I may be too old or grown up for Funke’s books, but every time she publishes a new one, I simply have to get it. Inkheart and Reckless are fantastic trilogies and The Thief Lord is one of my favourite books and movie adaptations of all time.
What makes Pan’s Labyrinth so special is that it is a movie-based story and that alone made me excited to read it. But the real phenomenon, which left me speechless, is the fact that Funke co-wrote it with the director and mastermind himself, Guillermo del Toro! As mentioned in the book, they both admire the work of each other and so it seems obvious that they had to work together one day.
Pan’s Labyrinth takes place in Spain 1944. Ofelia is only 13 years old and has to move with her mother to her stepfather’s, the brutal and heartless Captain Vidal who works under the Franco regime. Her father has died in the war and her mother soon remarried and she is now expecting her first child with Vidal, which is why they move to Vidal’s headquarter, an old mill hidden deep in the woods.
Ofelia, still mourning her father, is worrying about her mother who does not cope well with the pregnancy. Her mother does not seem to see what a monster her new husband is and so she tries to convince her several times. However, her mother reminds her that, unfortunately, the world is not like it is described in the books and that there is no magic and no happy ending, not as Ofelia would have it.
Soon after her arrival she hears the woods calling to her and Ofelia meets the faun, Pan, for the first time. He is certain that Ofelia is the reincarnation of the long-lost princess Moanna, the rightful heir of the world beneath where the sun and the moon never shines. To prove her identity, Ofelia receives three tasks from Pan which she must complete successfully. Only then, she will be able to rejoin her true family.
Besides the numerous stunning illustrations which can be found between the pages, you will read short stories about the past as well. These stories help you to understand what has happened with Moanna and the people indirectly affected by her faith.
Cornelia Funke is the children and YA author for me. Show your kids Disney, Grimm Stories, Harry Potter, and Cornelia Funke and your kid will be the happiest. At least, it worked for me, so thank you mum! However, I need to warn you, this book is not for a child who is sensitive when it comes to death and blood as it takes place in a time when Europe was at war.
Funke’s elegant writing style and combined with del Toro’s story is such a perfect fit that you will read the book in one sitting. Pan’s Labyrinth reminds you that monsters exist and are around us in all kind of forms. Sometimes it is just hard to see through it. Despite its brutal core, the story is wrapped by a romantic cloak. There is a lot of awful things happening and still, the story ends in a way that you cannot stop thinking that in the end, there is a peaceful place waiting for you where you will be surrounded by your loved ones and all the bad things will soon lie in your past and you will never think about them again.
Now that I have read the book, I want to watch the movie again, especially because I love the fact that del Toro is loyal to the true form of transformation, which is handmade by make-up artists and does not CGI his monsters, but also because I simply love Doug Jones, with whom he has worked with in countless movies since 1997, and who plays Pan.
Pan’s Labyrinth is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Fans of dark fairy-tales like The Hazel Wood and The Cruel Prince will relish this atmospheric and absorbing book based on Guillermo del Toro’s critically acclaimed movie.
Oscar winning writer-director Guillermo del Toro and New York Times bestselling author Cornelia Funke have come together to transform del Toro’s hit movie Pan’s Labyrinth into an epic and dark fantasy novel for readers of all ages, complete with haunting illustrations and enchanting short stories that flesh out the folklore of this fascinating world.
This spellbinding tale takes readers to a sinister, magical, and war-torn world filled with richly drawn characters like trickster fauns, murderous soldiers, child-eating monsters, courageous rebels, and a long-lost princess hoping to be reunited with her family.
A brilliant collaboration between masterful storytellers that’s not to be missed.
