The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story

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4.14 of 5 stars 4.14  ·  rating details  ·  57,077 ratings  ·  1,879 reviews
This epic work of the imagination has captured the hearts of millions of readers worldwide since it was first published more than a decade ago. Its special story within a story is an irresistible invitation for readers to become part of the book itself. And now this modern classic and bibliophile's dream is available in hardcover again.

The story begins with a lonely boy na...more
Hardcover, 396 pages
Published 1997 by Dutton Children's Books (first published 1979)
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Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)
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Aerin
Dec 19, 2012 Aerin rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone, but especially 11-year-olds
“Are you and I and all Fantastica,” she asked, “are we all recorded in this book?”

He wrote, and at the same time she heard his answer: “No, you’ve got it wrong. This book is all Fantastica - and you and I.”

“But where is this book?”

And he wrote the answer: “In the book.”



Ah, metafiction for children. Books within books within books, and all the same book. The Neverending Story. The two snakes, red and green, biting each other’s tails and forming an oval: the amulet AURYN. Mirrored in the red and g...more
Gundula
I have actually never written a review for Michael Ende's utterly amazing The Neverending Story (I have also never read it in English). I first read it in German in the early 80s, I believe, and I have reread it regularly over the years. Die unendliche Geschichte is one of my all-time favourite German children's literature books; I simply adore it.

I love everything about this book, including the ingenious way the chapters are arranged, as well as the different colour fonts (red for reality, blue...more
Ben
I loved most of what I read, yet I’m stopping on page 352; I just can’t continue. And you know, I’m not entirely sure why I can’t continue -– I just know that I can’t.

But I have a theory.

Having loved the movie version of this in my youth, the whole story is etched into the part of my psyche that deals with childhood; that time when so much is new; where much in the world is observed through an inner-wonder of the mind and a stirring of the soul: a magical state, by adult standards. Freud may ha...more
Greg
May 19, 2008 Greg rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone
Shelves: fantasy
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...more
Lisa Vegan
This is a rather brilliant book and I could see it being a life changing book for some readers.

It’s about reality & fantasy, escape, power, free will, friendship, individuality, isolation, grief, choices, wishes, courage, growth, altruism, friendship, change, self acceptance, meaning, memory, identity, love, introspection, and imagination & stories.

From the beginning, it reminded me of The Lord of the Rings and The Phantom Tollbooth, and other books too.

Even though I knew this formula, I...more
Elisa
Bastiano Baldassarre Bucci è un bambino grassoccio e con la faccia color formaggio, orfano di madre, tremendamente insicuro di sé e per questo vittima dei suoi coetanei bulli. Se a questo aggiungiamo che suo padre, segnato dalla morte della moglie in modo profondo, non lo degna quasi più di uno sguardo, abbiamo davanti l'immagine perfetta di un personaggio dall'esistenza grama. L'infelicità circonda Bastiano e lo isola dal mondo, e lui non fa niente per levarsela di dosso: si crogiola nella soli...more
Corinne
Perhaps the reason I just did not love this book is that I was absolutely in love with the movie when I was young. I love the idea of a reader being taken to the land of the book he's reading. For me, the first 1/3 of this book was wonderful, just what I fondly remembered from my beloved movie version - and actually, a bit more fleshed out. The movie makes a bit more sense having read the book. However, I couldn't believe when I got to the end of what I knew of the story that I still had about 2...more
Kathryn
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 h...more
Belle
The Neverending Story was one of my favourite movies growing up, but embarrassingly, I didn't actually realise it was a book until recently. I ordered it from Book Depository as soon as I found out, and finally got around to reading it on my honeymoon.

