Inkheart (Movie Cover)

A clever premise, but not a very good book. Poorly structured, thin plot, and poorly worked out thematic elements.

To start with -- the author ignores the most of the obvious plot elements created by her conceit, that people can be read out of, and into, books. How magical, how exciting, but then nothing very much happens. Our heroes are never read INTO a book, nor (until the very end) do we get very interesting characters out of books. Instead we spend the entire book driving up and down the coast of Italy, with some long, forced stays in a semi-abandoned village populated by a collection of thuggish and highly uninteresting criminals, lead by the equally thuggish and unimaginative Capricorn (the Inkheart of the title). Our criminals were read out of this fantasy novel nine years before the events of this book. We are told repeatedly that the world of the fantasy novel is also full of fabulous beasts and monsters, fairies and giants and trolls and so forth, but nothing of the sort will play any role in our book. Instead we have a collection of bullies who appear to spend most of their time stealing goats and forcing their affections on servant girls.

Our lead characters are Mo (Mortimer), a book-binder and "reader," or human with the gift of reading things out of, and into, books, Mo's daughter Meggie (age, 12, who, it will develop, shares her father's gift), Elinor, Meggie's tart-tongued spinster Great Aunt, an avid book collector, Dustfinger, a fictional travelling juggler and flamethrower, read out of Inkheart nine years before the events narrated here, and eventually, Fenoglio, the original author of Inkheart. The main plot element involves the rather unfocused attempts of various characters to get Mo to repeat his trick: Dustfinger wants back into the novel, the villain Capricorn wants an evil ally out, and Mo wants to rescue his wife (Meggie's mother), accidentally read into the book (again, nine years ago.) Unfortunately, Mo is not able to control his gift, and he has been unable to retrieve his wife. Nor is he able to help the others.

Good set-up -- no pay-off. We never see Mo struggle with the implications of his gift, or learn anything much at all about what it means to be a "reader." In the end, it turns out Meggie's Mom has already been retrieved by another "reader," Darius, who is not very good at the job (Mom is mute.) She is laboring as a maidservant in the criminal village (and, it is implied, under constant threat of sexual exploitation, which is a tad distasteful for a kiddie book). We do eventually get a good "reading," Meggie and her father are able to read a new ending for Inkheart, killing Capricorn, sending most of the thugs back to their book, and populating Elinor's garden with a collection of trolls and fairies. So good start, and at least some excitement at the end, but not much in the middle. There is about enough plot here for a slim novella -- not enough for an epic.

Thematically, almost nothing happens. Mo has clearly screwed up, stranding his wife in Inkheart's world and introducing a nasty villain to his own world. Unable to control his gift, he has refused to face up to the implications of his power, hiding out as an itinerant book-binder and refusing to ever again read aloud. Meggie, it is hinted, has grown up a tad too sheltered and too close to Dad. When told about Mom, she doesn't particularly want her back, but rather feels jealous and threatened, as she has never had to share Dad with anyone. So here we have a classic set-up, Dad and daughter both have to grow up, to learn to take responsibility for their actions (even unintentional) and to share their love. But then neither of these thematic elements is worked out. Meggie, when she meets her Mom, loves her instantly and no problems there. For much of the end of the novel, Dad is hiding in the hills outside the village while Meggie and Fenoglio (the author, remember him) work out a solution to free Mom and Elinor and destroy Capricorn. (Dustfinger is also hiding out in the village, and has some of his own issues to resolve, but nothing comes of that either.) Elinor does a lot of huffing and some crying, but never plays any real role in the plot.

All told, a most disappointing tale. I hope the movie is better.

There is nothing fantastic about this book, and I mean that literally. I was expecting characters being read in and out of books with plenty of fun and excitement. Instead, we get very simple plot stretched so thin you can barely stand to finish it. Our main character Meggie finds a mysterious stranger outside her and her father's home one night. It turns out the stranger is a friend of her father who has come to ask him to give up a dangerous item he is holding. The item turns out to be a book. An evil villan wants the book for some purpose which I'm still not sure about. He doesn't want to go back to the story he came from, he only wants riches temporarily, and in the end he just wants another evil character to come out of the book, I think. The villan's motivations make little sense, and his character is just as flat as all of the others in this story. The villan captures Meggie, Meggie's aunt, and Mo a few times, a few events happen which I won't mention for sake of spoiling what little plot there is, and then it is over and you felt like you wasted way too much of your time.

I wanted to stop reading around page 300. I realized no one would be traveling into or out of books, the characters had already been captured, escaped, and been recaptured, and I didn't much care what happened. I assumed the main characters would find a way to read people back into books and the evil villan would be vanquished. This book is entirely too linear and simplistic. There isn't much fantasy to it, and it falls short of my expectations. I fail to see how a plot with so much potential ended up so dry and agonizingly boring.

I read this book to my boys because the movie was coming out and I thought the previews to the movie were intriguing. I had read "Dragon Rider" to the boys a couple years ago and remembered disliking the author, but I couldn't quite remember why.

It came back to me quickly.

The author takes what would be an interesting story and drags it on, and on, and on. She barely develops the main characters, but chooses to include worthless details. In one case, two characters were having a conversation and in the middle of it, Funke suddendly decides to describe what is going on in the house across the street. This information had absolutely NOTHING to do with the story. Funke also uses incredibly awful similies thoughout the book. For some reason, she was particulary fond of comparing things to bears. One memorable description involved someone moving "...like a dancing bear that had spun around one too many times." How many people today have ever seen a dancing bear??? The ridiculous similies ended up making the book tolerable because my boys would burst out laughing and ask, "What did THAT mean??"

