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: The protagonist. A twelve year old girl who loves books. She is Mortimer's daughter and calls her father "Mo."
• Mortimer Folchart: A bookbinder and Meggie's father. He has a great love for books. He is called Silvertongue by some and Mo by his daughter.
• Dustfinger: A fire-eater and an old friend of Mo's. Mo read him out of the book Inkheart along with Capricorn and Basta. His main desire is to return to the world he came from with his horned Marten, Gwin. He hates this world because it doesn't have magic in it.
• Capricorn: The villain in 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.
• 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's life is her books, and she would rather be with them than with people.
• Farid: A boy who was read out of The Thousand and One Nights. He idolizes Dustfinger and yearns to play with fire.
• Basta: One of Capricorn's main henchmen. He loves to play with knives and is very superstitious. He thinks of Capricorn almost as a father. He was the one who scarred Dustfinger's face.
• Fenoglio: Author of Inkheart, and has 3 grandchildren. His books are based on the area around where he lives.
• The Magpie (Mortola): The head of Capricorn's maids, described as looking like a magpie. She is cruel and has a garden full of poisonous plants that she likes to slip into her enemies' food.
• Teresa Folchart: Mo's wife and Meggie's mother, who disappeared nine years before the story began.
• Gwin: Dustfinger's pet marten, distinctive because of the two horns on his head. He helps Dustfinger in his fire-shows. He is always disappearing and reappearing.
• 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 henchmen. Darius did not read Cockerell out properly, so he now walks with a limp. He is a poor shot.
• Flatnose: One of Capricorn's henchmen, who got his name because Darius couldn't read him out properly and his nose is disfigured.
• Darius: A reader for Capricorn; Mo's replacement; however he cannot read anything out of books as well as Mo.
• Tinker Bell: A pixie from the book Peter Pan. Meggie reads her out of her book.
• Paula, Pippo, and Rico: Fenoglio's three grandchildren.
• Fulvio: One of Capricorn's henchmen.

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

• “If you take a book with you on a journey,” Mo had said when he put the first one in her box, “an odd thing happens: The book beings collecting your memories. And forever after that you have only to open that book to be back where you first read it. It will all come into your mind with the very first words: the sights you saw in that place, what it smelled like, the ice cream you ate while you were reading it … yes, books are like flypaper - memories cling to the printed page better than anything else.”

• “Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.”

Setting & Locations edit see section history

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• Liguria: Region that houses Capricorn's village and headquarters.
• Capricorn's Village (and Headquarters): 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. Located in Italy. House is filled with books.
• Mo and Meggie's Home: Where the book starts out and where they first meet Dustfinger.
• Fenogolio's House and Rent Apt: Where Fenogolio lives and a space he rents to tourists. It's 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.

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)
• Prize of the Jury of Young Readers (Preis der Jury der jungen Leser) (2004)
• Book Sense Children's Literature Award (2004)
• Phantastik-Preis der Stadt Wetzlar (2004)
• Kalbacher Klapperschlange (2004)

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.

More Books Like This edit see section history