theradicalchild | The Neverending Story (book) (Reply)

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I became aware of the Neverending Story film series during the 1990s and watched bits of the first two movies, then being unaware that they were based on a novel by German author Michael Ende. Well over a decade later would I find out about the first film's troubled production and the author's disdain for the adaptation, alongside the untranslated stories set in the book's world of Fantastica and forthcoming remake. Hearing this inspired me to purchase the eBook from Amazon and give it a read, a move I don't regret.

The Neverending Story focuses on Bastian Balthazar Bux, a bullied school student grieving from the recent death of his mother and raised solely by his father, who steals the titular book from a bookstore owned by Carl Conrad Coreander, afterward going to his schoolhouse's attic and beginning to read it. The story within the story opens with several messengers of different species seeking to deliver the same message to the Childlike Empress, ruler of the world of Fantastica. The fantasy narrative receives regular interruption with asides of Bastian reading and events like the school's bell tolling.

The initial protagonist of the book within the book is a warrior from the Grassy Ocean named Atreyu, entrusted with the gem AURYN, who promises to accomplish the mission of finding a cure for the Empress' sickness, which involves finding and giving her a new name. Atreyu ultimately receives and companion and transportation in the form of Falkor the luckdragon. The Empress does receive her new name, albeit not a very traditional one but rather another title, after which Bastian finds himself within Fantastica, receives fanciful clothes, and becomes the Lord of the Jungle named Perilin.

Bastian finds himself on a series of adventures through Fantastica and receiving AURYN, which grants him wishes, albeit at the expense of his memories. The sorceress Xayide aids him in becoming the Childlike Emperor in the Empress' absence, after which battle erupts at the Ivory Tower, and he pursues Atreyu. He visits the City of the Old Emperors (or those who wished to be rulers) and makes it a point to return to the human world. He learns that the Water of Life can help him, after which he forgets his own name and needs to speak it in order to leave Fantastica.

Overall, I enjoyed Ende's magnum opus, which seemed vastly different from the film adaptations based on what fragments I remember of them, with a general clear linear narrative and nice distinction from other fantasy novels, especially given the distinct names. Moreover, the translation was well-executed, and the setting without Fantastica could easily be in any country aside from Germany. Regardless, there are some issues like the awkwardness of some dialogue and minor things like the use of "traffic" in a fantasy world, and the goal of finding the Childlike Empress a new name is somewhat asinine. Regardless, The Neverending Story is easily a bucket-list novel and gets me interested in the film adaptations and forthcoming remake.

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(by the way, huge props to pshaw_raven for inspiring me to buy and read this book)