Inkheart - Cornelia Funke
In Inkheart, we see the subtle lines between the written word and the world we live in blurred. Mortimer Folchart is a bookbinder by trade, but when he reads aloud, characters leave the books they are in and come to life in our world. Mortimer learns that for one entity to leave their world, an entity from ours must be taken to fill the void. After losing his wife he grows close to his daughter Meggie, and together they bond; going on adventures to bind books. When a dark stranger visits them one rainy evening looking for a book, however, things turn sour very fast and a secret that Mortimer has kept from Meggie comes to haunt them.
Review
Funke's book was originally penned in German and so I suspect there are many nuances that have been lost in translation. Notwithstanding that, this book is a very good read, not just for the teen or young-adult demographic which she was writing for, but for adults as well. Her use of third-person perspective allows the story to be told from outside the point of view of any one of the main characters. However, even though she does this, the book is in no way any less engaging. One finds oneself sucked into the pages as if Mortimer himself were calling one to his world.
On the downside, the book itself was short, but since it is the first part of a trilogy, that much can be expected. There is also the issue of characters acting "out-of-character" on occasion. Although her slips are few, and far between, one gets a bit of a shock when one adopts the mindset of a certain character and finds the character doing something that they wouldn't do under normal circumstances. I do admit one can argue that circumstances in this book are far from normal, but the point still stands. Us readers love surprises, but not the type that can't easily be explained away (unless you're into those mystery type stories).
All in all, Inkheart was a good read and an impressive story. Funke is by no means a new writer and it shows with the way she weaves the words together to create a tapestry of life and colour. One is amazed at how the world unfolds and when one closes the cover, one can't wait to dive back in.
Rating
9 out of 10
