I am currently reading a book which has allegedly sold more than twice as many copies around the world than there are people living in Britain. JRR Tolkien’s ‘The Lord of the Rings‘, according to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, er, I mean according to Wikipedia, has been purchased 150 million times since it was first published in 1954. By Wiki-reckoning it is the second most popular fictional work of all time, coming in 50 million copies shy of ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ by Charles Dickens. Pretty impressive, until you read that the Bible is estimated to have sold somewhere between 2.5 and 6 billion and Chairman Mao’s ‘Little Red Book’ has been snapped up by at least 800 million and perhaps as many as 6.5 billion paying customers. The Koran is high up the list too, lest Islam should feel aggrieved that Christians and Communists are hogging the limelight, as they did for much of the 20th century.

Of course such figures are bunk, really. Barcodes and digital tracking have only been in existence for a relatively short time compared to the lifespan of the religious tomes included in the list. How exactly can anyone know how many copies of a book like The Bible have been sold over a span of some two thousand years? ‘Ring Ring!’ “Hello?” “Oh hello, is that the Pope?” “Yes it is, who is calling?” “Hello, my name is Bernard, I am calling from Wikipedia. Could you spare a few moments of your time to talk to us about sales of your book?” “My book?” “You know, the one you had ghost-written. What’s it called? Let me look at my list again. Oh yes, The Bibble.” “You mean The Bible?” “That’s the one. How many units have you shifted this past two millennia?” “Perhaps I should get my office to call you back.” “Sure thing.” “Anything else I can do for you? A signed Book of Psalms, perhaps?” “No, you’re alright.”

Anyway, I’m reading Tolkien again for a couple of reasons. One is because I’ve been under the weather and there is nothing like a huge book to plough through when illness makes concentrating on other things difficult. And the beauty of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is that one can drop off in the middle of some of the interminably long songs and poems by the elves or the dwarves, and wake up several pages later when the ditty has finally ended. But the other reason I’ve returned to a book I first read when I was about sixteen and have reread on quite a few occasions since, is because I have recently read the ‘Inkheart‘ triilogy by Cornelia Funke. I am new to her work (as happens so often these days, the film drew me to the novels) and became so immersed in the Inkworld that I could not help but compare the reading experience with that first time I read Tolkein. They are miles apart in style and divergent in tone but Funke has achieved what few beyond Tolkien have achieved – she has conjured up an entire world from her own imagination which, despite its dangers and tragedies, almost seems preferable to the real world. Why? For the same reason many of us wish we could slip inside Tolkien’s pages and spend time in Middle Earth: the Inkworld and the world of the Hobbits are worlds of honour, of valour and of the kind of romantic heroism which seems sadly lacking in our own times. Our heroes, according to the gutter press and commercial television, are self-obsessed wannabe celebrities and people who appear in soap-operas on TV. Call me strange and bookish if you must but who would you rather have at your side in a crisis, Leona Lewis and Katie Price or a couple of doughty hobbits and an axe-wielding dwarf?

click the titles for the download links

inkheart

inkspell

inkdeath

The Thief Lord

Prosper and Bo’s evil aunt manages to track them to Venice and there they hire a private investigator to bring them back. They plan to adopt Bo, but leave Prosper in a boarding school.

Meanwhile, the Thief Lord gets an opportunity to pull of a huge heist, the proceeds of which could once and for all take care of all the children’s needs and end their rather hand-to-mouth existence.

However, the Thief Lord has his own secrets that almost tear apart the gang. The private detective is hot on Prosper and Bo’s tracks; and everything that could go wrong with the heist goes wrong.

Can they all make their fortunes? What happens to these children? Are Bo and Prosper caught and delivered to their aunt?

Well, you gotta read the book to find out

My thoughts on this book:

I read The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke as part of completing the Young Adult reading challenge.

I was surprised to find that I quite loved this little book. It is Cornelia Funke’s first novel; so there are a few places where the book is all over the place. However in spite of this, I found this book compares quite favorably with her far more famous Ink series.

I found The Thief Lord to be a very neat and concise book. The pace does not flag; and the page count is just right for the story. The Ink books could have done with some editing.

I loved that Venice is the setting for this story; it provides the perfect fantastical backdrop. There is also an almost Dickensian aspect to the story. I could see the parallels between the street children thieving on the streets of Venice and and the street thieves in Oliver Twist. When I read Oliver Twist as a child, I was enchanted by the concept; and I think the same enchantment carried me through for this novel as well.

I also loved the characterization of Prosper and Scipio (the thief lord). Bo is somewhat annoying and childish though; he blurts secrets out every time getting all the other children into hot water, and throws tantrums at all inappropriate times. I think he really was in need of a spanking.

Another aspect that I loved was how all the children stick together during tough times. At times, it would have been easier for them to give up on Prosper and Bo; but never is this option even seriously considered.

All in all; a great book for some lighthearted reading and channeling your inner child!

Note: I have classified this book as a Fantasy novel. Although this is not hard-core fantasy, there is an element of magic and a fairy tale-ish quality in the book (I have not revealed it in my review because I quite enjoyed the surprise and hope you will too) that prompted me to tag it as a Fantasy novel.

