Inkheart (2003) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

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• 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 the bookbinder: (Mo); a bookbinder. He has a great love for books. He is nicknamed Silvertounge by Dustfinger and Capricorn. He can read things object out of a book. But when something comes out of the book, something has to come back in. That is how he lost his wife (she is in the book (in the beginning)) and brought Capricorn, Dustfinger, and Basta out of the book.
• Elinor: Maggie moms aunt. rich owns a lot of books.
• Dustfinger: An old friend of Mo's who is also a fire-eater. Mo read him out of the book Inkheart along with Capricorn and Basta. A coward, who's main desire is to return to the world he came from with his horned Marten, Gwin.
• Capricorn: The villain of the story. He is used to getting whatever he wants, and usually gets it through his violent band of men. He wants Mo's copy of the book Inkheart. His heart is as black as ink (Inkheart)
• Elinor Loredan: Meggie's great-aunt. Elinor is a grumpy, eccentric, reclusive, and wealthy woman. She is a collector of books and her mansion is overflowing with them. Elinor is truly in love with her books, and would rather be with her books than people.
• Farid: A boy who was read out of The Thousand and One Nights. Idolizes Dustfinger and yearns to play with fire. He can hop out of stories and be as comfortable with the new world as a snake shedding it's skin.
• Basta: One of Capricorn's men. He loves knifes and is very superstitious. He thinks of Capricorn almost as a father, even though Capricorn thinks nothing of him. He and Dustfinger hate each other because they used to like the same girl and Basta scared Dustfinger's face.
• Fenogolio: Author of Inkheart. Has 3 grandchildren. His books are based off of the area around where he lives.
• The Magpie (Mortola): The head of Capricorn's maids, she is described as looking like a magpie, hence the name. She, like her boss, isn't very nice, she has a garden full of poisonous plants that she likes to slip into her enemies' food.
• Teresa Folchart: (Resa); Mo's wife and Meggie's mother; also one of Capricorn's maids. When Mo read Capricorn, Basta, and Dustfinger out of the book years before, Resa was sucked into the book, until Darius read her out at the bidding of Capricorn. But, due to Darius's poor reading, she came without a voice. She steals the heart of Dustfinger but soon breaks it when she is reunited with her husband.
• Gwin: Dustfinger's pet horned-marten, who helps Dustfinger in his fire-shows. He always keeps disapearing and reapearing. Follows Farid around most of the time.
• The Shadow: The 'pet' that Capricorn uses to kill at his bidding. An immortal monster made of ash and the blood of slain creatures. It is said that Capricorn ordered The Shadow to kill the trolls that created it.
• Cockerell: One of Capricorn's men. Darius could not read Cockerell properly so he now walks with a limp. He is Capricorn's second favorite after Basta.
• Flatnose: One of Capricorn's henchmen, who got his name because Darius couldn't read him out properly and his nose is, well, flat.
• Darius: A reader for Capricorn; Mo's replacement; however he cannot read anything out of books as well as Mo.
• Tinker Bell: A fairy from the book Peter Pan. Meggie reads her out of her book.
• Paula: Fenoglio's granddaughter.
• Pippo: Grandson of Fenoglio.
• Fulvio: One of Capricorn's men.
• Rico: Fenogolio's grandson.

Quotes edit see section history

• “I'm sure it must be very comfortable sleeping with a hard, rectangular thing like that under your head.”

  Mortimer Folchart

• “Everyone has a few secrets, Meggie, Now, come along, do get in. We have to leave.”

  Mortimer Folchart

• “Pack up the food and take plenty to read!”

  Mortimer Folchart

• “It's a good idea to have your own books with you in a strange place.”

  Mortimer Folchart

• “How many? Do you think I count them like buttons or peas? A very, very great many.”

  Elinor

• “She can see it, but you hide it away from me.”

  Meggie

• “Ask him why he doesn't read aloud to you, And don't let him put you off with excuses.”

  Dustfinger

• “Tragic story. Forbidden love, pursuit, death, grief, pain.”

  Elinor Loredan

• “The written word is a powerful thing. You have to be careful with it.”

  Fenoglio

• “I prefer stories that have the good sense to stay on the page where they belong.”

  Elinor Loredan

• “Welcome to the devil's house!”

  Cockerell

• “My dear Elinor, you were obviously born into the wrong story.”

  Dustfinger

• “Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but don't come back, ok?”

• “I don't want to go back into my stinking book.”

  Farid

• “Don't worry Toto; you're just not in Kansas anymore.”

  Meggie Folchart

• “Oh you are going to love him, and by love I mean cower in terror from.”

  Capricorn

• “Do you know how your story ends...?”

  Dustfinger

• “There is no need for me to explain to most of you why the three prisoners you see there are to be punished. For the rest, it is enough for me to say it is for treachery, loose talk, and stupidity. One may argue, of course, over whether or not stupidity isa crime deserving of death. I think it is, for it can have exacty the same consequences as treachery.”

  Capricorn

Setting & Locations edit see section history

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• capricorn's headquarters / village: looks the same as in the book
• liguria
• Fengolio's house and rent apt
• Capricorn's Village: Where Capricorn lives and holds his prisoners. This is where most of the story takes place.
• Elinor's House: Where Mo takes Meggie to hide the book. Her house starts to feel more like home to Meggie than her own house.
• Mo and Meggie's Home: Where the book starts out and where they first meet Dustfinger.
• Fenoglo's House and Rent Apt: Where Fenoglo lives. Its where they hide after they escape Capricorns Village

Organizations edit see section history

• Black Jackets: Minions for Capricorn. Usually dressed in Black Jackets that made them look like crows.

First Sentence edit see section history

Table of Contents edit see section history

Glossary edit see section history

• Charta virginea non nata: The skin of unborn calves, used in the olden days for mostly binding books.
• St. John's wort: A plant with a reputation for keeping away evil.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Followed by Inkspell.

Preceded by The Bad Beginning, and followed by Who Moved My Cheese?.

Preceded by The God of Small Things.

Preceded by The Naming of Tishkin Silk, and followed by Tres cuentos de hadas.

Preceded by Number the Stars, and followed by The Lost Symbol.

Followed by Inkspell.

Preceded by The Pelican Brief, and followed by The Odyssey.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Cornelia Funke (Author)

Other Contributors:

1. Anthea Bell (Translator)
2. Esther Ottens (Translator)
3. Tanja Mlaker (Translator)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Mythopoeic Fantasy Award (Finalist, 2004: Children's Literature)
• Nene Award (Hawaii)

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Parents need to know that the villains are really quite wicked, and Meggie is often in mortal danger. There's an edge to the villainy here that some children find enthralling, others disturbing. Book-loving children and their parents will enjoy the literary references and celebration of books in the lives of the heroes. This is also an excellent book to be read-aloud to children as the system of magic in the book depends upon the spoken word out of a book.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Fairy Tales
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy › Series
• Books › Teens › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Fantasy

Movie Connections edit see section history

• Inkheart (IMDb): An adventure of a father and his young daughter, searching for a long lost book that will help reunite a missing, close relative, this fantasy takes a darker side whenever we hear Mo 'Silvertongue' Folchart reading out aloud from books. His ability to rise to life, to export, to release figures out of the page and into the real world is only relevant when the darker side of his stories appear to reek havoc and destruction. Join in the fantasy and revel at the marvel of Books in this adventure of adventures' that brings the best stories throughout the decades to life that transcends beyond imagine.