All in all, it was a very slow-moving, poorly written tome. Maybe the movie will be better, but somehow I doubt it.

I haven't seen the movie but the previews looked good and I always like to give the book a chance before the movies anyway. I had hoped for better, everyone seemed to rave about the book but I found it pedestrian and dull - or in English, boring and about as interesting to read as the menu at IHOP - which at least has good pictures and decent food to reward you. The only reward in Inkheart - and I kept at it to the bitter end hoping there was some whipped cream or strawberries somewhere under that stack of syrup - is that I was finished and now can only hope the movie tells the story better.

I found this book to be interesting but not interesting enough to even bother with reading the other books in the series. The characters were okay but I felt like there wasn't enough depth to relate or even show sympathy for the characters. Not worth reading in my opinion.

This book had such potential, but I really felt like it was all over the place. I expected to just devour this book. Instead it took me 3 days to read once I finally got started. I never felt really afraid of the villain Capricorn, at least as not as much as I felt I should be. I know its a children's book, but it felt like the author didn't want to you to feel much of anything for the characters. The characters I felt were developed the most were the secondary characters Basta and Dustfinger. The plot was an excellent idea, but if felt like the author wondered how to make the book longer with very little in the way of substance. The best part was the last 100 pages or so. There is finally felt like something was being accomplished. It was there the book redeemed itself. I will probably continue to read the series, but only because I want to know what happens next, not because it was a fantastic read.

I watched Inkheart the movie and that got me wanting to read the book. Everyone always says, "The book is better than the movie". But, not with this first book in the Inkheart series. It was drug out, I kept thinking, "just get on with it!" I think it has great characters and the plot is well-constructed, but it's just too drug out. My husband is on the second book and he says it's much better so far. Meggie is going to be doing some writing herself and it has some of the actual Inkworld in it's plot. I would recommend this book because it is a fun book, but just beware you'll want to get to the end sooner rather than later to start book 2.

(BTW, for those who have seen the movie and want to read the book like I did, the book is nothing like the movie!! Same concepts and characters, but way different!)

My daughter saw this book at Sam's club and insisted that I buy it and its sequel because she had heard about it at school. Since my daughter is dyslexic, I was absolutely ecstatic that she wanted me to buy a book for her to read. Once home and ready to read the book, I realized after only a page that I would have to read it to her, and so I read it to her and my son every night for our bedtime reading. We all absolutely loved this book. I've always fantasized about characters coming out of books, and so even though this is not an original idea, the way that Funke orchestrates it, through her characters, it is fresh and original.

Dustfinger is probably one of my favorite characters, although he was kinda creeping me out (as my 8th graders say) at the beginning of the book. However, he is a rather interesting anti-hero. Capricorn, the evil guy, has a heart so black it is like the black ink the writer used to write the book. Usually, I like the villain of a book to have at least one redeeming quality, but in this book, it seems to fit. Maybe because all the other main characters are quite complex.

I love the fact that a girl, Meggie, is the protagonist of a fantasy book. Many authors have followed the Harry Potter type male protagonist, that it's refreshing to see a girl as a protagonist in a fantasy. Also, Meggie is not only a character that appeals to girls, but boys as well. She doesn't have that "girly" type quality to her that turns boys off. Maybe because she's been raised by her father. Nice characterization on the part of Funke.

Funke is an incredible writer. I love her use of metaphors, imagery, subtle humor mixed with tender emotion. She definitely commands the language, even though her books have been translated. I wish I could read German, just so I could read her books in their original language. I can't imagine them being any better.

My kids really enjoyed the excerpts from the various fairy tale classics at the beginning of each chapter, too.

This book is definitely worth having in your home library to read again and again. By the way, we haven't seen the movie yet. Although we intend to soon.

I purchased "Inkheart" after seeing the movie trailer at the cinema and upon reading some of the reviews other adult readers have posted on Amazon.com, and I must say that I was definitely not disappointed. The story of Mortimer"(a.k.a "Mo") and his daugher "Meggie" is truly captivating, and I was pulled headfirst into the novel from the very first page. This story is full of action and suspense, evil characters like Capricorn and Basta, and fire eating tricksters. The writing is excellent, the characters are very well developed, and the storyline is a wonderfully written fantasy. I recommend this novel for readers of all ages (I'm 42) - and if you enjoy novels like "Harry Potter" and "The Chronicles of Narnia", then you will probably enjoy "Inkheart" immensely. I'm really looking forward to reading the second book, "Inkspell".

Welcome to a new world- it seems average, and then we meet Mortimer Folchart, fondly called Mo by his daughter, Meggie. Mo has a unique ability, ad I must confess to wanting it even though i now understand its drastic consequences. Ever since he was a young boy, Mo has been able to read characters out of books. The catch? For everything that comes into this world, something must replace it. Mo has been raising Meggie alone ever since his wife disappeared when Meggie was just a child, and they often travel for Mo's job as a bookbinder. Everything seems normal, until a strange man who can play with fire named Dustfinger shows up. He's after a very special book, and his arrival sends Meggie and Mo on the adventure of their lives, as they run from the evil Capricorn and his knife-wielding minions. It turns out that Dustfinger, Capricorn, and his men come from this special book called Inkheart, and their appearance in the world has caused the disappearance of Meggie's mother into the world of Inkheart. Capricorn has a job for Mo to do, and he realizes it will only be completed if he brings Meggie to his lair. The characters are so wonderfully dimensional that you will wish long before the book is over that they are real. With Funke's almost lyrical writing style and her beautiful pace, she presents a book that will appeal to all bibliophiles.