanting to say something about Diana Wynne Jones' passing all day, but I can't. Nothing sounds right -- it all sounds trite, or stupid, or melodramatic. I guess, in the end, all I can say is that I felt her loss quite deeply. That I cried when I heard it, and automatically started to think about how her books -- The Magicians of Caprona, in particular -- were the first that captivated me, and took me into another world.

It's comforting, to think, though, that all of that wonderful inventiveness lives on in her work. That's an amazing legacy to leave the world with.

My recent post Crits for Water
Vee: I don't think you can say anything trit. I don't think anyone who is a reader of DWJ is likely to be trite. We all have Tom's letter to Polly ringing in our ears.
sadly enough, i've never read any of her books. im still quite saddened by the news though...
did you hear about L.K. Madigan (author of Flash Burnout + The Mermaid's Mirror) passing away some weeks ago? this kind of stuff seriously depresses me. :(
+JMJ+

This is very saddening news indeed. There are many people whose childhoods would not have been as bright without her. She was a wonderful Fantasy writer for children--one whom I'd personally rank about J.K. Rowling. May she rest in peace.
I also felt so sad when I heard about her death... It happened that I was thinking about her the day before, during my shower. Her work is pure magic, just like the worlds she created.

RIP ♥
My recent post Sobre vestibular- crianças e dar informação
Amy Durham's avatar

Amy Durham · 731 weeks ago

Absolutely beautiful blog. Amazing how the written word can change our lives for the better. You've honored her here. Just lovely.
I know how you feel. :( I keep trying to write a post in memoriam but just coming up with nothing, or too much. There aren't proper words.
I think everything you felt came across clearly--I've never read her, but your words made me want to check out her work.
I feel the same way about her. When I read her, I feel like I know exactly the kind of stories and worlds I want to create. The world is a little less magical with her gone
My recent post You’re a Wonder

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