I do have Inkheart and Inkspell by Cornelia Funke, but haven’t gotten around to reading them (they’re safe in a box ready for me to read whenever I want) but this one also caught my eye and I decided to pick it up as well. I do have a certain liking to anything to do with Venice. I think it’s a city I would love to visit one day.

The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke was originally written in German then translated into English. It covers the story of two boys, Prosper and Bo who have run away from their Aunt (who intends to have them separated by having Prosper going to a boarding school while Bo becomes their little trophy child). Running way to Venice (a city they intended to go to after hearing stories about the city from their late mother), they meet with The Thief Lord, a mysterious boy who with a small group of street children make a living by stealing and living in an old abandoned movie theater. There they life a hard, but comfortable life with The Thief Lord providing for them. Little do they know, the Thief Lord has a secret, and the two boys are finding themselves in a journey which will change their lives forever.

This book went by fast! I actually managed to get it started on Friday night, then continued for the rest of the day on Sunday and finished it! It was so interesting I just wanted to know what was going to happen next. At first though I had to admit I wasn’t sure what to expect with this novel. I was actually expecting a novel that was set in Venice back in the past, but surprisingly it actually took place in present day. Which didn’t really make it uninteresting at all, it suited the setting just fine. I really liked the idea of a group of street children surviving and treating it all like one big adventure after another under the leadership of The Thief Lord. Although putting this in a historical fiction setting would also be good as well, it still does well in the present day setting albeit differently but it doesn’t take long to get used to it.

The book was interesting enough, and the plot flowed through seamlessly. There was never a part in the book where I was bored. The chapters were short enough to keep you going and it was definitely a page turner. The majority of the characters were very likable although there were times where I wanted to smack Bo around a bit for being such a pest. Then again he played the role of little brother perfectly. I have to admit, Scipio had to be my favorite character. Especially after what happens to him near the end, I find that he has matured the most, but maintained his childhood self. I liked his character development the most. In the end though, all the children had matured and although it was sad to see everything change, it actually had quite a bittersweet ending. Why bittersweet? because I was just sad to see the story end with such likable characters.

Although a sequel might be tempting, I don’t think there should be one. The ending was complete and all questions were answered. Actually, I think a sequel might actually ruin it. The story is fine as is. This book was a great mix of fantasy, adventure, and a bit of drama.

Overall, a really nice quick read, which will take you to an adventure and you’ll ask yourself; Would you take a ride or not?

I give it a 9 out of 10.

.

24 Storys von Hans Christian Andersen bis Doris Dörrie

Weihnachten dürfe, wie der Diogenes Verlag sichtlich meint, für Kinder nicht nur das Fest der TV-Filme und der Playstations, der DVD-Games und der Internet-Animationen sein, und auch die Zeit vom 1. bis zum 24. Dezember könne zu mehr da sein als bloß fürs Warten auf die Bescherung. Also stellte er ein neues «Kinder-Adventsbuch» zusammen, das für jeden Adventstag eine Geschichte parat hat.
Das Autorenfeld des schmuck gestalteten Bandes ist dabei so vielfältig wie die Inhalte der 24 Storys. Man begegnet mal wieder «Frau Holle» (Gebrüder Grimm) und E.T.A. Hoffmanns «Mausekönig», Erich Kästners «Felix» holt den Senf, und auch Cechovs «Wanjka» ist mit von der weihnächtlichen Partie. Diesen Advents-Klassikern zugesellt werden dann kurzprosaische Nachdenklichkeiten oder auch froh-erwartungsvolle Heiterkeiten bis hin zu leicht Satirischem von Doris Dörrie, Cornelia Funke, Tim Krohn oder Bernhard Lassahn. Mit gleich zwei köstlichen Geschichten vertreten (und jeweils ganz aus Kinder-Blickwinkel erzählend) ist außerdem der berühmte «Asterix»- und «Lucky-Luke»-Texter René Goscinny.

Das neue «Kinder-Adventsbuch» fächert seine 24 Geschichten rund um Tannenbaum, Adventskalender, Winterschnee und Weihnachtsmann sehr kontrastreich auf, was mithin gut geeignet ist für eine tägliche – kürzere oder längere – «Vorlese-Stunde». Der «tiefere Sinn» einiger Storys dürfte sich wohl erst etwas älteren Kindern erschließen, die meisten Texte werden aber auch von jüngeren Schulkindern problemlos gelesen und genossen werden können. (we) ■

Diogenes Verlag (D.Kampa/Hrsg), Kinder-Adventsbuch, Weihnachtsgeschichten für jeden Adventstag (Div. Autoren), 176 Seiten, ISBN 978-3-257-01146-3

.

.

.

Farid had difficulty remembering the name. It was awkward as a pebble on his tongue, and sounded like the name of an enchantress from a far-distant land.

(Cornelia Funke, Inkheart, Chicken House, 2003)

After pondering for months WHY this happens, I found this little tit-bit in Cornelia Funke’s FAQ section.

“I feel very strongly that Farid will want the same life Dustfinger led for a while- going off by himself and probably falling in love with a lot of girls, while Meggie yearns for a place to stay and for someone, who loves her more than anyone else- which I think Doria will do.”

I’m still not convinced.

