The Neverending StoryBy Michael EndeA Review by Eric Allen."ONLY TWO STARS," you cry, "Eric, have you no soul!?!?!" You're obviously going by the movie, which is AWESOME, and have never actually read the book it was based on, which is not so much. When I was six or seven, the Neverending Story came out, and it was one of the most awesome movies I had ever seen in my life. It was a movie that wasn't afraid to scare the everliving shit out of children, and I loved it for that. Even today, many, many years later, it is still an old favorite that I remember fondly and hope, one day, to scare the everliving shit out of my own children with. The book, on the other hand, is something of a mess. First of all, many people were not aware that it even existed. Fewer people still realize that the extremely terrible Neverending Story II movie was actually part of the book. That's right, the same author that gave you The Neverending Story, ALSO gave you The Neverending Story II. Think on that for a minute and tell me your childhood isn't curled up in a little ball in the closet crying.The book was originally written in German, brought to you on the screen by a German director and crew, and only after the movie was so popular did the book get translated into a few more languages.The plot of The Neverending Story needs no summarizing for most people. It's a very basic telling of the hero's journey story archetype. What makes it so awesome and memorable, of course, is the world in which it takes place, and the fact that the villain was something more abstract than an actual, tangible foe that can be fought and defeated. The second half of the book focuses on the child Bastion, who is pulled into the book after giving the Childlike Empress her new name, which, by the way, people have been asking for years, because that kid is completely unintelligible in the movie. Her name is Moon Child. However, I believe that, for whatever reason, the name was translated literally, rather than left in the original German. Bastion must make his way back to the real world by making wishes, but for each wish he makes, he loses precious memories from his life. And it is only through the help of his friends Atreiyu and Falkor that he is able to return at all.The Good? The first half of the book is excellent. I absolutely love it. The movie stays extremely faithful to the source material. The world is imaginative, the hero is a bit of a blank slate, but likeable all the same, and a lot of the things that he goes through on his quest serve a dual purpose, to both be entertaining, and thought provoking. The use of an abstract concept, the Nothing, as the villain is where I think this part of the book really shines. It's very hard to give a concept weight as a character, but the author did an extraordinary job of bringing it, and all of the horror surrounding it, to life.The Bad? Where this book really falls apart is in the second half. You remember how excited you were to see Neverending Story II when it came out? I know I was. And boy was I disappointed. Well, the second half of the book is pretty much the same. They changed the story drastically to make it easier to make a movie out of it, because there really isn't much in the way of purpose or direction in it. There isn't a real goal, or reason for anything to be happening. Bastion just wanders around, makes wishes, and pretty much accidentally finds his way home again.This boring stretch of nothing happening is compounded by two things. The first is that the first half of the book is so clever, and awesome, and enjoyable, and when you get to the second half it's like running headlong into a brick wall. All of the awesome world, the awesome supporting characters, and even the hero of the story are simply gone, and you're left with only Bastion. And that leads in to the second thing. Bastion is an extraordinarily unlikeable character. It's hard to describe all of the things that make him unlikeable, because pretty much EVERYTHING about his character is annoying or offensive in some way. And after Atreiyu, who is not exactly the most interesting character, true, but a hell of a lot more likeable than Bastion, you feel the contrast all the more. When you actively dislike the person that a story is all about, the story itself is not enjoyable. What creates such things as tension, and drama, are emotional attachments to the characters. If you don't like the character, and don't care whether he succeeds or not, any story woven around him is, inevitably going to be terrible as well. And that is exactly what is wrong with the second half of the book. Bastion is so unlikeable as a character, that I just couldn't have cared less what he was doing, or why, and I certainly didn't care if he was going to succeed or not. You go from a relatively enjoyable protagonist in the first half, to someone who literally has not one single redeeming quality in him as the protagonist in the second half. The fact that there is no readily defined plot for him to participate in makes it even worse, because when there is no real storyline, all of the entertainment value in a story rests wholly upon the characters. The second half of this book is about a terrible, unlikeable character, doing basically nothing but wandering around the world and showing how terrible and unlikeable a character he is.Additionally, this book is not very well written. I'm going to give the author the benefit of the doubt and say that it's probably the translator being unable to convey the original German wording properly into English, and all of the little nuances of prose that make a well written book were lost in translation. But there is probably one thing that was definitely in the original German. The author keeps bringing up what sounds like a really awesome tangent to the story, and then saying, "But that's a different story and will not be spoken of here." Ok... WHY EVEN BRING IT UP IN THE FIRST PLACE!!! Oh my GOD is this annoying. He literally does it like forty times over the course of the book. It was cute once or twice, but it just gets more and more annoying with every time it happens.In conclusion, though The Neverending Story movie will always have a special place in my heart, the book it was based on is better left forgotten. I believe that a lot was lost in translation, when this book was adapted to English, but that can only account for so much. The first half of the book is very enjoyable, with a few odd quirks of writing that I found to be annoying, most of which probably resulted from English not being the original language that the book was written in. The second half of the book is terrible, following a thoroughly unlikeable character as he does absolutely nothing but display what an arrogant douchebag that he is for all the world to see. I do not recommend picking this book up, unfortunately. And if you do, I highly recommend that you only read the first half. The bad more than outweighs the good. Stick to the movie, and remember all the great times you had with it as a child. It's one of the few rare cases of the movie actually being better than the book. The movie, at least, knew exactly when to shut up, come to a conclusion, and wrap things up with a tidy little bow. I wish I could say the same for the book, but I can't. It gets two stars, which is probably one more than it deserves, but hey, nostalgia is a powerful thing. Check out my other reviews.
