Inkheart

This article is about the book. For the film, see Inkheart (film).

Inkheart

First English translation edition cover
Author	Cornelia Funke
Original title	Tintenherz
Translator	Anthea Bell
Illustrator	Cornelia Funke
Language	German
Series	Inkheart trilogy
Genre	Fantasy, Bildungsroman
Publisher	Germany Cecilie Dressler UK Chicken House USA Scholastic
Publication date	September 23, 2003
Publication place	Germany
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	534 pp
ISBN	ISBN 1904442099 (1st English translation)
OCLC	52783756
Followed by	Inkspell

Inkheart (original title: Tintenherz) is a young adult-child fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke, and the first book of the Inkworld trilogy.

The book is about a 12-year-old girl named Meggie Folchart whose life changes dramatically when she realizes that her father, a bookbinder named Mortimer (Mo), has an unusual ability: when he reads aloud, he can bring characters from books into the real world. Meggie and Mo's adventure takes them throughout Europe, particularly Italy, and brings them into contact with many unusual characters. The sequel, Inkspell, was released on October 1, 2005, and the third book in the trilogy, Inkdeath was released on September 28, 2007 in Germany.

Plot

Mortimer (Mo) Folchart is a bookbinder and has the rare gift of reading things and characters out and into books (he does not have control over what goes in or out) when reading aloud. He discovered this talent while reading a book to his friend when a dead cat came out of the book. One night he read a book called Inkheart to his wife, Teresa. Mo accidentally read Resa into Inkheart and read characters out of Inkheart (Capricorn, Basta, Dustfinger and his pet marten Gwin.) Meggie was 3 years old and can't remember her mother at all apart from the vast explanations provided by Mo.

Nine years later, Dustfinger comes to their estate and stares at the house. Meggie runs to Mo and tells him about a pale man standing outside their home. She is confused when this strange man (Dustfinger) called her father "Silvertongue". Dustfinger warned Mo that Capricorn's men were coming for him and the book, Inkheart. Meggie spies on them and Mo, who is way too smart for her, tells her to stick her feet from the covers and feels that they are still cold.

The next morning, Meggie is woken up by her father. He tells her that they were going to see her aunt Elinor, her mother's aunt. Elinor doesn't like children much and Mo told her that she and her aunt would get along well because she too has a vast love of books. After having a breakfast of hot chocolate, Meggie goes into her room to pack a few books to bring with her and discovers Inkheart, the book in brown paper binding her father refused to talk about. While staying with Elinor, the man Dustfinger and Mo were talking about, Capricorn and his men, including Basta and Flatnose kidnap Mo and takes him to his village, a little town in Italy. Meggie soon discovers Dustfinger had told Capricorn of their whereabouts and feels instant hatred for trusting him.

Capricorn wants Mo to read out treasure from books. While reading, Mo accidentally reads out a young boy called Farid from the book One Thousand And One Nights. Meanwhile, Dustfinger rescues Mo, Elinor, Meggie and Farid. Farid develops a liking for Meggie.

Now that they have escaped, Mo decides to visit the author of Inkheart (Fenoglio) to get his copy of the book so he can read Teresa back. Sadly, Fenoglio doesn't have a copy, his only copy was stolen. Mo, Elinor, Dustfinger and Farid had gone for a while when Meggie and Fenoglio's grandchild, Pippo, are captured by Capricorn's men.

As prisoner, Meggie soon discovers that she has the same gift of reading characters out of books. It started when she read Tinkerbell out of a story book Darius (a stammering man, formerly Capricorn's reader) had left behind. Basta finds out when he sees Tinkerbell and Capricorn makes her read out his assassin Shadow.

Meanwhile; Mo, Elinor, Farid and Dustfinger try to save Meggie. Meggie meanwhile finds a mute maid of Mortola's called Resa who she believes is her mother. She was read out by Darius.

With the help of Fenoglio, Meggie reads out the Shadow and makes him kill Capricorn. But to replace the Shadow, Fenoglio is read into Inkheart. Basta and Mortola escape.

In the end, Mo, Resa, and Meggie decide to live at Elinor's house. Dustfinger, now really homesick, takes Mo's copy of Inkheart.