Para as crianças, jovens e adultos que realmente amem a literatura, esse livro é um encanto e uma surpresa. Trata-se da literatura dentro da literatura. A autora alemã Cornelia Funke, dá vida a personagens complexos, enigmáticos e inesquecíveis. Ela brinca com as palavras e revive às lembranças dos leitores mais velhos, haja vista que ela faz referências dentro da sua história a grandes obras da literatura mundial.

A história transcorre através das páginas de um livro que leva o mesmo nome da obra de Funke. Mo é um excepcional restaurador de livros que juntamente com sua esposa nutre um amor incondicional pela literatura. Ele possuía o habito de ler para a esposa e para a filha ainda bem pequena, Maggie. Entretanto, em uma ocasião ele descobre sem querer que poderia dar vida aos personagens dos livros que estivesse lendo. Foi quando uma grande tragédia abateu-se sobre as suas vidas.

Mortimer, mais conhecido como Mo, ao ler um trecho de “Coração de tinta” traz para o seu mundo três personagens do livro, dois vilões, Capricórnio e Basta e um egnimático saltimbanco, Dedo Empoeirado. Por outro lado, sua esposa, Teresa e os dois gatos do casal entram no livro para ocupar os lugares dos que saíram.

Confusos e resignados, pois queriam voltar para o livro e não sabiam como, eles partem investem contra Mo. Sem conseguirem retornar à história eles fogem da casa de Mo, deixando-o desolado e perplexo, quando percebe que sua esposa foi parar dentro do livro. Mas ele não desiste, por 13 longos anos ele tenta de todas as formas trazê-la de volta, lendo e relendo o livro em voz alta, mas sempre longe de Maggie para que nada acontecesse a ela.

Após 12 anos Dedo Empoeirado regressa em busca do livro que sempre foi a sua casa, a mando de Capricórnio, que o deseja para fins nada bons. Assustado, Mo resolve fugir com Maggie para a casa de Elinor, tia de Teresa e detentora de uma biblioteca invejável aos maiores amantes da literatura.

A partir desse encontro as aventuras ao mesmo tempo fantásticas e assustadoras assolam a vida dos protagonistas. Maggie descobre finalmente o que aconteceu com a sua mãe e descobre que herdou o mesmo dom do seu pai. Se tornando uma grande aliada dele na luta para trazer a sua mãe de volta a vida “real”. Até mesmo a taciturna Elinor embarca na aventura perigosa e arriscada para ter sua sobrinha querida de volta e encara com força e coragem, ao lado de Mo e Maggie a difícil missão de salvar o mundo de um dos mais terríveis e malvados vilões que o mundo já conheceu.

Funke ainda destaca através do escritor de “Coração de tinta”, Fenoglio, a dor e o sofrimento de um escritor para realizar a difícil proeza de dar vida a personagens complexos e inesquecíveis e construir um enredo. Além dos segredos que o escritor mantém apenas entre ele e os personagens e que o leitor nunca irá descobrir ou entender.

 “Coração de tinta” é aquele livro que você olha por acaso em uma estante de livraria, mas não é por acaso que você se encanta com ele. Uma história eletrizante, interessante e inesquecível. Recomendo para todas as idades.

Não é a toa que a Playarte lançou uma adaptação do livro para o cinema trazendo um grande elenco e produziram um filme também muito legal. Até o cartaz de divulgação do filme é muito bonito.

Me...and my...shaaah...dow!!!

(New Line) Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Andy Serkis, Helen Mirren, Eliza Hope Bennett, Jim Broadbent, Sienna Guillory, Jennifer Connelly, Jamie Foreman, Rafi Gavron, Roger Allam (voice), John Thomson, Steve Speirs, Matt King, Stephen Graham. Directed by Iain Softley.

Few things in our experience are as powerful as the written word. With it, we can inform, entertain, transport, amaze, horrify, shock, save and titillate. Even in this electronic information age, most of us still get our information by reading something, whether on a printed page or on a computer screen. The most glorious thing is that the written word still has the power to fire up our imaginations to the point where the limitless is possible.

However, there is a far more dangerous magic in the written word. Certain people, called silvertongues, can literally bring the pages of a story to life when they read it aloud. The drawback is that when a character from a fictional universe is brought to the real world, a real person must be sent to the fictional universe to balance things out. As you might guess, people with this gift are few and far between, and those that do have it tend to keep it on the down-low if they use it at all.

Expert bookbinder Mo Folchart (Fraser) learned the hard way about the dangers of this gift. Reading aloud a fantasy story called Inkheart, he drew two characters from its pages; Dustfinger (Bettany), an itinerant fire juggler whose heart is in the right place, but whose courage and integrity are lacking, and Capricorn (Serkis), a genuinely menacing villain who cheerfully plans world domination with an urbane smoothness that wouldn’t be out of place in a Bond movie. While Dustfinger desperately wants to return home to his wife (Connelly in a very small role) and kids, Serkis prefers this world, where guns and Silvertongues make evil easier.

 What compels Folchart is that his wife Resa (Guillory) was sucked into the pages of Inkheart to replace Capricorn. Now he travels Europe with his precocious daughter Meggie (Bennett) in tow. Meggie is frustrated that she is aware something odd is going on, and is bothered by the nagging feeling that her father knows a lot more than he’s telling her, particularly about her mother’s disappearance. She gets the feeling somebody is chasing him, even as he is searching for something, a specific book.

