The Neverending Story

Beautiful. Underneath the fantasy is a serious question: what happens to a people who lose the capacity for imagination, memory, and self-judgment? Germany in the 1930s and 40s, where Ende grew up, offers one answer. The book is clearly shaped by his experience of Nazism and its aftermath. This is not a hero’s journey. It is a warning about power gained at the cost of memory, and about how easily myths can be used to manipulate people. It feels disturbingly timely. One of the rare fantasy novels that feels wiser the older you are, filled with images that will remain with me forever.

Re-Read, 4/10/20:

After yet another re-read, I've come to a simple conclusion: I decided to write fiction because I loved this story so much. I figured it out as a kid when I saw this movie for the first time.

So, why is that?

Because every work of fiction is a collaboration between the writer and the reader. In this case, it's between a reader and the written word and the actual reader of both... and the uber-reader, all of whom include each one of us, create this world anew.

We are the Neverending Story.


So what does this mean when it comes to the second half of the tale, where wishes remove memories? Is it a magic-consequence rule? Or is it just another metaphor for growing old, forgetting about our youth and creativity?

I tend to think show more it is the hard-rule of death. Generations pass and stories pass out of memory. Sometimes they don't, but most of the time, they do.

And this is why it's all the more important to keep the dream alive. Keep the STORIES alive.



Original Review:

Like many people of my generation, I loved the film adaptation (the first, not the second, thank you) and never realized that it had come from a book until a number of years later. In fact, I read it the first time in '07 and not only was I delighted at how imaginative it was, but I was also flabbergasted (joyfully so) that it lived up to its name.

It's quick reading by any standard, but so deliciously dense in imagery, mythology, and an engrossing plot that I swore that if I had any children, this would be a staple of their diet.

Now that I have a little girl, I'm just too anxious to start reading it to her. I really can't sit still. I keep picking up the book and going, "Is she old enough, yet? Is she? Is she?" Then I set down the book and tear out my metaphorical hair and let out a forlorn cry. Then I get a fantastic idea:

I could just read it again, for myself!

Then everything is right with the world again and I'm able to write a new review.

This is easily one of my favorite tales, ever.

An extra goodie: April had a great review that forced me to think and respond in (I hope) a comprehensible way. Check it out. April's Review show less

Having seen the movie when I was a kid, I became curious about the book after hearing the movie portrayed only half the story. While the movie ended at a logical point, it only portrays one face of the coin. The second (non-delineated) half relates the tale of Bastian's exploration of Fantastica. I was ready to critique the first hundred pages that take place after he names the Empress as being rather aimless, until Atreyu points out exactly this problem and it was revealed to be a key aspect of the story.

Clearly metaphor is at work in this novel, but it's open to interpretation. The novel might be defending the value of imagination, or of fantastical literature more specifically. The first half seems to extol the virtues of reading it, show more while the second pursues the virtues of exploring and/or creating it. Maybe it's all of the above. The satisfying ending serves as an opposing bookend for the beginning, bringing the tale full circle.

If you enjoyed the movie and its theme then you owe it to yourself to read this novel, especially if you consider yourself a fan of fantasy literature. show less

A beloved classic of German children's literature, The Neverending Story (originally published in 1979 as Die Unendliche Geschichte), is probably most familiar to American readers through Wolfgang Petersen's 1984 film adaptation. That was certainly my introduction to the story, and I loved the characters of Bastian and Atreyu, and their parallel (and eventually intersecting) stories, long before I even knew there was a book, or that "Fantasia" was actually "Fantastica!" Imagine my surprise and delight, some years later, when I discovered that the film only covered the first half of the book, and that there was more Fantasia/Fantastica to discover!

The stories of Bastian Balthazar Bux, a somewhat fat young boy, shy and bullied, who finds show more himself transported - first through the pages of a book, and then in "reality" - to the wonderful world of Fantastica; and of the Greenskin Atreyu, a young warrior of the Grassy Plains, who embarks upon a quest to save the Child-Like Empress, and all of Fantastica; converge in a book that the reader wishes would never end. I enjoyed revisiting some of the scenes from the film that I found so moving as a child, from the heart-breaking death of Artax in the Swamp of Sadness, to the astonishing moment when Bastian realizes that the Childlike Empress is aware of him, and knows he has been following Atreyu's story. I also enjoyed learning "what happened next," and discovering that Ende's story was deeper, and far more complex than the film would lead one to suppose. I even enjoyed the book itself, as an object, finding the alternating color of the text - green or red, depending on whether the passage concerned Fantastica or the "real" world - and the lovely illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, endlessly fascinating!

