The Night of Wishes
by Michael Ende
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"It's 5pm on New Year's Eve in the Villa Nightmare, and as Shadow Sorcery Minister Beelzebub Preposteror's thumb-striking clock counts down each hour with an "Ouch!", Minister Preposteror draws closer to missing his midnight deadline forfulfilling his annual quota of evil deeds and being "foreclosed." Up against a tight deadline and threats from His Hellish Excellency, the Minister of Pitch Darkness himself, Preposteror has all but given up when the arrival of an unexpected visitor promises show more hope: his aunt, the witch Tyrannia Vampirella, who proposes that they work together to brew the Notion Potion, a powerful formula that will grant all their evil wishes. The Night of Wishes, from The Neverending Story author Michael Ende, anticipates the world of Harry Potter: a world in which magic is not only very real, and wielded by both forces good and evil, but also bureaucratized, with its practitioners fitting into a tightly regulated hierarchical system"-- show lessTags
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Published in English as The Night of Wishes.
Beelzebub Irrwitzer is cornered in his laboratory by one of Hell's emissaries, for not reaching his yearly quota of bad deeds. The dark sorcerer needs to make it up by midnight, if he didn't want to lose his soul, regardless of the numerous dastardly deeds that he did, in fact, complete. After much panicking and hand-wringing, his only choice remains to team up with his aunt, the money witch Tyrannia Vamperl.
As for the rest of the world? It seems pretty much doomed, unless the evildoers' two familiars manage to set aside their quarrel, long enough to come up with a counter plan.
I was pleasantly surprised by this little, 238-page, fairy-tale, especially since my initial interest lay solely in show more its lengthy (and unpronounceable) title. The naming humour was just brilliant, such as the emissary from Hell being named Maledictus Maggot, and Beelzebub repeatedly calling him Mr. Larvae.
The mentions of Beelzebub's ecologically harmful chemical experiments, Tyrannia's questionable money-making schemes, and of course the narrator's overall distain of humanity failing to step up to save the planet from imminent ecological disaster, made for quite a contemporary story, despite it having been published back in 1989.
As an adult, I was mainly interested in Beelzebub and Tyrannia's adventures. Their attempt at saving the day was much more exciting to follow, compared to that of the good guys, who heroically brave the elements on the off-chance of finding some help. Sure, the many (not so) subtle attempts to outwit one another all but telegraph inevitable failure for the bad guys. That said, for all the narrator's effort in describing Beelzebub and Tyrannia as the worst possible plague to befall the world, I still found myself rooting for the bad guys to escape from Hell's clutches.
Score: 3.8/5 stars
My inner child positively adored everything about this story. Lots of magic, talking animals, some action scenes describing some extremely dangerous stunts, unexpected supernatural help, plenty of comedic relief, all nicely wrapped up in a classic-happy-ending. show less
Beelzebub Irrwitzer is cornered in his laboratory by one of Hell's emissaries, for not reaching his yearly quota of bad deeds. The dark sorcerer needs to make it up by midnight, if he didn't want to lose his soul, regardless of the numerous dastardly deeds that he did, in fact, complete. After much panicking and hand-wringing, his only choice remains to team up with his aunt, the money witch Tyrannia Vamperl.
As for the rest of the world? It seems pretty much doomed, unless the evildoers' two familiars manage to set aside their quarrel, long enough to come up with a counter plan.
I was pleasantly surprised by this little, 238-page, fairy-tale, especially since my initial interest lay solely in show more its lengthy (and unpronounceable) title. The naming humour was just brilliant, such as the emissary from Hell being named Maledictus Maggot, and Beelzebub repeatedly calling him Mr. Larvae.
The mentions of Beelzebub's ecologically harmful chemical experiments, Tyrannia's questionable money-making schemes, and of course the narrator's overall distain of humanity failing to step up to save the planet from imminent ecological disaster, made for quite a contemporary story, despite it having been published back in 1989.
As an adult, I was mainly interested in Beelzebub and Tyrannia's adventures. Their attempt at saving the day was much more exciting to follow, compared to that of the good guys, who heroically brave the elements on the off-chance of finding some help. Sure, the many (not so) subtle attempts to outwit one another all but telegraph inevitable failure for the bad guys. That said, for all the narrator's effort in describing Beelzebub and Tyrannia as the worst possible plague to befall the world, I still found myself rooting for the bad guys to escape from Hell's clutches.
Score: 3.8/5 stars
My inner child positively adored everything about this story. Lots of magic, talking animals, some action scenes describing some extremely dangerous stunts, unexpected supernatural help, plenty of comedic relief, all nicely wrapped up in a classic-happy-ending. show less
Plot: Surprisingly dark for a children's book, and with sufficient twists and turns to keep it highly interesting and entertaining. Good pacing, great scene balance, and it manages to surprise more than once.
Characters: Adorable on the good side, terrific on the bad side. There only are four real characters and one or two walk-bys, so the cast is very small. Not a notable lack in any way, however. Characterization is simply fun.
Style: Lovely for a children's story, but with so many tongue-in-cheek comments kids won't get that it's hilarious for adults as well, just in a slightly different way. It works surprisingly well on those two layers. Great satire.
