Book Review - Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

By Scarlett Moore

Inkheart the movie was just released January 23rd. The movie stars Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, and Helen Mirren. It was one of the top 10 films for its opening weekend, grossing $3.7 million. Did you know that the film is based on several popular fantasy books?

Yes, Inkheart was written in 2005 by Cornelia Funke and focuses on a man who has the ability to bring book characters to life when he reads about them. His daughter, Meggie, discovers his secret one night when a mysterious man named Dustfinger appears in the dark shadows of their garden. Meggie learns that when she was 3 years old her father (also known as Silvertongue) read to her from a book called Inkheart, a book about strange creatures set in medieval times. His reading released several characters into the real world: the evil Capricorn and his servant Basta, Capricorn's pet martin Gwin, and Dustfinger, who also happens to be a fire eater. Unfortunately, when these characters were released Meggie's mother Teresa disappeared into the Inkworld, the magical place that serves as the backdrop for Inkheart.

Dustfinger warns Mo that Capricorn is looking for him. Mo decides they must leave their current home because the risk of being discovered by Capricorn is too great. Thus they head to Italy, where Meggie's great aunt Elinor lives. For Meggie this explains why she and her father never stay in one place for very long; her father is trying to stay one step ahead of Capricorn.

Speaking of Capricorn, he's a sadistic man who takes pleasure in torturing and killing others. He's said to have "fed a bird to a cat on purpose, just to watch it being torn apart." He's recruited several henchmen to locate and capture Mo so he can force him to read a murderous creature to life and wreak havoc on his enemies.

When Capricorn discovers that Mo has a young daughter he plots to kidnap her and use her as bait to get Mo to read the evil creature to life. Meggie quickly becomes thrust into the midst of Capricorn's evil machinations as he tries to get Mo to do his bidding.

Capricorn is also looking for the person responsible for writing Inkheart so he can make him write a new and evil ending to the Inkheart story. In the meantime, Mo has spent years looking for a copy of Inkheart hoping that by reading it aloud a second time, he can send Capricorn and his henchmen back into Inkworld. He decides that finding the author of Inkheart is the best way to get rid of Capricorn - he'll have the author write a story that removes Capricorn from the human world.

When it was time to cast Mo's character the studio wanted to use a big Hollywood name. However they soon discovered that Cornelia Funke had other plans: she informed them that when she wrote the book in 2005 she wrote it specifically with Brendan Fraser in mind. She insisted that they cast Brendan as Mo and well, it's apparent that she prevailed. There's talk that Inkspell, the second of three books about Mo and Meggie, will make it to the big screen as well. No word yet on whether Inkdeath, the last book in the trilogy, will make it to theaters but Cornelia Funke specifically dedicated that installment to Brendan Fraser.

Inkheart is a well written action-adventure book that will appeal to both adults and teens. Cornelia Funke's world building and character development are top notch and sure to attract more followers as the film's popularity increases.

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