I continue to love the film, of course - I can still recall how enchanting I found it, the first time I watched it as a girl! - but having now read the novel, I am forced to acknowledge that it has a philosophical maturity, and a purpose, that is entirely missing from the movie. The idea that fantasy - wishing, make-believe, creation - is necessary, but also dangerous; that it would be a tragedy to become entirely divorced from Fantastica, but a mistake to become entirely lost in it; is very much in evidence in the second half of Ende's book, as Bastian's wish-making leads to unexpected consequences, both for himself and for his "creations." Watching him struggle to find a balance, between desire and responsibility, wishing and being, was a curiously moving experience for me.

Curious because, although I can now see the limitations of the the film, watching (and loving) it as a child really increased my appreciation for the book. They each came along at the right time for me, I think. The "simple" fantasy-film about the importance of story, and using one's imagination, was most welcome to the young girl who often lived in her own made-up world; whereas the philosophically mature tale of the limitations of fantasy, and the dangers of hubris, are probably much needed by the woman. How glad I am that I finally picked up this lovely fantasy novel, thanks to the International Children's Fiction Club, to which I belong - it was high time! show less

Such high hopes dashed..... I remember the movie, I love the movie. The book....well....

Michael Ende attempted to sue the movie producers when the original film was being put together because he said it deviated too far from his tale (and the film ended at the halfway point of the book). In my opinion, he should have PAID the producers because they created a story that was much better than the author's vision. key characters in the movie were barely noted in the book and in fact, noting them in the book so briefly actually interrupted the flow of the story.

In the book, I grew to loathe Bastian - even earlier than Ende meant for the reader to dislike him. I also started to wince every time I read "But that's a different tale to be told show more at a different time," (or something similar to that). I've read a bit of the Arabian Nights, I didn't need to see a second treatment less artfully done. Like his character Bastian Balthazar Bux, Michael Ende may have a higher opinion of himself and his art than his talent warrants.

I also believe the movie producers made the right decision in not covering the second half of the book....it really dropped it from bad to worse. show less

Uno dei classici della mia infanzia. Ed è annoverabile tra i grandi classici di sempre, nonostante sia relativamente recente.
Non solo l'ambientazione fantasy lo rende affascinante. Il messaggio che sottende è di una profondità ammirevole (il "fa' ciò che Vuoi", che alla fine diviene impossibile perché quello che si vuole davvero nel profondo è coperto da strati e strati di pensieri secondari, inutili, di affanni, di paure, di condizionamenti; e che il protagonista riesce a riscoprire grazie all'aiuto delle uniche persone che nonostante tutto, anche nonostante l'odio e la cattiveria, non se ne vanno. Ed è un peccato che il film che ne è stato tratto e che moltissimi della mia età hanno visto, trascuri completamente la seconda show more parte del libro, che forse è un tantino meno avvincente ma senza la quale la morale del libro diventa un banale "insegui i tuoi sogni" trito e ritrito. Questo libro è di più: invita a conoscere se stessi, a guardare in faccia i nostri errori (Bastiano che da salvatore diventa dittatore), a capirli, e a diventare quello che noi siamo veramente e non quello che vorremmo essere, con le nostre responsabilità, doveri e diritti. show less

This is one of the most important books on dreaming I've ever read. It's the reason why I love fantasy and dreaming, and it motivates me to this day to keep imagining and exploring and contemplating possibilities. I believe we are in a sea of infinite parallel universes, with infinite possibilities and combinations, which makes me think that really if you imagine it, it IS real, at least somewhere in another universe. Humans nowadays more than ever need to dream, as dreaming enables us to see out into the stars, to find our place in the universe and remember that we aren't the center of everything. This book from a young age enabled me to see many things missed that are in plain sight. To speculate and to always, always ask myself "what show more if?" or "could it be?", The snakes biting each other's tail on the AURYN truly are symbolic of the SEEN and the UNSEEN worlds that we live with and around an inside on a daily basis.

I don't expect everyone or even a few people to have the same experience that I did, but I know there are a few out there, true dreamers that want to see beyond our world. For me this book felt like a real door to Fantasia, the realm of dreams and infinite possibilities. show less