When Dustfinger catches up with Folchart, the bookbinder is none too pleased to see him. In fact, Folchart runs away with Meggie, barely escaping the grasp of the juggler. Folchart and Meggie head to the home of Great-Aunt Elinor (Mirren). She is abrasive and unfriendly, but once you get past the outward unpleasantness she actually is loyal and loving. Still, she’s unprepared for her sanctuary to be invaded by men with evil intent, and her beloved antique book collection torched.

A desperate Dustfinger has led Capricorn’s men to Folchart, and the bookbinder, his daughter and Great-Aunt Elinor are taken to Capricorn’s castle, where he has a collection of creatures from the pages of fiction – the flying monkeys of “The Wizard of Oz,” the minotaur from Homer’s “The Odyssey,” the Tick-Tock crocodile from “Peter Pan” and the unicorn from the tales of King Arthur. The villain there reveals his plans – for Folchart to bring into this world a truly terrifying monster from the pages of Inkheart – the Shadow.

Director Softley has things like Hackers and K-PAX to his credit, which doesn’t really tell you how he did here. Filming in the beautiful Italian Riviera, as well as the Bourne Woods of Surrey, the cinematography has an otherworldliness that compliments the mood of the novel nicely. While it follows the plot of the Cornelia Funke novel it’s based on nicely, the movie is a bit less grim than its literary counterpart.

Fraser has been a capable action hero ever since his work in The Mummy and is proving to be quite a draw for family films as he showed in Journey to the Center of the Earth. He is less dashing and less heroic than other characters he’s played; his Mortimer Folchart is handicapped by his own guilt, and in trying to be protective of his daughter, causes her more pain than perhaps was necessary. I personally would have liked to see there be more of a rift between them – it’s hard to believe a 12-year-old girl would be too forgiving of a father who kept her in the dark most of her life about what really happened to her mother.

The central character in the book is Meggie, and while she technically is here as well, this isn’t her movie. Bennett is better than average in her performance, but when contending with actors the caliber of Mirren, Broadbent, Bettany, Fraser and Serkis, someone a little more memorable might have been better. She’s supposed to be the focus of the movie but she is clearly out of her depth here, so by default it become’s Mortimer’s story.

 My problem is that the writer gives these silvertongues immense power, but they rarely use it logically. Oh, when they’re forced to do it they can and will read things out of the classic stories, but for example when one silvertongue is imprisoned in a crypt with the Jim Broadbent character (who plays the author of Inkheart who is suffering from a massive case of writer’s block), while they are able to write all sorts of things for the silvertongue to read at the movie’s conclusion, they don’t think of writing something simple like “The locked door swung open of it’s own accord and the prisoners stepped out and escaped.” Of course, that would have made too much sense.

While the acting is top-notch, the special effects are nice and the scenery is beautiful, one of the problems I have is that this kind of movie needs a heart, something that will stay with the viewer long after they’ve gone home. Inkheart doesn’t have one. Bettany comes close, but his character is so weak-willed, and uses the excuse “I was written that way” to explain away his awful choices, so it becomes hard to root for him. Fraser is also curiously restrained; I think a little more Rick O’Connell might have served the movie better.

While this was ostensibly marketed for kids (and there were a bunch of them at the showing I attended), I wouldn’t characterize this strictly as a kid’s movie. Yes, the kids are going to enjoy this, but there is a great deal of violence and the Shadow is going to be far too scary for younger children. There is enough here, however, that make this a solid enough family movie that I can recommend without feeling guilty about it.

WHY RENT THIS: Gorgeous scenery. Nice performances from the supporting roles. Nice fantasy action and a truly frightening villain.

WHY RENT SOMETHING ELSE: Lapses in logic. Some characters a bit too weak to really support. Lacks heart.

FAMILY VALUES: The Shadow is a bit much for younger children. There is also some violence, but all in all just fine for most kids.

TRIVIAL PURSUIT: Author Cornelia Funke wrote the part of Mo “Silvertongue” Folchert with Brendan Fraser in mind.

NOTABLE DVD EXTRAS: Actress Eliza Bennett reads a passage from the book that didn’t make it into the movie. Using “Reading Rainbow” style visuals as well as illustrations from the novel gives the sequence some visual kick.

FINAL RATING: 6/10

TOMORROW: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

I decided to give this one a try because it was written by an author I have come to like. At first I assumed it would be just another Fantasy story along the lines of Inkheart and Igraine The Brave, but I was surprised to find how few fantasy elements it had. In fact, it wasn’t until further along in the book that we discover the fantastical properties. It is nice to see writers who are able to pull off more than one format.

I believe there is also a movie version of this story, but I have not seen it, so keep that in mind when reading this review as the book may be quite different.

Story overview:

After the death of their mother, 12-year-old Prosper and 5-year-old Bo run away to Italy; the place their mother always talked about being a magical city. When they get there, they meet a group of street kids who survive by stealing from tourists. Their pseudo-leader is 13-year-old boy named Scipio, who goes by the name of The Thief Lord. He brings them stolen goods to sell to a shady local antique dealer, Barbarossa.