This book is frustratingly difficult to write a review for -- it's either a one star book, or a four star book, depending on which chapter you're reading.There are so many really wonderful ideas here, but they were just so awkwardly executed it was hard to enjoy them. I kept feeling that the author had some meaning or message that I wasn't quite getting, so I wasn't able to enjoy it as a fable. The writing wasn't as polished as I like, so I didn't enjoy it simply as a fictional story. It was unnecessarily dark in many places, so I'm not sure it really worked as a kids' book ( I read this aloud to my children, which I'll discuss in a moment.)Perhaps it was due to the story being translated from German, but the writing seemed very disjointed to me. There seemed to be a lot of wandering throughout the story, which didn't always seem to be necessary for the characters' progression through the tale (I felt the same way about "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.") Bastian, the main character, makes odd choices -- I suppose some of those can be explained by the events in the book, but others seemed strange and out of character. Some of the book is simply ugly, as are many of the character names. And much of the story seems unresolved, which the author brushes aside with a signature phrase: "But that's another story and shall be told another time."In my opinion, the author had a perfect opportunity at the end of the book to return to those unfinished stories and to let the reader know the fates of those involved, but that part was also glossed over (although not with the author's pet phrase).Okay, so it was awful, right? Well . . . no. There were so many truly charming and unusual characters that I know will remain with me for the rest of my life, as well Bastian Balthazar Bux, his friend Atreyu, and the luckdragon Falkor. And my girls will have these new friends now, too.For much of the book, my daughters seemed conflicted with the story -- one chapter they would beg for me to continue the story and to read more, while other times they were angered or saddened (sometimes both) by the action and wanted nothing more to do with the book. There were many times I had to be very firm about sitting for "story time", as they didn't want to listen to the story anymore. In fact, as we reached the end of the book and had only two chapters left, I decided to read the final chapter after we'd finished our one chapter for the day, and the girls were not interested in the extra chapter. But when we reached the end, my youngest daughter said how much she loved the ending -- for her it made up for the entire rest of the book (which she wasn't keen on at all up to that point). She loved it so much, she ran to tell her dad all about it, then she came back to talk with me about it some more.I also should comment on the cover of our edition -- it's a beautiful swirl of pattern and colour which depicts many elements and characters in the story. We had a lot of fun working our way through the book and figuring out who each character was.So . . . my rating. I'm going with three stars, which I figure as an average between the "didn't like it" chapters and the "really liked it" chapters. I'm not sure I would recommend it for children -- there are several parts that are very sad, and some that are frightening. The characters -- even the heros -- aren't always likable, and there are many unresolved story lines that may frustrate smaller readers (okay, older ones too!).
What do You think about The Neverending Story (1997)?