Plus: The characters, the overall idea, the writing style.
Minus: The punch brewing show more is a bit too long and occasionally drags.
Summary: Great book and a must-read. Preferably, read it first when you're eight and then re-read every year. It's a book that grows with you. show less
Characters: Adorable on the good side, terrific on the bad side. There only are four real characters and one or two walk-bys, so the cast is very small. Not a notable lack in any way, however. Characterization is simply fun.
Style: Lovely for a children's story, but with so many tongue-in-cheek comments kids won't get that it's hilarious for adults as well, just in a slightly different way. It works surprisingly well on those two layers. Great satire.
Plus: The characters, the overall idea, the writing style.
Minus: The punch brewing show more is a bit too long and occasionally drags.
Summary: Great book and a must-read. Preferably, read it first when you're eight and then re-read every year. It's a book that grows with you. show less
Rilettura.
Bello, bello, bello. Pensavo di ricordarlo con gli occhi della nostalgia, ma no, è oggettivamente una buona storia. Molto semplice, la struttura è quella di una fiaba e funziona. Belzebù e Tirannia sono tanto spassosi quanto stupidi, mentre Jacopo e Maurice sono eroi improbabili - ingredienti perfetti per una storia fantastica. Consigliato ad un pubblico giovane, consigliato ad un pubblico un po' più attempato.
Bello, bello, bello. Pensavo di ricordarlo con gli occhi della nostalgia, ma no, è oggettivamente una buona storia. Molto semplice, la struttura è quella di una fiaba e funziona. Belzebù e Tirannia sono tanto spassosi quanto stupidi, mentre Jacopo e Maurice sono eroi improbabili - ingredienti perfetti per una storia fantastica. Consigliato ad un pubblico giovane, consigliato ad un pubblico un po' più attempato.
** I read an advance reader copy of this book supplied by Edelweiss **
I loved this book when I first read it as a child and I still love it now. The bumbling heroes who manage to save the day almost by accident, the villains who can't quite create the havoc they wish to cause, the book grump and Father Time...all of the characters work together to make a rollicking adventure story perfect for anyone who enjoys magic, fantasy, animals and adventure. I am so happy they've finally brought this book back into print as I can now recommend it to my young customers again!
I loved this book when I first read it as a child and I still love it now. The bumbling heroes who manage to save the day almost by accident, the villains who can't quite create the havoc they wish to cause, the book grump and Father Time...all of the characters work together to make a rollicking adventure story perfect for anyone who enjoys magic, fantasy, animals and adventure. I am so happy they've finally brought this book back into print as I can now recommend it to my young customers again!
Este Ende no me lo leí de niño, pero así puede sorprenderme de adulto. No llega al nivel de [b:La historia interminable|72029|La historia interminable|Michael Ende|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1298569792l/72029._SY75_.jpg|1122661] o [b:Momo|1408835|Momo|Michael Ende|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527198080l/1408835._SY75_.jpg|517524] pero sigue siendo un gran libro que rebosa fantasía y maravilla. Más que infantil diría que es para todas las edades.
Este Ende no me lo leí de niño, pero así puede sorprenderme de adulto. No llega al nivel de [b:La historia interminable|72029|La historia interminable|Michael Ende|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1298569792l/72029._SY75_.jpg|1122661] o [b:Momo|1408835|Momo|Michael Ende|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527198080l/1408835._SY75_.jpg|517524] pero sigue siendo un gran libro que rebosa fantasía y maravilla. Más que infantil diría que es para todas las edades.
Este Ende no me lo leí de niño, pero así puede sorprenderme de adulto. No llega al nivel de [b:La historia interminable|72029|La historia interminable|Michael Ende|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1298569792l/72029._SY75_.jpg|1122661] o [b:Momo|1408835|Momo|Michael Ende|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527198080l/1408835._SY75_.jpg|517524] pero sigue siendo un gran libro que rebosa fantasía y maravilla. Más que infantil diría que es para todas las edades.
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Children's author Michael Andreas Helmuth Ende was born on November 12, 1929 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. He worked as an actor, director, film critic and scriptwriter before turning to writing children's books. He was the only child of the surrealist painter Edgar Ende. His best known work is The Neverending Story (1979), which was adapted show more into a film and two sequels. Another book, Jim Knopf and Lukas the Engine, was made into both a television and radio series. Ende died in Germany on August 29, 1995. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Night of Wishes
- Original title
- Der satanarchäolügenialkohöllische Wunschpunsch
- Alternate titles*
- El ponche de los deseos
- Original publication date
- 1989
- People/Characters
- Beelzebub Irrwitzer; Tyrannja Vamperl; Jakob Krakel; Maurizio di Mauro (Moritz); Maledictus Made; Beelzebub Preposteror (show all 9); Tyrannia Vampirella; Jacob Scribble; Maledictus Maggot
- First words*
- An diesem letzten Nachmittag des Jahres war es schon ungewöhnlich früh stockdunkel geworden.
- Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Und das heisst auf deutsch: Ende gut, alles gut.
- Original language
- German
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
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