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InkHeart  

post #1 of 26
1/16/09 at 5:57pm
Thread Starter 
Apparently the movie is coming out 1/23/09 but my kids ds8 and dd6 want to read the books. I dont mind what they read, so I have no problem getting the books this weekend, probably tonight since DS is going to birth a cow any minute over his lack of books. LOL

Now my question is... will I like the books? Something in my mommy brain just really wants to read this series, I didnt have this intense need with Harry Potter, Series of Unfortunate Events, Twilight (the kids are not reading that yet) etc....All of which they have read, and have no desire to see the movies of either.

OMG i just realized my DD is going to be 6 in a couple weeks... how did that happen....When did that happen.

Both are strong readers, DS reads at high school level and DD reads at 5-6th grade and above. We homeschool...., they aren't easily frightened etc...

Is there any reason not to get the books??
post #2 of 26
1/16/09 at 5:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1growingsprout View Post


Is there any reason not to get the books??
No. They are poetic, beautifully written and exciting stories. The quality of language and thought is well above the usual run of contemporary children's lit, imo.

I know you will enjoy them -- I, personally, can't wait for the film.....
post #3 of 26
1/16/09 at 7:08pm
I asked DD what she thought, and when I asked if they were as good as HP, she said:

"If I was crazy, I might even say they were better."

[ducks and covers]
post #4 of 26
1/16/09 at 7:11pm
Thread Starter 
I am headed off to the store so DS does NOT give birth to the cow in my living room. Sheezez you would think he is deprived or something.

Yes he is planning on staying up all night to read.
post #5 of 26
1/16/09 at 7:31pm
DD got the book for Christmas but hasn't started yet. I flipped through it and it looks good!
post #6 of 26
1/16/09 at 7:40pm
I just recently finished reading Inkdeath (the third book in the trilogy) to DD, who's almost 6. She and I both really liked the books. She's spent a lot of time over the past few months pretending to be Farid (her favorite character.) I thought Inkheart was pretty good, but not great, but Inkspell was more interesting, and Inkdeath even more so. (You can stop after Inkheart, but if you read Inkspell you'll have to go on and read Inkdeath because Inkspell ends in a big cliffhanger.)
post #7 of 26
1/16/09 at 9:59pm
Quote:
No. They are poetic, beautifully written and exciting stories. The quality of language and thought is well above the usual run of contemporary children's lit, imo.

I know you will enjoy them -- I, personally, can't wait for the film.....
:

Cornelia Funke is my dd's favorite author, I enjoy her nearly as much as dd does. I think her writing is exciting without ever being truly scary. We are excited about the movie too.
post #8 of 26
1/17/09 at 2:06pm
Thread Starter 
DS was up til about 130am reading (started about 730pm or so)and got up at 9 amand has been reading for an hr. I only picked up the first book, It was 560pgs... looks like I will be getting the next 2 today or tomorrow.
post #9 of 26
1/17/09 at 2:41pm
I've only read Inkheart, but I struggled a little with it - I didn't love it the way everyone else seems to. It's been awhile now, so I can't be specific. If I recall, I think I found the prose a little dense and awkward, and the writing style didn't appeal to me. I suspect that the translation from German to English was part of the problem.

YMMV (and probably does - reading is subjective).
post #10 of 26
1/17/09 at 4:33pm
She is my niece's favorite author. I did really enjoy the books, I thought they were lovely.



The movie is not looking good though. Hopefully it will not be another Eragon thing.
post #11 of 26
1/17/09 at 6:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ms Apricot View Post
I've only read Inkheart, but I struggled a little with it - I didn't love it the way everyone else seems to. It's been awhile now, so I can't be specific. If I recall, I think I found the prose a little dense and awkward, and the writing style didn't appeal to me. I suspect that the translation from German to English was part of the problem.