I grew up watching the movie of The Neverending Story. I can't tell you how many times I've watched it, and still watch it today. It's my comfort movie. I didn't know it was a book until a few months ago, and since it is one of my favorite movies, I had to read the book as soon as possible. So much more happens in the book than in the movie, of course. We're taken on an epic, fantastic journey of Bastian and the land of Fantastica. I was surprised at the pure, real imagination in the book, and how much longer the story actually continues from where the movie ends. There is so much to love about the story of Bastian and his time in The Neverending Story, and even though a lot of people might think it is just a young adult book, there is, surprisingly, some adult feel to it. I think the overall message is great, too. I think this is a read for just about anyone at any age. I'm glad I took the time to read it and learn more about what inspired the movie. It's kind of weird, but there are a LOT of differences between the two, and I think it will be difficult for me now to relate the two. I think most definitely, my favorite parts of the book where the first half where Bastian is in the attic, reading about Fantastica and Atreyu looking for the cure for the Childlike Empress. I don't consider any of what I just told you a spoiler, mainly because I'm sure we've all seen the movie, but that is just the summary of half of the book. I also liked the part about (view spoiler)[ the different colored hills with the Many-colored Death. (hide spoiler)]
—Kathryn
One of my favorite books of all time; this one is definitely closest to my heart. I've certainly read it more than any other (Ender's Game being a close second). Which is interesting because it's almost nothing like any of my other favorites (besides maybe Watership Down). Maybe it's because it's the first main character I was able to identify so well with. Or because Bastian does what I had always dreamed of: to enter inside a book, to turn your imagination into reality. And this book really is an ode to imagination and story telling.The first time I read this I was probably about 11 or 12 and it was after seeing The Neverending Story II in the theater. Till then I had never known it was a book and just happened to notice it in the credits. Thank god I did. The fact that it lead me to the book is probably the only redeeming factor of that movie. I read the book all in one day, from morning till night, with nothing but the same lunch Bastian packed for himself in the movie (I may have cheated later on at night. It's tough when you're not actually hiding in the attic of your school, but lounging on your bed). And I've probably read it at least once a year since then. Even as an adult (am I really one of those now??), I still love being transported to this world, and I think it's a testament to the power of this book that it can still take me there. From Atreyu's quest to Bastian coming to fantastica, to their travels and adventures and Bastian's eventual journey home, I'm with them the whole way. A secret part of me still hopes that the Childlike Empress will appear before me, and that I can join Bastian and Atreyu for real in fantastica. Till then, the book and my imagination will have to do. For anyone who loves reading through and through, and who still has that sense of childhood wonder inside of them, please read this book.
—Greg
Buddy Read with Roya <3Read her awesome review here.BEWARE! SPOILERS EVERYWHERE!Growing up, The NeverEnding Story was one of my favorite movies. It held a special place in my psyche. I can instantly conjure the exact inflection of the Childlike Empress' voice as she cries, "Bastian, please!" The sweetness and charm of Falkor as he says, "I'm a luck dragon," and the low rumble in his laugh as he and Atreyu sail through the sky. I remember bawling every time Artax sank into the Swamps of Sadness and the wonder and promise of the supposed magic as the Childlike Empress holds the single grain of sand that remains of Fantasia in the palm of her hand.The novel is far more intricate and sophisticated. Ende's writing is meticulous. Our heroes are often faced with challenges in the form of riddles that reveal rigorous morality. The pages are rife with symbolism and balance is a prominent theme. We are constantly reminded of the duality of balance. I loved that The Neverending Story was a bit darker than The NeverEnding Story. Exploring that darkness gave the story so much more depth. I felt that the film was too sanitized. The film presented the story with the all too familiar American ideals of good triumphing over evil, while the book presents the rational neutrality of a very "real world" view. There can be no good without evil. The Childlike Empress accepts all beings in Fantastica; the good and the bad, equally. I loved that all the Fantasticans that were swallowed up by the Nothing became lies and doubt in the human world. As I said, Ende's writing is meticulous and there are many well executed details throughout the book.I could sense the precision with which Michael Ende plotted the reader's course, but I did feel he took the scenic route a bit more than I cared for. The films are very loosely based on the novel. Ende actually sued over the changes made to the tale in the movies. The film adaptation only represents the first half of the book. The Never Ending Story II covers the second half. The movies took too many short cuts, but it's easy to see why when presented with the meandering quality of the novel. It really does feel like two distinct stories. I have to believe that this is intentional and that it is a reinforcement of the duality theme in the book. I did love some of the action in the second half of the book. It broke up the monotony of the wandering tale.In the first half of the book we follow Atreyu on his quest. In the second half our focus shifts towards Bastian, who becomes intolerable. I understand and respect the fact that Ende is creating complex characters, but this doesn't change my visceral reaction. I've reacted better to fictional serial killers. Child tyrants are often the worst kind of villains and I had a hard time getting past Bastian's petty egomaniacal behavior, even after he grows as a character.The ending is heartfelt and, once again, laden with symbolism. Overall, I liked the book. How could I resist stories within stories that never end? The film will always have a place in my heart, cheesy '80's special effects and all, and now there is a spot for the novel too.
—Tanya
