I have to admit seeing the movie first when my kids were younger. I ended up reading almost the entire novel out loud to them over a long span of time. ( )

The Neverending story tells the tale of Bastian as he reads and eventually enters the Neverending story. I felt very much at though this book contained two stories, the one where Bastian reads the book and the one where he enters the book. I very much enjoyed the first half of the book, where Bastian is reading the neverending story and being pulled further and further into it, right to the point when he first entres Fantasia and does what he's been taken there to. The book is lovely, exciting, and Bastian's increasing involvement in and love for the book really draws the reader in too.

The second half, I really felt was unnecessary. To me, what the childlike Empress said to Bastian when he first arrived in Fantasia was essentially the lesson Bastian came to about 150 pages later. In the first half of the book the kind of shallow fairytale telling of the Neverending story is counteracted by Bastian's reaction to the book, which we can all emphasise with. Personally, in the second half, I lost that feeling that I could understand Bastian, that Bastian was in a sense the same kind of child that I was. The writing seems a little dry. For example, we're told that Bastian and Atreyu are friends, but they never at any point aqctually seem to be friendly with each other. It just came across as quite flat. I would have been a lot happier if the book had cut of after the first half. ( )

I saw the movie when I was a child, and thought it was great. I was a little disappointed by the book, but it was still a good read. I think the movie expanded on things in the book that weren't so great. ( )

This book is about a boy who loves to read and he is mesmerized by a book, but it’s no ordinary book. The book captures the boys interested and he finds himself in a magical enchanted land with exotic characters. I really enjoyed this story as a child and even more being adult, the characters are astonishing, the mental scenery is breathtaking and the dialogue brilliant. This book can help children in writing literature and using their imagination.

I was rather disappointed by this book. It's very 'flat' emotionally. After a while, it felt 'never-ending'. I skipped ahead to confirm that the story developed as I expected and felt no urge to go back and read the bits inbetween. ( )