YMMV (and probably does - reading is subjective).
I have to agree with this (and it was a while ago for me, too). Also, it had been SERIOUSLY hyped up by every school librarian I know and pushed on me by teachers... if I had just picked it up for kicks to see if I wanted to suggest it to students, I might have been more into it. Now I'm curious about maybe seeing the film and then reading the next two-- if they are supposed to be even better!
post #12 of 26
1/17/09 at 8:41pm
I think it is HORRIBLY written, and I blame the translation. I think in German it is probably very well written, but the translation is awkward and stilted. I speak German pretty well, and many times I could see where they did a straight up translation, not accommodating for the different grammatical structures between the two languages at all.

I think the poor writing is not nearly as prominent when you are reading it to yourself; but if you read it aloud, you find yourself tripping over terribly formed sentences, over words that do not flow together at all. It was so bad I could barely finish it, and I told the girls they would have to read any sequels themselves.

It's too bad; the story itself is wonderful. I assume in German it flows and is beautiful. They need to fire their translator, though, as she was terrible. It's like they typed it into some online translation service and left it at that.
post #13 of 26
1/22/09 at 12:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lorijds View Post
I think it is HORRIBLY written, and I blame the translation. I think in German it is probably very well written, but the translation is awkward and stilted. I speak German pretty well, and many times I could see where they did a straight up translation, not accommodating for the different grammatical structures between the two languages at all.


...They need to fire their translator, though, as she was terrible. It's like they typed it into some online translation service and left it at that.
THANK YOU for confirming my suspicions!!!

It's funny, I like to read novels from other countries (mostly Japan and Northern Europe) but I am always left wondering what the original was like.
post #14 of 26
1/22/09 at 11:32pm
I didn't really care for it either. In fact it's sitting on my shelf only half read. I was really excited to read it since a couple of friends really loved it. I thought the story idea sounded great but the book was dull. I'm looking forward to the movie though, the previews look great.
post #15 of 26
1/22/09 at 11:40pm
I read it and then, only later, realized it was originally written in German and then translated. I never noticed anything "forced" or "awkward" about the writing style.

But I can't imagine reading Inkheart out loud. It's a story about people in books coming to life and people listening to the story getting sucked into the world within the book! This book SERIOUSLY freaked me out from doing ANY reading out loud for several months! What would I have done if DD2 got sucked into the book and Capricorn showed up in my living room pointing a sword at me?
post #16 of 26
1/23/09 at 4:01am
Ruthla, my dd1 had the same feeling. She refused to read to her sister for a couple of weeks after finishing Inheart. Then, she read Inspell and spent another week pretending to read them into various adventures.

BTW, it is better in German.
post #17 of 26
1/23/09 at 1:09pm
I read them aloud. I love them (we still haven't finished Inkdeath yet) LOVE LOVE THEM!!! I started to read them because the kids really enjoyed Dragonride (I thought DR was just ok)r. I thought it was very easy to read out loud. I am not as talented a reader as Meggie, Mo or even Darius but I did ok
Inkheart is close to my favorite book of all time. I LOVE the quotes at the beginning of the chapters.
I even got my dad to read Inkheart. He is a huge book lover. He really seemed to enjoy it.

The movie comes out TODAY. I have watched previews for it and I am nervous. It looks like they Hollywood'ized it.

My daughter named her lizard "Dustfinger"
post #18 of 26
1/23/09 at 1:14pm
The books are wonderful-they're my daughter's favorite. We won't be seeing the movie though-I think it would be disappointing!
post #19 of 26
1/23/09 at 3:03pm
Brendan Fraser and Paul Bettany are so yummy! I can't wait to see it.

I never really mind movies made from books. To me they are such separate entities, I just don't get bent out of shape about any alterations. Usually, if I love the book, I'll love the movie. Since I hated Inkheart, but did really like the story itself, and I could swoon over Fraser and Bettany, I'm betting I'll like this, too.
post #20 of 26
1/23/09 at 8:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by lorijds View Post
Brendan Fraser and Paul Bettany are so yummy! I can't wait to see it.
:
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