“Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain.” Frau Funke, how do you like that sentence?
I must admit, I still like it a lot. When I read aloud, it rolls off my tongue well.
With these words, the first in Inkheart, you won second place in the Stiftung Lesen competition for the best opening sentence in a book for children or young people. How long did you work on that sentence?
As far as I remember, I didn’t have to do much with that sentence. It arrived of its own accord, without much effort, just as it is.
The characters from Inkheart are now about to come to life on the screen. The Hollywood film of your best-selling book will be in cinemas in 2008. What sort of feeling is it to see characters from your own imagination in a film?
This is not the first time I’ve had that experience, but this time I was much more involved, which made it all even more exciting. Two experiences were particularly memorable: the first was entering Capricorn’s village and suddenly being surrounded by these sinister men all wanting a book signed. The second was entering Shepperton Studios and seeing Dustfinger standing in the rain between the trees, a horned marten on his shoulder – and thinking: “Heavens, he looks just like I imagined.”
With Brendan Fraser and Iain Softley, the Hollywood studios fulfilled your wishes as regards both the main character and the director. How did you manage that?
I was only able to insist on Brendan Fraser because Iain Softly supported my choice, and as for him as the film’s director, he convinced the studio that he was the right one for the job through his passion for the project and his name. I was very happy with this choice and supported it in any way I could.
Originally, you used to illustrate books – why did you start writing?
Because I sometimes found the stories I had to illustrate boring – or else they inspired no images at all in me.
And how did you become immersed in the Inkworld?
It all started with me wanting to be surrounded by characters from books. Readers know that feeling, when the figures in books often seem more alive than people actually around us in real life, because we can see deep into their hearts. After that came the idea of them being read out – an idea close to my hear, as I admire the art of reading aloud.
Your books inspire millions of young readers all over the world. How do you know so precisely what children and young people want to read? Do you get hints from children?
Of course I do, among others, from my own children. Otherwise, I simply write the stories I enjoy telling. And fortunately these appeal to a lot of readers.
How and where do you get the ideas for your stories?
Everywhere and anywhere, which is why I always have a notebook with me, and another beside my bed. Of course, a pencil is also very necessary.
Your books, especially your Inkworld books, are also read by adults. What do you think they find in them?
I suppose the readers could answer that better than I can. I am a classical story-teller, I put what moves me into words and stories, and express what many feel, think, wonder, love or hate. What is more, I allow myself to use my imagination as a very entertaining tool, one with which you can disguise reality and liberate yourself from its regulations – sometime it is only then that you really see things clearly. Obviously, adults also like to play this game.
Almost all your books are set in magical worlds. What do you find so fascinating about fantasy literature?
The fact that I can freely use something that is so typically human, namely, my imagination. Through it I can have horses sprout wings, conjure up giants, slip inside books and shrink to as small as an ant – what an adventure that is! At the same time we are only playing with what our world gives us, because we cannot actually imagine anything that is totally outside our world.
Despite the sales figures, the genre is still not taken seriously by critics. Does that annoy you?
No. I’m enjoying myself too much for that. I even like working outside the acknowledged literature business. You feel like the girl in Hans Christian Andersen’s story who stands at the edge of the street and cries: “But he’s got no clothes on.”
Have opportunities for children’s story writers improved thanks to Harry Potter and your books?
Definitely, especially thanks to Harry. Suddenly, it’s not a problem anymore to write really long books for children, or to be sinister now and again. And because Potter earned so much money for so many people, a lot more is being invested in children’s books these days. More is being spent on advertising. Bookshops pay much more attention – and of course more films are being made of children’s books.
What books – apart from your own – do you recommend to your children?
My daughter is now 18 and loves Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, and my son is not a reader at all. He much prefers his skateboard. But fortunately, a lot of reading is done in American schools, so at the moment he is enjoying reading Animal Farm and War of the Worlds. And I would always recommend that he read David Almond and Markus Zusak. Then there is of course Krabat and Jim Knopf, and so on and so forth …
The last part of your Inkworld Trilogy, Inkdeath, is top of the bestseller lists, and in a couple of months shooting will start on Inkheart the film. Are you going to take a break then?
No. I’ve been working for months on two new stories. I love what I do. I don’t want a break. I’m currently writing a ghost-story for children aged 8 and upwards, which is set in Salisbury, England. The working title is Der Ritter und der Junge (The Knight and the Boy). The other project, which still only has an English title – namely, Reckless – is more for the Inkheart books age-group.
