Rating: 
Summary: Great!!!!
Review: What a fantastic book. Touching, funny, realistic...a depiction of first love that probably anyone can place themselves in. One of the best books I've read in a long time. I checked it out from the library, but I know I'm going to buy it. This is a book I could read probably every year, and I have to REALLY like a book to want to do that! Even if you are older than Cassandra (I'm only two years older than her now, but I'm referring to people even older than that), you can really feel with her and relate to her experiences. Excellent. A must read for anyone. This is somewhat what I imagine Jane Austen would have written had she lived in the 1940s.
Rating:
Summary: "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink."
Review: This is the first sentence of _I Capture the Castle_, and it's got to be one of the all-time greatest first sentences (along with "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife," from _Pride and Prejudice_, and "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it," from _The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader'_).The narrator is Cassandra Mortmain, a 17-year-old who lives in a broken-down castle in Suffolk with her eccentric family: her father James, a writer suffering from a years-long case of writers' block; her stepmother Topaz, an artists' model who has a tendency toward outdoors nudism; her elder sister Rose, a beauty who desperately wants to escape the family's poverty-stricken life; her precocious younger brother Thomas; and Stephen, the son of a late family servant who is now the Mortmains' only breadwinner (and Cassandra's ardent admirer).Into their lives come the Cotton brothers, Simon and Neil, from America; Simon has just inherited the nearby Scoatney Hall, and Rose immediately sets out to capture him, thereupon setting in motion the train of events chronicled by Cassandra. The foremost appeal of _I Capture the Castle_ is Cassandra's voice and personality, which infuses the book with her wit, charm, and innocence and makes you feel as though you know Cassandra and her family and friends intimately. I've heard people criticize the ending, which certainly does not tie it all up in a neat resolution, but to me, that's a strength of the book: you feel that the characters can continue beyond the last page, because their futures are in doubt, and you can conjecture to your heart's delight about what might happen to them.
Rating: 
Summary: Captivating writing about writing
Review: I read this book after seeing the film starring Romola Garai as Cassandra and Bill Nighy (yes, he who plays the ageing rock star in "Love Actually") as the father suffering writer's block. Author Dodie Smith, (also of the classic "101 Dalmatians"!) had transplanted herself with her husband in California, at the height of her fame in England. As World War II broke and rumbled on, she longed for London. Writing this book was an expiation of her nostalgia. The novel's title is the triumphant declaration of the book's narrator, dispossessed wannabe writer Cassandra. In fact, it is author Smith who "captures" the angst of her young heroines, class warfare, tension between Transatlantic neighbours and especially of the England of the 1930s that she missed. Apart from the luminous romance, two of the characters are concerned with writing. Young narrator/protagonist Cassandra ambitiously works through her story in ever-more-expensive notebooks. By contrast, her unproductive father cannot reproduce his early creative form. It's a good story in the Jane Austen comedy-of-manners tradition, with a little sexiness of DH Lawrence mixed in, and the down-at-heel feeling of, e.g., Cold Comfort Farm". The compulsive beginning immediately establishes Cassandra, the writing motive, and engages our sympathy: "I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining-board, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cosy."
Rating:
Summary: A Glorious Book
Review: When I first began reading I Capture the Castle, it was simply out of pure boredom. As i read further, I began to understand the concepts of Cassandra's writing and relate to some of her feelings. The life of England in the 1930's is most astounding from Cassandra's point of view. I found myself transported into her world, imagining what was happening, having mental pictures of the characters. I am happy to say that in my mind, I have a slight knowledge of all the characters and what they really are to look like. This is an absolutly brilliant book that is beautifully written. The author did an amazing job and has inspired me greatly.
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Summary: "I have just read this journal from the beginning."
