Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Meggie has always loved books. Her father, Mo, is a highly sought after book binder, so she never have a chance. She’s used to moving a lot, always attributing it to her father’s job. Until one night, a strange man named Dustfinger shows up outside their house, and it becomes obvious to her that there is more to Mo than meets the eye. Now, she is thrust into an adventure straight out of her books, only in real life. She meets new friends, new enemies, and people from long ago.
I know I am older than the target demographic for this book, but I still quite liked it. I never read it as a child, so this isn’t a nostalgic reread for me, I just found it on Libby while I was between books and decided to give it a go, and I am really glad I did. Meggie is a headstrong character that was fun to read. Her father, Mo, was so whimsical and loving. Her great aunt an eccentric book collector. Dustfinger was sympathetic, and the villains were, well, kind of one dimensional, but in this case, I do believe it worked well for the story. I liked the European setting. I’m sure for people who live there, it was just an everyday thing, but for me, an Australian, their travels felt like an adventure in and of themselves. The thing I really liked about this book though were the references to other books, and how much the characters talked about books and what they meant to them.
Meggie was a fun character. A preteen with a great love of books and her father, thrown into her own adventure story. What isn’t there to love about this? I do wish I had had her to read about when I was a book loving child (I was 13 when it published, but never came across it unfortunately), but my inner child enjoyed her story. She was very strong-willed, and while she did come up against self doubt, especially about what she could do as a child in this tale, surrounded by adults, she always did her best to push through and find a solution. An admirable quality. There are some aspects of her character and role in the story that I can’t discuss without spoilers, but her evolution is very enjoyable to read. The majority of the book is told from her third person point of view, but we do have several chapters where we follow others.
One such character is her great aunt Elinor, and let me tell you, I loved her so much. She is a book collector. A reader. A book lover. Her books are her children, and she protects them thusly. She does sort of fall into the eccentric older lady with no partner or (human) children archetype, but there is a depth to her that allows her to break away from the limitations of this character type. After I read the book, I watched the movie for the first time, and the fact that Elinor was played by Helen Mirren was certainly a boon.
The only characters that felt like they didn’t have much more to them than what was presented on the page were the villain characters. Some of them anyway, including big bad Capricorn. But this cartoonish evil suits the story well in my opinion. Putting aside that it is a children’s book (children deserve deep villain characters too), the origins of the villains have a great deal to do with the way they think and behave. I don’t want to spoil too much for people who haven’t read it, but those who have will understand what I mean I think (hope). Some of the villain characters did have a bit more going for them, which was a nice juxtaposition to their peers.
The setting was Europe. When I was reading, I wasn’t entirely sure where they were, except that they were close enough to drive to Genoa. So perhaps it was a little too vague for non-Europeans with poor geographical knowledge to place, but I don’t think that was necessarily a drawback. We read about the coastal towns and can easily imagine ourselves there, with the detail the author put in to describing the architecture and people. In a way, it adds another layer of adventure to the story.
The true strength of the book to me was the author and her characters’ clear reverence of books and reading. Each chapter begins with a quote from one book or another, and the characters are often talking about how much they adore books and reading. How much it adds to their everyday lives to be able to read through the eyes of someone else and imagine themselves off on grand adventures. To forget their own worries and slip into the pages of a book. These discussions were very relatable, and bridged the gap between the child and adult characters, and thus I imagine they do the same for adults and children in real life.
When I first started reading Inkheart, I was sure that it would be a five star for me, after only just encountering my favourite book of the year so far (The Man With No Shadow, How to Survive Camping #1 for those curious). However, there were aspects of the plot that dragged on a bit too much for my liking, so I felt that a four star rating was more appropriate and true to how I came out of the experience.
Regardless, I enjoyed this book enough to watch the movie adaptation when I was done, and I am open to reading further books in the series, probably the same way I read this one; from the library when I find myself in between reads. I think if you love books, and want to read a fantastical tale that revolves around that love, then Inkheart will likely be a tale that you enjoy!
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Rebecka O'Malley 