Neglected by his father after the illness and death of his mother, ridiculed by his teachers, and teased by his classmates, Bastian Balthazar Bux is a sad little boy. While being chased by some bullies, Bastain ducks into an antique bookstore and happens upon an old man reading a curious book, The Neverending Story. Bastian feels an irresistible pull to the mysterious book and when the man steps away to take a phone call, Bastain takes the book and runs away with it.

Bastian ends up taking the book to school and hiding away in the attic to read it. Upon opening the book Bastian discovers the extraordinary world of Fantastica - a marvelous parallel universe full of all kinds of sensational beings. Fantastica is being slowly destroyed by a mysterious Nothing, and it will take the cleverness and bravery of two little boys to save it from ultimate annihilation.

Written by Michael Ende and originally published in German in 1979, The Neverending Story was translated into English by Ralph Manheim in 1983. Of course, I have seen the original movie hundreds of times - it was one of my favorites growing up - but the book is different enough from the movie to keep the reader interested in the plot twists and extended storyline. The movie covers only the first half of the book, and there is a lot packed in to the last 200 pages!

The Neverending Story is just as breathtaking as I imagined it would be. Despite a few little hiccups that could only be attributed to translation issues, I simply loved the story! The Neverending Story is wonderfully imaginative, full of scrumdiddlyumptious detail, and really, just a beautiful and captivating tale, perfect for fantasy fans of all ages. ( )

The Neverending Story was one of my all time favorite movies while I was growing up, so when I came across a hardback copy of the book while Christmas shopping for my daughters, I had to buy it for myself. I'm so glad that I did.

The first half of the book told the story that I remembered from the movie, only with more feeling and description than can ever be found on the screen. The second half of the book was knew to me (I know there is a second movie, but I'm not sure if I ever saw it) and expanded the on what I already loved. For me, the second half of the book did drag out a little, but I understand why it was written that way. The reader had to go with Bastian on his journey to get back to our world.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I can't wait until my daughters are old enough to enjoy this book with me. ( )

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. ( )