In the mean time, Prosper and Bo’s aunt hire a private detective named Victor Getz to track down the two boys. Once found she wants Prosper to go to an orphanage and Bo to be her little toy puppy. This is the reason they ran away in the first place. Victor turns out to be a nice man who helps the children in more ways than one.

An old man, the Conte, gives The Thief Lord a special job: to find the missing wing to a magical Merry-Go-Round. The legend is that anyone who rides it can either become younger or older. When things go wrong, Bo finds himself captured by his aunt, The Thief Lord’s true identity becomes known (getting him ostracized by everyone), and the money they receive from the job turns out to be fake. Prosper and The Thief Lord team up to find the Conte so that they can ride on the Merry-Go-Round to become adults. Meanwhile a nice lady named Ida takes in the rest of the children, and with Victor, they try to find Prosper and a way to get Bo back.

My thoughts:

I liked this one. I didn’t love it, but it was pretty good. The story definitely got more exciting about three-quarters of the way though. The characters were believable, the landscape and settings well described, and the situations fun to watch unfold (that is, in my mind’s eye). I would recommend it both to those who liked Cornelia Funke’s other books, and those who have never read anything by her before; the story stands strong on its own.

Things to consider:

Barnes & Noble lists this for ages 9 to 12. I agree with that, however I would raise the age group to include teens and adults. There are no sexual situations, coarse language, or extreme violence. A pretty clean tale.

Opportunities for discussion:

As the title indicates, theft is one of the central topics. As the reader we are shown why the children stole: mainly to survive. However most children are not under these extreme circumstances and should never have a reason to act this way. Ask your children if they ever stole anything. If they are honest, they will probably say they did. Then ask them how it made them feel. Wait and listen. From there talk to them about using their desire to acquire things in a positive way rather than a negative one: such as doing chores around the house, waiting for Christmas, or mowing the neighbor’s lawn. You can also talk to them about contentment and the fruitless endeavors of obsessing over ‘things’. It is important to instill these ideals into children no matter what age they are; it will greatly aid them in their adult life.

Inkheart (2008)
★ / ★★★★

I had high expectations from this movie because the premise of it was interesting: a man named Mo Folchart (Brendan Fraser) who was a “Silvertongue” had the ability to bring book characters to live simply just by reading about them out loud. He did not always have such an ability (or was he aware of it) so over the years, the disparate characters from the books were taken to the human world–some of them good (Paul Bettany as the fire-wielding Dustfinger and Rafi Gavron as Farid, a sort of Aladdin-like character) and some bad (led by Andy Serkis as Capricorn). One of my biggest problems with this movie was its dialogue. It was so uninspired and it lacked a sense of wonder that movies like the “Harry Potter” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” innately have. Since this was based on a children’s novel by Cornelia Funke, I expected it to be at least entertaining by way of enchancing the audiences’ imagination. Instead, we got this overly long exposition, chaotic action scenes that did not amount to anything, and characters that were not exactly likable or memorable. I usually love watching Helen Mirren’s elegance but I think she was completely miscast as the grandmother who loves books and the indoors more than other people and the outdoors. Her character’s attempt at humor made me feel sort of ashamed because none of them were even slightly amusing. There were many points in the film where I just felt bored and wondered about the technical things. For instance, I thought about the repercussions that would happen in the book if the characters were suddenly taken off the pages. I thought of the “exchange” that had to happen–if one was to be transported into the book, wouldn’t it make more sense if someone comparable would be taken out of the book? There were a plethora of plotholes and by the end of it, I was just tired of being disappointed. Perhaps with a better direction other than Iain Softley, the translation from novel to film would have been better. I suggest not to waste time with this one. Even the kids would be bored out of their minds.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Year of Publication: 2008

Book 3 of Ink World Trilogy

The Adderhead–his immortality bound in a book by Meggie’s father, Mo–has ordered his henchmen to plunder the villages. The peasants’ only defense is a band of outlaws led by the Bluejay–Mo’s fictitious double, whose identity he has reluctantly adopted. But the Book of Immortality is unraveling, and the Adderhead again fears the White Women of Death. To bring the renegade Bluejay back to repair the book, the Adderhead kidnaps all the children in the kingdom, dooming them to slavery in his silver mines unless Mo surrends. First Dustfinger, now Mo: Can anyone save this cursed story?

DOWNLOAD LINK

http://ifile.it/r9jkhgu

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Year of Publication: 2005

Book 2 of InkWorld Trilogy

Although a year has passed, not a day goes by without Meggie thinking of INKHEART, the book whose characters became real. But for Dustfinger, the fire-eater brought into being from words, the need to return to the tale has become desperate. When he finds a crooked storyteller with the ability to read him back, Dustfinger leaves behind his young apprentice Farid and plunges into the medieval world of his past. Distraught, Farid goes in search of Meggie, and before long, both are caught inside the book, too. But the story is threatening to evolve in ways neither of them could ever have imagined.

DOWNLOAD LINK

http://ifile.it/42d6j0e

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Year of Publication: 2003

Book 1 of InkWorld Trilogy

Mo, a gentle bookbinder with an extraordinary secret, and his daughter Meggie love books, yet he has not read aloud to her since her mother disappeared years ago. After a mysterious stranger visits them, Mo tells Meggie they must go into hiding. But why? – and from whom?

