In the days of Blockbuster, I’d grab two movies from the $1 bin: I, Robot and Inkheart. When Blockbuster closed, I bought a copy of both. It’s not the cinematic experience of a Marvel movie, but the fantasy elements and characters convinced me to keep watching. And, with time, encouraged me to go looking for the book.
Like Mortimer in the movie going from library to open market, I searched for the novel that had become fable. Endless hours perusing shelves and websites, many years wondering what this book was really like. A couple years back, I finally succeeded. The book wasn’t quite what I expected, but I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, the movie had only been the tip of the iceberg for this nostalgic story. Especially when it came to the ragtag team of characters.
Mortimer Folchart
Mending books for work, Mortimer leads a humble existence between collecting and reading. His daughter Meggie is his world despite the secrets he keeps.
In the movie, Brendan Fraser plays him a little more extroverted and quirky. Depression fills his eyes while he tries to smile for his fed up daughter. This differs from the book where we find a secluded figure who effortlessly drifts into work. He’s honest and respectful. And lacks a proper poker face.
The consistency is this: Mortimer lives for books, and would give his life to protect one particular novel.
Meggie Folchart
As the daughter of a professional vagabond, Meggie’s only friends are books. Her character in particular is the major change between the movie and the first novel in the trilogy. Pretty sure the writers aged her up for the film and gave her the annoying teenager indifference. Thankfully they maintained her love for books.
With her as the primary POV in the novel, readers quickly appreciate her “can do” spirit and desire for her father’s vulnerability. Mentions of her mother send him running to work, which leave her wondering about the book he protects and why he’d never read her to sleep. She’s spunky, curious, and a little naive. No matter the situation though, she loves her father and will do anything to make sure he’s safe.
Dustfinger
Read from the pages of Inkheart, Dustfinger is making do in a world not his own. His street performance skills and thieving past help him survive while he searches for a way back.
The movie scraped the surface of Dustfinger’s character while the book went deeper. He’s pessimistic and opportunistic, leading him to betray Mortimer and Meggie near the start of the book. Yet in his chapters we find desperation and mourning, revealing hints of honorability that later come to the rescue.
The movie toys with his fear of the author, not wanting to know the man that created him or what his future will hold. It doesn’t really matter; he’ll do whatever it takes to get back into Inkheart.
Elinor Loredan
I love Helen Mirren as an actress, and can’t possibly envision anyone else as the high maintenance book enthusiast Elinor. Yet this isn’t quite the character you find in the novel. While Helen plays the role with her usual elegance, the Elinor of Inkheart is more reserved. She doesn’t care much about appearance, wandering in frumpy sweaters and skirts. Actually, she cares very little for anything other than books.
The aunt of Meggie’s mother, she takes Mortimer and Meggie in because of his skill with bookbinding. She hungers for the worlds within her vast library and so rarely leaves her home in order to protect them. When Mortimer is taken, she builds the courage to care for Meggie. And delves into some insanity when she and Meggie go looking for him.
How Inkheart Changes Them
The mark of a good book to me is one that utilizes all characters for growth. As common sense as this sounds, I’ve read stories that maintain flat side characters. In the movie, everyone in this unlikely crew is fairly equal. However in the book, Meggie is the clear protagonist with Dustfinger, Mortimer, and Elinor close seconds.
Meggie’s arc makes this novel a pseudo-“coming-of-age” story. The world she knew becomes fiction when her father’s ability and her mother’s disappearance are revealed. Alongside this cast of characters, she has to outwit and outpace villains that want to take over the world. She learns from betrayal, but also gives grace when it’s earned.
Not much happens with Mortimer, at least in comparison to Dustfinger and Elinor. Dustfinger trusts only in himself through most of the book, waiting for everyone to betray him. But when a thief from The Thousand and One Nights is read out of his book, he can’t shake the boy. Over time, he comes to understand teamwork and relying on someone else.
Elinor, on the other hand, shut everyone out because that’s what her father did. Books matter more than people. By the end of the story, she’s lived her own adventure rather than reading herself into one. Where she once craved the solitude of her library, she now can’t stand the quiet. Family matters more than books.
Why Inkheart?
Top of this post, I mentioned grabbing Inkheart from the $1 bin whenever we rented movies. The story carries more weight in my mind because of the book, but I think the characters kept me coming back. A loving father trying to bring back the love of his life. A daughter wanting to understand the constant chase. A book character wanting to go home, and a book collector wanting to live a novel.
Kind of a writer’s dream honestly, to see their characters face to face. To live in their world for a spell. Inkheart I feel does it best, and I can’t wait to read the other books in the series.