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| ★★★★ |
Synopsis: 12-year-old Meggie and her bookbinder father Mo’s peaceful existence is one night shattered by the arrival of Dustfinger--a shadowy man with a mysterious link to Mo's past. Mo and Meggie are soon on the move, running from something that threatens everything they hold dear. Mo is forced to reveal to his daughter for the first time his terrible secret. He has the ability, or curse, to breathe life into any story he reads and make the characters come alive. Just such a character, the sinister Capricorn, is after Mo to ensure that he stays alive and is never returned to the pages from which he was sprung.
***
Review: Inkheart is one of those rare, underrated books, because of its unique style. It is most definitely for kids, but Funke applies such sincerity and depth to her intricate portrayal that it is impossible not to read it on a more adult level. Such complexity is rarely successfully portrayed in so simple a form. It blurs the line between fiction and reality until it is indistinguishable; creating an original story for children but still managing a degree of intellectual ideas for adults. Children will of course love it on a surface level, but having read it when I was 15 and re-reading it now at 21, I find there are two definite layers sure to please all ages. Funke gets accused of condensing prose, but I would argue that Lord Of The Rings is an example of condensed prose, Inkheart doesn’t come close. Its just adequately detailed in order to make it one of those rare gems. Of course, if you aren’t an enthusiastic reader, it might not be as simple as you might want from a children’s book.
The reason Inkheart so uniquely has these two layers is this: the events are set in our world. Quite simply, our world is realistically portrayed and is full of normal people with faults and saving graces. Throw just a hint of magic in, and you have a bridge between worlds. You have the blending of stories, storybook characters don’t simply become real, they travel into our world, and we realize our own world is nothing more than a storybook too. When these characters are pulled into the world of Meggie and Mo, we don’t see partially drawn character sketches, we see real people. I think this is the key to Inkheart’s appeal, it blurs the distinction between the fairytale of the imagination and the reality of our world, and makes them one and the same thing. It adds a degree of sincere intellect to a children’s book.
The best thing about Inkheart however is not its story. Indeed the story is fantastical, childish, and endearing in every way. But for me, the greatest element of the entire trilogy is the character, Dustfinger. He is the most well developed, deeply explored, most complex and most realistically portrayed character in the series. I chose to make my reading of the books all about him. He provides the intellectual considerations of being in the presence of those who know how your story ends – and whether, knowing the end, you’d choose to return to it or not.
He is the stranger in the night which starts the story. He is the final figure we see making Inkheart’s melancholic ending fall into reality from those final pages. He is the ultimate in grey-area characters, not good or evil like most children’s characters, just a simple man. He makes it real.
The only flaw you might find in Inkheart is a slight repetition of events, there is quite a bit of escaping only to be captured again towards the end, but I found it all enjoyable. And even if you don’t, its irrelevant. It’s a tiny flaw versus the depth and careful construction of a beautiful story. It is definitely one for true book lovers – much of its value is in its adult complexity, but to appreciate it one needs an inner child which revels in the raw magic of literary imagination.
Rating: 4/5
