"Reckless" by Cornelia Funke

[pastor's wife]

I just finished reading "Reckless" by Cornelia Funke. I enjoyed her Inkheart trilogy (although I liked book 1 better than the other two) and "The Thief Lord." I'm conflicted about "Reckless."

My issue is that it is a very dark book. Every other page it seems that there is a description of a new and horrible way to die. It seemed to me to be a world without an objective standard of good and evil. People and creatures just live and survive, but there's very little nobility. (There was definitely a flavor of this in the latter Inkheart books too.) Another example of this is that the main characters have lovers, somtimes several. While nothing is described in detail, it still seems an unusual aspect for a YA book.

I liked the touches of familiar fairy tales that often appeared in the book, but some of them were sad and they almost always tended to the macabre. (One simple example is that they were hunting the Swan Man, who would have been the brother for whom his sister, the condemned princess, didn't quite finish making his nettle shirt to transform him completely. Why would they want to catch and kill him?)

Part of me really likes the idea of the magic mirror luring you into a world of enchantment that actually is dangerous and cruel, not "butterflies and rainbows." But this magic realm is so consistently horrible that there seems very little reason for hope, very little to live for. Even in face of impending doom and the gathering forces of darkness, the characters in Tolkien's Middle Earth still seemed to have a reason to live; this sense of a grand goodness that is worth dying for is missing from "Reckless." (Jacob's absolute faithfulness to his brother IS however a redeeming part as is Fox's loyalty to Jacob and Clara's to Will, the only bright part of a very bleak book.)

Of course, the book jacket does warn you: "If you're looking for happily ever after, you've come to the wrong place."[/i]

[Jenni]

Interesting. I've read Funke's other works, too [I totally agree about Inkheart, BTW], but I hadn't heard of this one. I might have to stop by our library and see if it is available for checkout.

[pastor's wife]

The many different - and usually vicious - creatures that populate her world are highly imaginative. I'd love to hear what you think of it if you get a chance to read it.

[Jenni]

I've got Reckless on reserve at the public library. I'll be picking it up when I go back for my next stack of books.

[Jenni]

I agree with you, PW, that Reckless is very dark. None of the bad guys die in the end, and everyone seems to be okay with that. None of the characters improve after going through all their hardships, the hero of the story is a treasure hunter who probably steals and cheats rather than getting things legitimately ... they never find his father, although they know he was there. Lots of people die and no one is really sad about that. I loved the fantasy/fairy tale aspects, but the story was just so dark. If I were still a teacher and a student wanted to read this book, I wouldn't stop them, but I wouldn't put it on my classroom shelf, either.