DOWNLOAD LINK

http://ifile.it/31yxova

116. Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (original text 1997; English translation 2004)

Read By: Brendan Fraser
Length: 11h 35min (528 pages)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Started: 07 September 2009
Finished: 20 September 2009

Where did it come from? The library.
Why do I have it? I was looking for an audiobook that was relatively short and not too mentally taxing, plus I knew from listening to Inkspell that I liked Fraser’s narration.

A dragon must find
someplace safe to live without
bringing disaster.

Summary: Dragons have always tried to stay out of the way of humans, so when a construction team threatens to invade their mountainous highland hideout, they must find another place to live. A young silver dragon named Firedrake volunteers to go search for the Rim of Heaven, a fabled valley far to the east – supposedly home to another group of refugee dragons, and so isolated that no humans will ever be able to find it. He’s accompanied by Sorrell, a brownie with a sharp attitude and an insatiable craving for mushrooms, and it’s not long into their travels before they pick up Ben, a young human orphan who helps them out of a tight spot. But that’s not all they’ve picked up: they’ve also attracted the attention of Nettlebrand, a giant golden dragon whose sole purpose in life is to hunt and kill other dragons… and now they’re unwittingly leading him to the one place they thought they could be safe.

Review: This is one of those cases where I don’t think I would have enjoyed this book in book form nearly as much as I did in audiobook form. Not that it’s not good: it’s a fun little fantasy adventure geared towards mid-grade to pre-teen kids, and the interesting complexity of the world meant that it held my attention a lot better than many other mid-grade fantasy novels have. Although it certainly could have been tightened up a bit in places (500+ pages is a long book for this reading level), it never felt particularly draggy, and although there were elements that would have been more interesting if they were left a little bit more morally ambiguous, I can let that go as writing for a younger audience.

However, what really made this book a stand-out for me was the audiobook narration. Brendan Fraser does such an incredible job with the voice-acting that it makes me sad that he hasn’t narrated more audiobooks (this and Funke’s Inkspell are the only two I can find). He doesn’t have a “typical” reader’s style or cadence, but he reads into the microphone exactly as if he were reading a bedtime story to his own kids – complete with acted-out sneezes, whispers, grumbling noises, a huge range of consistently well-done accents, even bird noises and other not-strictly-textual sounds. If you’d ask me a priori if I wanted my audiobook narrator making spitting noises and raven squawks into my ear, I would have said absolutely not – ordinarily that kind of thing comes off as over-produced and totally obnoxious. But somehow Brendan Fraser makes it work, and the effect is more charming than annoying, and if it did its job pulling me into the story, I can only imagine how well it would work on kids closer to the intended age range. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: As a book, it would be good for mid-grade fantasy fans, or adults who want a light, well-told fantasy adventure. As an audiobook, it would be perfect for a long car trip with the whole family, or just for grown-ups who miss having someone read them bedtime stories.

This Review on LibraryThing | This Book on LibraryThing | This Book on Amazon

Other Reviews: The Symposium
Have you reviewed this book? Leave a comment with the link and I’ll add it in.

First Line: All was still in the valley of the dragons.

Cover Thoughts: I like the misty mountains, and how the moonlight (important to the story) is implied to be sparkling off of Firedrake’s scales. Having Sorrel and Ben be so tiny is an interesting choice – I didn’t even see them at first, and it makes the dragon much bigger than I think he’s supposed to be. My only real problem with it is that Firedrake looks a little googly-eyed, like maybe someone slipped him some drugs while Ben wasn’t looking.

Jag ska försöka att inte avslöja något, men den som är mycket spoilerkänslig och inte läst föregångaren, Bläckhjärta, kanske bara ska kolla in betyget, om något alls, i denna recension.

I del två har Funke tagit vad som känns som det logiska steget efter första boken, då flera av de som överlevt händelserna i den förflyttar sig från vår värld till fantasyvärlden i Bläckhjärta. Tyvärr visar det sig vara en bättre idé på papperet än på pränt, om det går att förstå vad jag menar.

Mycket av det jag gillade med Bläckhjärta grundade sig i att fantasyvarelserna damp ner i vår värld och en hyfsat intressant och konsekvent beskrivning av hur det gick till. När jag som läsare nu får se världen känns den lite väl mycket som standardiserad medeltidsfantasy. Paradoxalt nog försvinner det mesta av magin i Bläckmagi, trots att den utspelar sig längre från vardagen än Bläckhjärta.

Något annat jag tyckte om i första delen var hur den förmedlade kärleken till böcker. Det kändes verkligen som en hälsning från en bokmal till alla hennes själsfränder världen över. Den delen är inte lika närvarande i Bläckmagi, även om den dyker upp en aning mot slutet och varje kapitel fortfarande inleds med ett citat ur barn- och ungdomsböcker eller därtill relaterade skrifter. Bl a hittar vi ett av hedersbokmalen Francis Spufford.

Det finns några starka sidor hos Bläckmagi. Den går snabbt att läsa för sitt omfång och jag hade säkert slukat den när jag var, säg, tio-elva år gammal, om inte annat så för att få veta hur det går för karaktärerna jag lärt känna i Bläckhjärta. Dessutom blir den ganska spännande under sista femtedelen eller så. Tyvärr räcker det inte. Det är alltid bara spännande och jag läste bara för att få se hur det går.