Review: What a wonderful book! Cassandra Mortmain, the young narrator, writes this a journal that takes place over six months, while she works on her writing. But this never feels like a journal, instead it is well-written,and joyful, with all the melodrama one would expect from a teenage girl. The Mortmains have been living in poverty in a castle in England, because after Father was released from a three-month stint in jail, after the "cake-knife incident" in their neigborhood, he wanted to live in the country. They had been living on the profits of his first and famous book, "Jacob Wrestling," but he has a serious case of writer's block, eccentricity, and questions are raised about his sanity. With little income, their home is falling apart, many of their belonging have been sold off for food, we watch their fortunes change when Neil and Simon Cotton move in next door. Cassandras's sister, Rose, her brother, Timothy, stepmother, Topaz, and the lovesick Stephen all live in the castle, interesting people all. Throw in the wealthy Cottons who move in next door, and we add love and engagements, Simon loves Rose, Rose doesn't love Simon, Neil hates Rose, and Cassandra of course, loves Simon. There are many more interesting characters who do not overshadow the plot while we watch Cassandra change during the course of her journal. Fabulous story!
Rating:
Summary: My favorite book is...
Review: Dodie Smith's 'I Capture the Castle' was reccomended to me at a party...I picked it up that night and read it for two straight days until I finished it. The book was enrapturing...it didn't start to fast or to slow but the discriptions are wonderful. Cassandra is a wonderful character with all vantages of the human nature shown through her, from extreme happiness to jealousy of her sister, Rose. A wonderful book to read.
Rating: 
Summary: A book without any ending is a waste to read . . .
Review: I set out on this book on tapes, I really cared about some of the characters and very much enjoyed the light sorry . . . than it got all muddled and ridiculous. There is no ending . . . I repeat . . . there is no ending!! Its as if the author was told she had 5 minutes to finish the book and just puts a period any where. The main character just ends up where she begins, like if she is 14 years old not 20, writing her journal with her cat and dog. The man who loves her becomes a film star, the man she she loved, is still in love with her sister. The cruel, violent, self centered father, becomes a success. No wonder there is only a few books written by this author.
Rating:
Summary: Rich, Romantic--Didn't Want it to End!
Review: What a gem of a book! "I Capture the Castle" is a magnificent coming-of-age book, which reminded me of the best of the Brontes, "Little Women" and Jane Austen. It is just so good...
Cassandra, the 17-year old heroine, lives with her well-born family in near poverty in a castle in England. Her father, a true English eccentric, once wrote a bestseller--but that was a long time ago. Her sister, Rose, is a beauty with ambition--to marry well. Her stepmother Topaz, a kindhearted and beautiful soul, trudges into London to pose nude for artists and bring income into this colorful crew. Cassandra dreams of becoming a writer. When two rich American brothers and their mother move in next door, well she believes that she has found her heroes and her story. And so indeed a story, actually several stories unfold into wonderful tales of adventure and romance in 1930's England. You see the world of well-born bohemians, subtle class snobberies, interwar London and lots of romance through the eyes of the young Cassandra. You also see-and feel-Cassandra maturing and growing into a woman through her experiences. I would recommend this book highly to individuals (most likely women) who enjoy coming-of-age stories, romances, and English life tales in the interwar period. A warning: this book is very well-written, but well-written through the eyes of a 17-year old. That may not be your taste--other reviewers have found it a young person's book. Yes it is--but you don't have to be young in years to enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: the best book for all you romantic saps
Review: I prolonged my reaching the end of this book as long as possible. It's better than falling in love with a person! this book in short is beautiful and so charming.
Now I must find a girl who will sit with me to Dubussy's "Claire De Lune" everyone should read this before they die!
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Summary: OLDER WOWEN GIVE IT A CHANCE!
Review: Dear Older women, please don't let the negative reviews of this book convince you that it is a teenage love story! yes the heroin is 17, this is a charming story of a very crazy family. my very dear friend is well over 50 and she adores it! this is not a very sophisticated book, so please don't dislike it because of high expectations. aproach this story with none and you will be pleased with the result
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