Customer Reviews

The Neverending Story

5 star:		(149)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Most Americans' familiarity with the book will come from the three American movies, despite the fact that the book was a bestseller in Germany for three years.

The first two movies are based on the first and second halves of the book, respectively (fortunately, the events of the third one were never written about). Bastian, rather than being a cute, slim, wide-eyed little boy, is a chubby recluse who withdraws into his own imagination as a replacement for friends, even more so since the death of his mother.

While not amazingly well-written by any stretch of the imagination, The Neverending Story makes up fully for that by being such a gripping adventure. Ende can write an enthralling drama, as equally light-hearted as it can be dark.

The story, however, goes deeper than providing a high fantasy tale. It is, at its heart, when all is said and done, a story about learning to love oneself. Bastian's metamorphosis from a selfish schoolboy to a worshipped, egotistical weilder of Auryn in Fantastica to, finally, a humble, appreciative son is as magical as the rest of the novel.

"The Neverending Story" is probably best known to the general public through Wolfgang Peterson's movie, whereas the original novel by Michael Ende is less well known. Despite the horrid sequels and the even worse television series that Michael Ende desperately tried to prevent in the last years of his life, Wolfgang Peterson's first attempt at bringing the book to the big screen was successful and popular. However, fans of the book will know that it only records the first part of the story - though Peterson compensates by telling us in the final segment of the film "Bastian had many more adventures before finally returning to the ordinary world. But that's another story..."

Since it's likely that you've seen the movie but not read the book, I highly recommend that you track down the original story - the movie stands on its own, but the book takes Bastian on a deeper and more dangerous journey into Fantastica and the inner regions of the soul, both adding detail into the movie's progression, and continuing into a larger and more fascinating adventure. Usually I always suggest reading books before watching any movies that they are based on, but in the case of "The Neverending Story" I make an exception - it is much better to scratch the surface of Ende's imagination in Peterson's very good interpretation of the book's first half, and then immerse yourself in the deeper book-within-a-book that Ende wrote, filled with adventure, intrigue, possibilities, mystery, thought-provoking ideas, beloved characters and probing into the depths of the human psyche.

Bastian Balthazar Bux is a rather tubby, unpopular victim of bullying at the school, with a deceased mother and a grieving father. His one consolation in life is books, his absolute passion. This love of stories and the magic they bring is the reason why he runs off with "The Neverending Story", the large volume he finds in Mr Coreander's old book store. Hiding himself in the attic of his school, he is soon intoxicated by the story that unfolds: a young warrior named Atreyu is chosen to seek out a cure for the deathly ill Child-like Empress, the ruler of the realm of Fantastica. In a quest filled with danger, and joined by the joyful luck-dragon Falkor, Atreyu must also avoid the growing threat of the mysterious "Nothing" - a force that is slowly eating up his world. What the Nothing truly is, what the elusive cure for the Empress is, as well as the nature of Fantastica and Bastian's role to play in its fate are mysteries gradually unfolded as he finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into the story. As it progresses, he finds himself wondering - could this particular story be *real*?

"The Neverending Story" is a work of true children's literature, and anyone who loves books for their own sakes and appreciates the importance of imagination is sure to find this a favourite. It is filled to the brim with memorable characters - Falkor, Atreyu, Engywook, Grograman, Yikka, and my personal favourite, the sinister, elusive Gmork, and touches on some of the most primitive questions of the human mind: life and death, hope and despair, existence and oblivion, the corruption of power, the basic needs of humanity...I could go on. In terms of sheer imagination and stark visual beauty, Ende rides to the top of the list along with Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Phillip Pullman and other authors of this calibre.

If there is one issue that brings fault, it is that the original manuscript was written in German - therefore the rhyming verses that are prevalant in the text feel rather disjointed, with the translator struggling to convey the content of the German version (which would have been more fluid and rhythmic) whilst forcing rhyme into the English.

But this is irrelevant in the bigger picture, for this is a must read, just as Peterson's film is a must-watch. It is nothing less than a tragedy that money-hungry producers were allowed to exploit Ende's book into the appallingly bad sequels and series, and I do my best to pretend that they don't exist. But here, fans of Peterson's movie, or those that have never heard of "The Neverending Story" before, will be well rewarded if they read Ende's book - the width and length that your imagination will expand after reading makes it well worth the effort.

This book can be read by all ages since it is well written but is still easy to read. It is great for fantasy lovers, and the pages just fly by, even though there are 440 pages. There are many original ideas that had never occurred to me before. The story kept me interested from start to finish. A boy gets swept into a magical book, in which he tries to save all the Fantastican creatures, but with every wish he makes loses his memory of the real world.

Translated by Ralph Manheim, this classic of children's fantasy literature could not go unread on my bookshelves any longer. It is, in many ways, the high point of fairy tale fantasy with a reader avatar, containing both the story of Atreyu, the hero of the Fantastica as he tries to save the Childlike Empress from death, and Bastian, reader of Atreyu's story and eventual reshaper of Fantastica. It's a book that speaks to the heart of every avid reader, and to everyone who's ever longer for even a moment within their favourite fantasy world, or indeed anyone who's merely longed to bring about good change within this world.