Jag ska läsa den tredje och sista (?) delen också. Det är ju lurigt med bokserier, iom att en mellandel kan vara värd att ta sig genom om övriga delar är bra. Skulle sista delen vara riktigt bra är Bläckmagi helt klart något att läsa. Annars kan det räcka med första delen.

Betyg: 2/5 – knappt godkänd

/Olov L

“Vielleicht findest du’s ja hier!”
- “Wie, was denn?”
“Das Buch, was du schon so lange suchst.”

Tintenherz hat mich als Buch noch nie so wirklich interessiert. Man hörte zwar hier und da mal ein paar gute Worte über die Bücher, aber für mich klang das alles ein bisschen wie Die unendliche Geschichte in moderner und wurde recht schnell abgehakt. Nun gab es im Laden, der die Technik so liebt vor einiger Zeit die Blu Ray im Angebot und ebenso gab es da jemanden, der diese gerne haben wollte, und dann bin ich ja nicht so…

Jedenfalls war dies mal ein Weg herauszufinden, ob es dem Film besser als den letzten Harry Potter Teilen gelingt, auch ohne Buchkenntnisse zu funktionieren und eine fantasievolle Geschichte zu erzählen. Dies hat leider nur in Teilen geklappt mit dem Nachteil, dass ich nun natürlich nicht weiß, wem das vorzuwerfen ist – der Vorlage oder dem Drehbuch.

Mortimer Folchart ist eine Zauberzunge – jemand, der Personen oder Dinge aus einem Buch in die Realität herauslesen kann. So ist es ihm vor neun Jahren passiert, dass er einerseits unbewusst die Romanfiguren Staubfinger und Capricorn in seine Welt herausgelesen, aber andererseits auch seine Frau in die Welt des Buches “Tintenherz” hineingelesen hat. Seit diesem Zeitpunkt ist Mo auf der Suche nach dem Buch, welches ihm damals abhanden gekommen ist, um seine Frau wieder zurück zu holen. Erschwert wird diese Suche durch den Bösewicht Capricorn, der ganz andere Pläne mit Mortimer und seiner Fähigkeit hat…

Es ist schon klar, worauf Frau Funke im Kern mit den Büchern über die Welt von Tintenherz hinaus wollte: Die Magie von Büchern, das Abtauchen in andere Welten durch das Lesen, so das man denkt, man wäre in diesen Welten, alleine durch die Fantasie. Zumindest glaube ich das nach Sichtung des Films – die Bücher kenne ich ja, wie erwähnt, nicht. Natürlich ist es schwer, eine, wenn man mal ehrlich ist, doch recht trockene Angelegenheit wie das Lesen spannend auf die Leinwand zu bringen. Dies dachte sich wohl auch Regisseur Iain Softley (K-Pax, Der verbotene Schlüssel) und legte den Schwerpunkt in die Actionszenen, so dass die Bücherthematik nur noch am Rande behandelt wird.

Dies ist aber sehr schade, denn vorstellen kann ich mir schon, wie intensiv grade das im Buch behandelt werden könnte. Im Film zum Beispiel kam doch alles sehr plötzlich. Kurze Einführung, was Zauberzungen sind und schon befinden wir uns auf dem Buchmarkt, wo Mo auf das Buch Tintenherz und Staubfinger trifft – dann kann die Action ja beginnen. Etwas mehr Ruhe, vor allem etwas mehr Fantasy hätte man sich hier gewünscht anstatt dieser kurzen Einleitung, die als Basiswissen herhalten muss. Was folgt, muss als gegeben hingenommen werden, viel erklärt wird nicht mehr. Das klappt zwar im Grunde recht gut, denn wirklich kompliziert ist das Ganze nicht angelegt, aber schade ist das schon. Es mag unfair klingen, aber als Referenz gilt bei mir für Fantasyfilme immer Der Herr der Ringe – und besonders im Directors Cut kann man sehen, wie so etwas funktioniert. Da nimmt sich Peter Jackson einfach mal zu Beginn die Zeit, den Prolog über die Hobbits für den Film zu adaptieren. Denn die Zeit muss einfach sein, damit eine Geschichte in sich schlüssig ist und funktionieren kann. Die Welt, in die man abtauchen soll bzw. will, muss einem auch die Gelegenheit dazu geben.

Ob dies nun an Funke oder am Drehbuch liegt – eine Logik in der Geschichte habe, und das kommt erschwerend hinzu, nicht wirklich gefunden. Mo kann das Buch vor neun Jahren im Eifer des Gefechts (schließlich sind Romanfiguren in seinem Haus aufgetaucht) verschütt gegangen sein. Vielleicht wurde es auch von Capricorn gestohlen, ich weiß nicht mehr genau ob das im Film erwähnt wurde. Jedenfalls sucht er seit neun Jahren danach, ok. Viel verwirrender finde ich allerdings die Sache mit seiner Frau (waynes interessiert: Spoiler:). Er hat sie nun in das Buch hineingelesen, schön und gut. Aber verändert sich durch diese Tatsache dann auch das geschriebene Wort? Ist seine Frau von da an Teil der Handlung von Tintenherz? Denn falls nicht – wie konnte es Capricorn möglich sein bzw. wie will es Mo gelingen, sie wieder herauszulesen? (Spoiler Ende). Um etwas herauszulesen, muss es doch geschrieben stehen? Und wieso ist es noch niemandem eingefallen, Jesus aus der Bibel herauszulesen? Ähm – ich schweife ab.

