Rating: 
Summary: Completely Charming!
Review: I stumbled over a 40-year-old copy of this book at my in-law's house last spring when they were trying to get rid of some of their thousands of books. After reading the first sentence, I simply could not put it down! Dodie Smith's writing is vivid and captivating, and her characters are all well-defined and interesting, whether you find them likable or not. A year later, I can close my eyes and see myself as Cassandra, performing my Midsummer's Eve rituals. This book is utterly charming, without becoming drippy. The characters are gritty and real enough to keep from falling into stereotypes. On the one hand, the story is a conventional fairy tale of marrying off daughters to handsome, moneyed boys and solving the poor family's financial crisis, but on the other hand it is completely UNconventional, allowing the narrator to have very un-fairy tale-like thoughts and experiences. I am delighted to see this book back in print! It is a wonderful read, so just buy it and read it!
Rating:
Summary: Truly Wonderful
Review: I was online searching desperately for other books by Dodie Smith and became absorbed in the reviews for I Capture the Castle, my favorite book of all time. Most everyone agreed that it is one of the most beautiful, enjoyable novels ever written, but I was spurred to write this review after discovering a review by someone who ACTUALLY gave it two stars or something equally pathetic. Their reason: because "no book could ever live up to Lord of the Rings," which they had just finished. For the record, this is not a book to be compared to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The differences between the two are astounding, one being that tLOtR is, albeit a well-done history and fantasy novel, stale and boring, especially compared to a book like ICtC, which really enchants the reader from start to finish. I read Tolkein's trilogy and enjoyed the imaginative goings-on, but I had to force myself to finish, to read the long boring passages saturated with history.
Everyone should read the Lord of the Rings, and everyone should read I Capture the Castle. But please don't avoid it because one elitist person thinks that one is better than the other. I Capture the Castle is truly mesmerizing and can be enjoyed by anyone...seriously.
Rating:
Summary: Sigh--I wish her other books were still in print
Review: I just finished reading this book and came to Amazon in hopes that some of her other adult titles were in print--no luck there. I read a lot of books, but this one is now in my top 10 books to recommend to others. Transporting, full of great characters, and more lovely than any book I've read in years.
Rating:
Summary: I Capture the Castle, Truly A Work Of Art
Review: [yes, the title is cheesy, but it's true!!) At first when I started reading I Capture the Castle, I must admit, I was a little bored. I put off reading it for more than a year! Now I could read it over and over and over again, and it would still be great! The book starts off slow, really, but after sitting down in a nice, quiet room, and taking in every word I began to like it. I found as I began reading that the book grew more and more interesting. (Once you getting a feeling of the book) The storyline flows and it's so well put that you feel like you're sitting in Cassandra's kitchen, that you're right beside her while she writes in the kitchen sink. Cassandra and her family live in an old castle, which Cassandra absolutely adores. The book is about Cassandra Mortmain, and her daily life in that castle, set in the 1930's; her hardships with her family, her battles with love and the every day comedy's of life. Dodie Smith really makes Cassandra and the other Mortmains come to life. Cassandra is one of the most likeable characters I have ever "read about", she is stubborn, funny and dislikes anything involving romance,[ in the sense of romance between to people.] Quirky and perceptive, Cassandra will always keep you smiling. Then there's beautiful Stephen who's in love with her, who she thinks of as a brother, her sister Rose, who attracts boys where ever she goes, Topaz, Cassandra's step-mother who's a part-time nude model and her eccentric father, who's been having writing block...for twelve years. Cassandra's younger brother Thomas plays a lesser role in the book, but he does help with some of Cassandra's schemes. I do have some qualms with the ending though, it was a strange ending- but at the same time, I loved the ending! I capture the castle is a delightful book....go out and buy it!! If you're Canadian it's pretty expensive for a paperback, but get it anyways, it's truly worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Capured my heart
Review: What a thoroughly enjoyable book. I was going through a hard time this was the perfect anecdote to take me away from my problems. I could hardly put it down and then wished I had read it slower because I didn't want it to end. Smith caught the innocence and anguish of first love perfectly.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best!
Review: This is one of the best books I've ever read, and one of the few I would read again. Delightful coming-of-age story told with understanding and wit. Think of a cozy '40s British movie with love, values, eccentricities and life observations and you've got the feel of the setting and characters. I recommended this at my book club and it is one of the only books that all completed and loved. The author manages to 'capture' the emotions of a variety of readers.
Rating:
Summary: enchanting and timeless
Review: It's impossible to put into words how wonderful this book is, but I'll try. I checked out an old copy from the library years ago, and was delighted when I recently found it in print again. It's even better than I remembered -- a very honest and funny story about an eccentric, impoverished family living in an old castle. The narrator is only 17, but it's a book for adults, with lots of shrewd observations about how people really act and think and dream. This is the kind of book that reminds you why you love to read. It's a classic and will measure up to any other novel you've ever read. I'm surprised it's not far better known.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: this is one of those books where people always say " oh i couldn't put it down" and it really is. I loved the story and all it's little details. It never even had a boring moment. It is the journal 17 year old Cassandra and explores the life of the her original family. I did this book for an ISU because i liked it so much
Rating: 
Summary: Magical and Innocent
Review: "I Capture the Castle" by Dodie Smith is like a beautiful painting of words. It's about 17 year old Cassandra Mortmain and her family, who live in an old ruined castle in England. Her father is a writer with severe writers block, but who wrote an obscure book, which was one of the most important books of that generation. This book is about her experiences, going from poverty to wealth, from loneliness to love, from complete estrangement from her father to a daughter again. Written as a sort of journal, it chronicles her life for what seems to be about a year. It is written beautifully, very expressively, and to me seems to have an ethereal quality. Some characters are well thought out, and necessarily deep, whereas some, such as Mrs Cotton, are just small, sometimes comedic, sometimes more sombre, pencil-sketches. Cassandra lives through desparate poverty, her father's mood swings, her sister's love affair, falling in love herself, her step-mother's odd habits and rituals, the "hired" help's love for her, and records all of it in hindsight, often with amazing insight and maturity, while maintaining the voice of a 17 year old. This book, to my mind, brings back images of the novels I read when I was young - narrative, and with seemingly no other deeper messages to convey. It is the type of book that I can imagine a mother giving a daughter to read. It is wonderfully innocent, and yet delightfully ravishing to the senses. It is timeless, and creates the English country village scene without any real reference to year or generation. It was a joy to read, and I hope that others find the same pleasure in it that I found.
Rating:
Summary: Captured by Cassandra
Review: "I Capture the Castle" is a wonderfully enchanting story told through the diary entries of seventeen-year-old Cassandra Mortman. Surrounded by the eccentric members of her family, Cassandra's writings reveals a mind as interesting and unique as the crumbling English castle in which she lives. The arrival of Americans turn the family's focus from their dire finnancial crisis to matters of the heart. This book is essentially about Cassandra's journey from childhood to adulthood, yet I found other aspects of the book to be very profound and thought provoking. At the same time, I laughed often whilst turning the pages, and smiled at the beautiful way Cassandra has captured not only the castle, but also members of her family and entertaining incidents. Anyone from teens onward would love to be immersed in the brilliant, emotive, shimmering world of "I Capture the Castle" - I know I certainly did!
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