This has been a hard review for me to write because I'm so torn about this book. Or, rather, The Neverending Story feels torn to me - because it was like reading two books, the first part of which I absolutely loved, while the second part gave me m...more
Tracy
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Mariel
Mar 23, 2011 Mariel rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: tinkerbell
Recommended to Mariel by: santa claus
The Neverending Story is one of my childhood reads (not a favorite one, however) that I went back to later in my teen years. I've never really had that "I wanna be an adult" childish phase of shunning childish things. I've never stopped loving toys, cartoons and make-believe (it goes hand and hand with the ability to bullshit, something I love way too much to ever give up). If I can't still enjoy a story I once loved, it is because there aren't enough new layers for my mind that looks for more....more
Wicked Incognito Now
Jan 23, 2008 Wicked Incognito Now rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: most people
Shelves: childrens-book
Well, this is an "out-there" book, so I can see how it wouldn't be for everyone, but.....

I can't figure out how I got to 33yo and never read this book! I just read it with my daughters and we absolutely loved it. It's a fantastic romp filled with lessons that every child can benefit from: the nature of individuality and wish-fullment, how wishing is impossible without personal change, how personal glorification is empty, the nature of fantasy vs. reality. How fantasy can be turned into lies by t...more
Needleroozer
Nov 22, 2007 Needleroozer rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of The Princess Bride
Somehow I missed reading this book when I was a kid. I missed seeing the movie based on the book too. I don't know how I missed the movie. My family was really into seeing movies (especially when we lived near dollar cinemas), and I saw many other films in this genre: Legend (Tom Cruise in a loincloth), Willow, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth. In any case, I did not see the movie version until just this past Halloween (October 2007) when Tony got it from Netflix.

It's one of Cassidy's all time movies...more
Erin
Apr 16, 2007 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone haunted by the death of Artax in the movie
Shelves: ya
Most folks of a certain age have seen the movie they made of this book in the '80s. What's intriguing is that it's only about the first third of the book. Much, much more happens to Bastian in the Neverending Story than we ever got to see. Granted, most of it is a slightly preachy allegory about personal responsibility, but it's still a pretty kickass young adult fantasy novel if you don't think about it too hard. Also, the chapters are alphabetized with illuminated text, which is fun.
Eleanor
This is the book on which the movies were based (loosely). While I still love the first movie, having grown up on it, this book blows it right out of the water. Michael Ende's creativity and originality (not quite the same things) are brilliantly showcased in this novel. Don't miss it!
Katri
Jan 13, 2013 Katri marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
One of my favourite books from childhood; I would read and reread it countless times and it moved me incredibly. Now I'm reading it for the first time in the original German, and it still grabs me and moves me as much as ever!
A.C
Nov 25, 2008 A.C rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone who like inteligent fantasy for the youth
Recommended to A.C by: Saw the movie first
This is one of the books that is definitely better than the movie. It says something because the movie was fantasticly done! But the story has much more levels and goes much further than the on the screen. It is so vividly written that you in your mind you see the characters and the landscapes.
The story is about 2 boys. Bastian who lives in our world and Atreyu who lives in Fantasia. Bastian steals a book and when he starts to read we read with him about a dying world. We follow the adventures...more
Artemas
I believe I would have enjoyed this book far more if I had not grown up with the movie version and seen it 100 times. The first half of this book was amazing and followed the movie very closely. However, at the midway point of the book everything from the movie has all ready taken place and a long series of new events begins. There was nothing wrong with the second half of the book, but it just felt really weird compared to what I was expecting. This book was still a great fairy tale and I would...more
Ahmad
آدمهائی وجود دارند که هرگز نمی توانند به سرزمین رویاها بروند
Maria
Desde muito nova que ouvia falar desta história. Via os desenhos animados ou algo do género (não era o filme) num dos canais de tv de desenhos animados, provavelmente no Canal Panda, e não fazia ideia que era baseado num livro.
Mais tarde conheci a música e vi que havia um filme, mas ainda não sabia que todos se baseavam no livro.

Até que descobri.

E decidi, um dia, lê-lo. E assim foi.
Há alguns meses comprei-o, mas só a semana passada lhe peguei.
Não é um livro que se leia depressa, como tantos...more
Robyn
If you saw the movie as a child, and you're considering reading this book, do yourself a big favor. Take your memories of the movie, put them on some shelf in the back of your mind, and lock them away for the time being.