Tintenherz verschenkt hier einiges von seinem Potenzial und wirkt in der Summe wie ein grade noch durchschnittlicher Fantasy-Film, aber leider nicht mehr. Was sehr schade ist, denn ein Anreiz, die Bücher jetzt doch einmal zu lesen, wurde mir nicht wirklich geboten.

Today was National Talk Like a Pirate Day and many of Old Town Alexandria’s shops participated in a treasure hunt.  The folks at Hooray For Books! had a blast talking like pirates, reading pirate stories, singing pirate chanteys and watching all the parents and kids dressed up in their pirate regalia.  The day was a huge success and many are looking forward to next year’s Pirate Day.

If you missed today’s event, do not fear, here is a list of pirate stories you can read to get into the pirate spirit:

“How I Became a Pirate” by Melinda Long & David Shannon - when Braid Beard, the pirate, asked Jeremy Jacobs to join his crew as a digger, Jeremy accepted.  While on-board, he decided that being a pirate was the greatest thing in the world, until he decided it wasn’t.

Other pirate books you may enjoy – “Pirate Girl” by Cornelia Funke, “Bubble Bath Pirates!” by Jarrett J. Krosoczka & ”Pirate Pete” by Kim Kennedy.

All are amazing books sure to tickle your funny bone and to get you into the pirate mood.

Cornelia Funke is a German author who is also published in English. Perhaps she is best known for her series starting with Inkheart. Meggie’s dad Mo has a secret but when he gets kidnapped for owning a book and Meggie gets captured as well for going after him, it all comes out. Mo has the ability to read things to life out of books. Unfortunately, he read out an evil villain named Capercorn. Capricorn wants Mo’s copy of the book he came out of, Inkheart, but he also wants Mo to read out the most awful monster ever. Can Meggie, Mo, and their friends outwit Capricorn?

No puedo evitarlo. Ayer me compré dos nuevos libros. Mi padre está convencido de que un día hundiré el suelo de mi casa por el peso de los libros, mi madre se echa a temblar cada vez que me ve con una bolsa de una librería y yo ya no sé dónde ponerlos… pero he añadido dos más a mi colección. Uno de ellos es ‘El club Dante’, de Matthew Pearl, del que acabó de leer ‘El último Dickens’ (Alfaguara) y me ha encantado. El otro, ‘Corazón de tinta’ (Siruela), de Cornelia Funke, una trilogía estilo Harry Potter (creo que me gustará porque me he leído dos veces los libros de J. K. Rowling y me declaro totalmente ‘potteriana’).

I checked out this book because I enjoyed the Inkworld/Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke.

Here are my past reviews of the trilogy:
1) Inkheart (Inkheart Trilogy, Book 1)
2) Inkspell (Inkheart Trilogy, Book 2)
3) Inkdeath (Inkheart Trilogy, Book 3)

Story overview:

Soon to be twelve years old, Igraine eagerly awaits her birthday present. Even though she insists on being a knight, she doesn’t hesitate to accept gifts made from magic. Her mother, father, and brother worked on her gift with the help of some special magical books.

During the process, Igraine’s parents were accidentally turned into pigs. This wouldn’t be so bad except that (1) they could not use magic in pig form, (2) they needed giant’s hair in order to be turned back, and (3) their old castle suddenly fell under siege by a man named Osmond who took over the castle next-door. Osmond’s desire was to capture the magical books and become the most powerful wizard in the world.

Igraine goes on a quest to find giant hairs while her brother stays back at the castle to fend off the intruders (with the aid of the magic books and the castle’s defenses.) On her journey, Igraine comes in contact with the Sorrowful Knight of the Mount of Tears, and the two travel back to hopefully save the day.

My thoughts:

To be honest, after I started to read Igraine The Brave, I ended up putting it down and letting it sit on the pile for awhile. Why? Because the beginning forced a lot of explanatory narrative onto the reader, which in my opinion, is completely unnecessary. But once I got past that part, it didn’t take long for me to appreciate the story (I recommend starting with Chapter 1 and then going back to the preface once you have finished the book.) Wonderfully designed characters (especially the cat, Sisyphus,) a neatly designed fantasy world, fun personalities, great situations of tension, and the story is creatively magical. It is also easy to read and the writing style is of good quality. A great book for lovers of fairy tales.

Things to consider:

Great for girls and boys; ages nine to twelve (and younger if you read it to them.) No questionable content in the form of sexual situations, foul language, or dark themes. Even the violent scenes are quite tame. The one thing that may be considered disturbing to some children is when the knights get turned into fish and the cat has them for a light snack. Honestly, this is funny, but some children might take it seriously. Overall a great family book that is bound to become a favorite during story time.

Opportunities for discussion:

Part of the fun of this book is that it is not overly serious. However, in all stories, there is at least one good opportunity for discussion. One thing that stood out to me is the honor code of a knight. Ask your children to tell you the difference between the Sorrowful Knight and the Heartless Knight, and which they would rather be.