Characters

• Meggie Folchart – A 12 year old girl who loves books. She is Mo`s daughter and inherits the ability to read out loud and bring characters to life. She calls her father (Mortimer) Mo.
• Mortimer Folchart – also known as Silvertongue and Mo, loving father of Meggie and also a skilled bookbinder. He has the ability to read things out of their stories, and accidentally read his wife, Teresa, into Inkheart on the same night he brought Dustfinger, Capricorn, and Basta out. Author Cornelia Funke sent a copy of Inkheart along with a note to actor Brendan Fraser, explaining that he was her inspiration for the character of Mo. Fraser later portrayed the character in the film adaptation of the book.
• Teresa Folchart – also known as Resa. Meggie's mother, and Mo's wife. Mo accidentally read her into the Inkworld and could not read her out. She was considered Capricorn's favorite maidservant. She is said to have hair like spun gold, which Meggie inherited. She lost her voice after Darius happened to poorly read her back out of Inkheart. Dustfinger has a liking for her, even though he has a wife back in the Inkworld.
• Dustfinger – a fire-breather. Dustfinger was taken out of Inkheart at the same time Capricorn was. However, unlike Capricorn, he has a strong desire to go back to the Inkworld. He betrays Meggie and Mo in an attempt to re-enter the book, but later rescues them. He later becomes Farid's mentor in fire.
• Capricorn – The antagonist in the story. Full of evil, he was taken out of Inkheart unintentionally by Mo and wishes to gain as much power as possible. His mother is Mortola (aka The Magpie) and his father was a blacksmith who taught him that power is the only the thing that matters. He has colourless eyes.
• Basta – One of Capricorn's most loyal servants. He is very superstitious, and is in love with his knife (unless Dustfinger stole it from him). He fears fire greatly, always wearing long sleeves because he was once burned up to his shoulders. He started chewing peppermint leaves constantly when a girl that he was going to kiss told him that he had bad breath.
• Elinor Loredan –Meggie's great aunt. She loves collecting books, and is very protective of them. She can be grumpy and very old-lady like.
• Fenoglio – Also known as Inkweaver. The author of Inkheart (for the book), he is an old man who is read into his own book towards the end of the story.
• Farid – A boy who was read out of the story Tales From the Thousand and One Nights. He becomes Dustfinger's apprentice and has a soft spot for Meggie. He is also very fond of Dustfinger and wants to learn how to breathe fire.
• Gwin – Dustfinger's pet marten, he was read out of the book with Dustfinger accidentally.
• Mortola – also known as The Magpie. Capricorn's mother and servant, she is a poisoner who kept Resa enslaved for many years.Capricorn tried to keep it a secret that Mortola was his mother.
• The Shadow – Capricorn's loyal assistant, non-human, and supernatural. He is made out of the ashes of his victims and serves as Capricorn's personal assassin.
• Cockerell – One of Capricorn's assistants who was read out of Inkheart.
• Flatnose – One of Capricorn's loyal assistants, read out of Inkheart with a flat nose because of Darius's stuttering.
• Darius – A reader Capricorn found, he can also read things out of books like Mo. However, when he stutters, he damages the creation. At the end of the book, he moves into Elinor's house. When he read Resa out of the book he stuttered, therefore she lost her voice. Loves Elinor.
• Paula, Pippo, and Rico - Fenoglio's fun-loving grandchildren that can get annoying based on all the fighting they do.

Film adaptation

Main article: Inkheart (film)

A movie based on the book was released in the US and Canada on January 23, 2009. Eliza Bennett and Brendan Fraser were the first to be cast, as Meggie and Mo. Paul Bettany played the role of Dustfinger. Rafi Gavron played Farid. Jim Broadbent played the part of Fenoglio. Helen Mirren played Elinor Loredan, and Andy Serkis was cast as Capricorn. Sienna Guillory played the part of Teresa, and Jamie Foreman played Basta. Actress Jessie Cave, who plays Lavender Brown in the Harry Potter series, played a nymph. Iain Softley directed the film.

Critical reception

Inkheart has received positive praise. The New York Times Book Review described Inkheart as "sprinkled with magical fairy dust", while Kirkus Reviews declared it "a true feast for anyone who has ever been lost in a book".

External links

• The World of Cornelia Funke
• Inkheart Wiki
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