Michael Ende (1929–1995)

3.5 stars

A very original story in which the main character enters the book he's reading. The world-building is unusual, also, in that with every chapter, the area of Fantastica contains different creatures and feels like a completely new place. As a child, I would have loved this variety and imagination. As an adult, I wished some of these places and characters were more fleshed out.

The writing is a bit flowery at times, as if the author was trying too hard, though most kids surely won't have a problem with that.

There were some themes I can't get behind, such as that good and evil cannot exist without the other, that they are equal.… (more)

I read this in the mid-80's, after the movie and song came out, and again this year for a book challenge. I remember not feeling very connected to it then and I can see why now: there is a piling-on of characters, peoples, and adventures in Fantastica that seems over-done. This may be in part because every chapter begins with a different letter of the alphabet, and Ende has to keep the story moving.

While the first half of the book is Bastien's adventures getting the book, reading the book, and Atreyu's journey, the second half, starting with the letter "M," goes into Bastien's decisions and wishes and his darker side. The idea that a children's book would start by taking the child into the realm of Fantastica, save the Childlike Empress, encounter different beings and lands, then delve into what happens when one makes selfish decisions is a good one.

Probably a book that should be a bed-time read for a young person, pre-Tween years, conveying the wonder of Fantastica and lots of creatures with the teaching of what happens when we wish for bad things and act out of selfishness.… (more)

A lonely boy named Bastian finds a strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica, a place that can only be saved by a human giving its ruler, the Childlike Empress, a new name. The Neverending Story hit many of my least-favorites all at once. The journey, it was long, it was wide, it was about an inch deep. I am too old for this book, because I don’t deal well with skimming, and skimming is all this book does. I found it incredibly superficial -- but I wish I had an eight year old to read it to.
… (more)