I had the pleasure of seeing the movie "Inkheart" when it first came out on DVD, which I imagine for the original theatrical release date of 2008 was shortly after that. My uncle, John, had checked the film out from the local video store (Dave's Video I believe) and told me that I should see the film. I watched it that night. I was pleasantly surprised, as I remember it. This is what led me to finally decide to read the book because I thought it would be interesting to see finally what the main differences between the two were.
As I went to the library to see if they had it, since it was not a book I was keen on owning at that particular point, I was apprehensive. I know that a lot of books that are made into films simply do not translate correctly, for whatever reason. I was hoping that my love would not change for the movie. I discovered the library had all three of the books in the series (Inkspell and Inkdeath are sequel books). That is when I got a bit of a shock! The book was over 500 pages in length. I am not one that usually reads a book of that size. I am about 350 max on most of my reads. I, however, accepted the challenge to read it anyways.
This is the cover of the edition that I read:
I brought the book home and began reading it. It took me about 18 days to read this book. I started on September 1 and finished it on September 18th. Which shows that I am building up these blogs on purpose, so that I have some content for you all to read or watch. :) It took me that long to read not because it was a bad book, but because I just am a slow reader. As I got into this book I was finding myself drawn into this world that Funke created. She created a rather rich world. I have never been one to enjoy books with a heavy emphasis on fantasy, which is partially because I was not allowed to read books outside of specific types. This resulted in me not appreciating these fantastical elements as much as someone that has say read "The Hobbit" or "Lord of the Rings" series, which I never have. This being said I was still highly impressed with this book. The action drew me in and Funke sprinkled it throughout the massive volume to keep the reader wanting more. Just when I was starting to think it was getting a bit boring she would have another element be revealed or have another character have something happen to them to draw me back in.
There were several passages in this book where I literally said "Wow, I can picture exactly what Funke is talking about." I felt transported into the Inkheart book myself. The premise of the book is also a strong one, which goes back to the sentence I just said "transported into the Inkheart book". One of the main characters has the ability to read people in and out of books, which I am comfortable stating because this is discovered fairly early on in the book and also is mentioned in the book jacket synopsis. This premise was interesting, fresh, and allowed for great plot moments throughout.
My favorite character in this book was probably Dustfinger. He was a heavily flawed character, but one that had one simple desire. This made him easy to relate to and also allowed me to see clearly how every action was driven by that one desire. You never had to question why he was doing something because it was very obvious. I enjoyed this as almost a character analysis and how well a character can be written when given a purpose.
My least favorite character had to be one of the main characters, Mo. I understood that he was a big part of the driving force of the story, but he just seemed to be taking up precious story time from other characters that I liked more. I also could not see why he would need to be in subsequent books with the way that the story ends. It felt like much of his story was resolved.
WHO I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO: Fantasy book lovers, new fantasy readers, young adults, children, book lovers, book collectors, and those that simply want to have an enjoyable long read.
WHO I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO: People who do not appreciate books (why are you even reading if this is you? #sorrynotsorry), people who do not like books with any truly dark characters or non-redeemable qualities to a character, and anyone that feels that fantasy is not a genre up their alley.
My next blog posting will be today and will be about:
While I was growing up I had heard of the film "Once Upon A Forest", but I had never had the opportunity to watch it. I saw it at the library recently, so I picked it up since I started this project. The film is one of those children environmental movies. It discusses how chemicals can hurt animals, but it is really also about the adventures of three small animal children that want to save a friend. The friend is this character in the film: (this all happens relatively early on in the film, so I am not spoiling anything major in the film)
The characters are being taught by a badger character (see below) that has went through a similar issue in his own past. He sends the children that are well on an adventure to find specific ingredients to help cure the hurt child.
The story is a little blase in many ways. It feels like it has been done better in other stories, like "Ferngully: The Last Rainforst" or "Secret of NIMH". I will say, however, that this is probably because I am an adult. The story is very much geared towards a child with no real redeeming qualities for an adult. There are some movies that are able to seamlessly incorporate jokes or aspects that are slight nods to the parent that is bringing the child to the movie, but this is not one of those types of movies. This is a child's movie pure and simple. I can appreciate it for a great children's movie though. I can see a mother sitting with her child on her lap and watching this film with them. It is perfect for that type of night, but it is not a good film for someone like me at this particular moment of my life.
The three characters are the following:
None of them really stuck with me above the others, so I cannot say that I have a favorite character in this particular film. This being said I also am not able to say that any of them is my least favorite character either. They all sort of meld together. Though the characters are given distinct personalities that are tropes, in my opinion, of children movies. The mouse is brave, the mole is the "geek", and the hedgehog is the "foodie" character. These are all character types that are better done in other films and there are no qualities that make these characteristics unique for this film. There are ways to make these characteristics work in new and interesting ways, but that does not occur in "Once Upon A Forest". They are just used to make a movie and not in interesting ways.
There was one moment in the film that I enjoyed though. There is a moment where the children come across what appears to be a funeral procession lead by the bird above. This moment is hilarious in many ways when you discover what was really happening. It also was a great moment that showed the strength of the characters in their limited way. If it was not for this particular moment the film would have had little to no redeemable qualities for me.
While it may have not had a lot of redeeming qualities to me I understand that this is the journey that I want to go on. I want to see things that I did not see as a child or do. This was one of them. I feel like I can mark off this film from my "Never Seen Films" list, especially in the era of my childhood. I am sure there will be others that I will not find a lot of redeemable qualities in, but will ultimately feel better for having watched them. I will not have that "did I miss something?" feeling looming over my head after I finish each of these films.
Are there films from the 90s that you would recommend watching for someone that has not seen a lot of films from their childhood? What are some of your favorites? I am very interested in seeing what is recommended and seeing what I may have seen that I am not even aware that I have.
WHO I WOULD RECOMMEND TO: Children, Parents, and people who like environmental issue movies.
WHO I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND TO: Adults without children and those not interested in environmental issue movies.
