Inkheart Theme of Literature and Writing

Inkheart is a book about books, so you can expect to see a lot of, well, books. In this book. If you know what we mean.

Meggie, Mo, and Elinor all love books, so there's definitely some book-lovin' coming from that group, while Capricorn and Dustfinger—who've come from a book (also called Inkheart) to our world—feel more ambivalent about books. There's a lot of rumination over the nature of books, their care, and what makes a good book; plus we meet authors, like Fenoglio, too.

There are tons of references to actual books in this book, so be sure to check out the "Allusions" section for a handy list of every single one of them… and don't say we never did anything nice for you.

1. How do Meggie, Mo, and Elinor express their love for books differently?
2. Why does Meggie sleep with a book under her pillow?
3. If you could bring characters alive from a book, which book (and which characters) would you choose, and why?
4. Why does Capricorn keep his men mostly illiterate?

Knowledge about books is empowering in a book about books.

Capricorn's distrust of and dislike for writing is part of what defeats him in the end.