Aside from placing a heavy emphasis on the powers of imagination, creativity, and love, The Neverending Story is rife with allegory. From the world beginning in darkness until Bastian essentially says, "Let there be light," to the concept of the Childlike Empress having enormous power but choosing to do nothing with it and yet always being a part of everything, it's easy to see Christian religious comparisons being drawn all over the place. But here's the thing: it's done well. It's done subtly, and you're not beating your head off a wall every time you see a new one. Which is, to be blunt about it, better than some books I could name that try to throw in religious allegory.

The message that "absolute power corrupts absolutely" is one of the less cubtle messages of the story, especially in the last half. Bastian gets the power of AURYN and wishes, and in creating a new world, he loses bits of himself, all his memories of who he was before wishes he didn't even know he wasn't satisfied with changed him into something else. He reshaped himself, and an entire world, and by the end Fantastica has pulled a "be careful what you wish for" trick on him because the decisions he made in kindness and mercy turn out to have monumentally screwed some things up. Finding a balance between the status quo and change is never easy, but that's exactly why having the power to do anything you wish is dangerous, especially when you lose all of what you were before.

I wasn't very fond of Bastian, though. As a character, he was very flat. The only time he seemed to have personality at all was when he went mad with power, and even then the personality was stereotyped. He had no depth to him, but not even in the way where he's meant to be an everyman, the kind of blank slate that everyone can, in some way, relate to. Even babies have more personality than this guy showed. I don't know if that was the fault of the translation, the original author, or even if he was supposed to be this way, but he fell flat. I enjoyed reading about Falkor more, since he at least had definable, and less mercurial, personality traits.

But still, in spite of its faults, this was a book not to be passed over. I think just about everybody has seen the movie, but the book, as happens in most cases, far surpasses it. Pick this one up if you haven't already, and treat yourself to a classic that won't be dying for many years yet!

Fantasy literature is my favorite genre; has been for many years. So when I finally got around to reading this book, after perusing some of the 5 star reviews, I was very much looking forward to a great fantasy/adventure.

This is the tale of a young boy (Bastian) and a quest that takes him into the fantasy world of a book that he is reading.

It is a story that is generally well written, but despite having some good qualities, I just could not get into the 'flow' of this story. Though the quest was indeed a noble one that does have some dramatic and touching moments, I found the writing was somehow geared for a definitively younger audience than myself.

I've cut my fantasy teeth on Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings', Asimov's 'Foundation', George R.R. Martin's 'Ice and Fire' series, Erikson's 'Malazan' saga, also the likes of Bakker, Abercrombie and J.V.Jones, just to mention a few. These aforementioned authors tend to pull no punches when it comes to gory battles, horrific acts and clandestine plotting etc. and I must admit that these are the type of tales to which I've become addicted.

'The Neverending Story' was OK-ish, however, it was tame, too tame for my tastes. It lacked for me that subtle excitement, that propensity for the unexpected that my favorite fantasy books just seem to exude almost from page one. I hesitantly admit that I found myself actually skimming some parts (not a good sign) because I was bored and uninterested in what was happening to the characters within this tale.

Conclusion:

A fantasy story with qualities reminiscent of a faerie tale; meant I believe, for the kinder, gentler and probably younger, fantasy lover. If your looking for battles, deceit and treachery, the chilling unexpected etc. then look elsewhere. In all honesty, this is one of those books that I have difficulty understanding the huge popularity it has achieved. Also somewhat difficult to rate; I can understand a 5 star rating if you loved this book, but to me...1 1/2 to 2 Stars.

Ray Nicholson

This book is probably the BEST book ever written. The creation of such a marvelous tale can only be described as a spiritual expression. Michael Ende's story makes you feel good to be alive and experience the feelings of reading something so fantastic! I love every word, scene, and moment in this story. Never a dull moment. No element of it is predictable because it is completely unique. A complete gift from writer to reader.

ok I admit i didn't think its was gonna be verry good. I mean I loved he movie but i wasn't in to books or that kind of thing when i got but once i started reading it I couldn't stop. It filled my heart with every thing a book should. Now i can barly watch the movie cause all i think of is thats not how it was in the book. But I loved the book and i think if you like a good story or you love the Lord Of The Rings books you should pic this one up.

(...)

This book is full of adventure. Much better than the movie. A must read for kids.

This great, funny, and exciting story is both for the young, the old, and those with great imaginations. Michael Ende has done a fabulous job crafting this unique tale of a young school boy, Bastian Balthazar Bux, and his adventures to Fantastica, a secret world where he has to help the very ill ruler, The Childlike Empress. Bastian meets several people and animals that help him through the fantastic journey in Fantastica. Bastian sometimes finds himself "in" the book, literally! He finds out that he actually is in the land of Fantastica. Bastian, usually bullied, is now in his own special land where people look up to him. He learns many of life's lessons. This book really gives a feeling of being in Fantastica and the descriptions are so real, it is almost like the reader is right there.

This is a wonderful book for the imaginative mind. When the main character Bastian Bux steals a book from his local bookstore he runs away from home and hides out in his school attic. His adventure begins when he starts reading the book and realizes he is becoming a part of the story. The characters in his book can actually hear his voice and he reads his own name in the book. He is suddenly and abruptly drawn into another world. Bastian becomes the hero of his own book when an evil darkness is threatening to consume that world and their empress. On his quest to find help, he meets coutless strange and amazing people. I would recomend this book to anyone. It's the kind of book you'll have read in record time!