It's not that the book and movie are incompatible, but they are certainly different. Judging by the other reviews, lots of people seem to have a hard time judging the book on it's own merits, because the film made such an impression. This is such a shame; I think it's a crime to...more
Janeen-san
Yesterday I finished The NeverEnding Story, by Michael Ende.

When you pick up this book, be prepared to read a story... THAT...NEVER...ENDS. Literally.
This story begins where young Bastain Bathlazar Bux stumbles into a old book store on a rainy, wet day. No one is there...or so it seems. Rounding a corner, Bastain sees the owner of the store reading a book that will change his life forever---in more ways than one. When Bastain (out of pure ciriosity) asks what the book is about, the old man repli...more
Amber
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Jmccluer
Dec 13, 2009 Jmccluer rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of the movie and fantasy dorks
Recommended to Jmccluer by: mi hermano who liked it a lot
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Natalie
Like other reviewers, I had seen this movie and I loved it, so I decided to read the book with high hopes. However, I had unmet expectations.

The beginning and up until about the middle of this book are written very well and held my attention. The book is filled with suspense as we follow Atreyu and Falkor on their quest. I enjoyed the mystery of Bastain trying to find out how the characters in the book, he is reading, can sometimes see and hear him.

All of these factors attribute to a great foun...more
Blake Gafford
****All Time Favorite Book****

As another reviewer so rightly pointed out: This is a book lover's dream, a book that never ends.

Like I always say, a picture is worth 1000 words, but a mental picture is worth 1000 times more. Words cannot ever capture what's in a picture, there's always something more, and yet pictures themselves never quite capture something as well as the imagination. People always say that movie version of the book is never as good as the book was, and the reason is that the i...more
Sarah Michelle
Oct 30, 2008 Sarah Michelle rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone, fantasy fans
This is one of my favorite books of all time. Every time I read it I pick up on something new.

I was lucky enough to get a newish edition that had the multicolored inks and the full-page chapter starters. It took me until last year to realize that the 26 chapters of the book each start with a letter of the alphabet.

I love the story within the story, and how Mr. Ende portrayed fantasy as being both savior and devil. In the first section of the book, Bastion's imagination is what saves Fantastica...more
Sally
Today in my gf's bookstore I stumbled across the most amazing thing ever: a beautiful hardcover edition of Die unendliche Geschichte - aka the original German edition of The Neverending Story. So of course I had to buy it even though I already have two English copies - one is a falling-apart paperback with the movie tie-in cover, the other is a hardcover sadly missing its dust jacket but it has the gorgeous red and green text. This one also has the red and green instead of just plain/italic whic...more
Sheena
The Neverending Story is written from the perspective of a boy, Bastian, who is reading a book that he eventually enters. By reading the book, Bastian becomes a part of the story.
Ende manages to write from two perspectives -- that of Bastian while reading, and the book itself -- without confusing the reader. He also includes, without being heavy-handed or didactic, the concept "be careful what you wish for".
The world of Fantastica is written with amazing description and detail, and the multi-fa...more
Psychophant
The first half is gripping, or was, to my fourteen years old self. The second half was a bit of a letdown, mainly because the main character becomes something that he is not.

I still spent four straight hours reading, unable to do anything else. So although I give it three stars (or rather, 4 and a half and 2), my teenaged self would have given it 4 (or 5 before I read The Lord of the Rings). Incredibly well suited for young teens that love books.
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Die unendliche Geschichte (Hardcover)
The Neverending Story (Paperback)
The Neverending Story (Paperback)
La historia interminable (Hardcover)
The Neverending Story (Paperback)

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Michael Andreas Helmuth Ende was a German writer of fantasy and children's literature. He was the son of the surrealist painter Edgar Ende. He died in Stuttgart (Germany) of stomach cancer.

Ende was one of the most popular and famous German authors of the 20th century, mostly due to the enormous success of his children's books. However, Ende was not strictly a children’s author, as he also wrote bo...more
More about Michael Ende...
Momo Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer The Night of Wishes Jim Knopf und die Wilde 13 (Jim Knopf, #2) El espejo en el espejo

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“If you have never wept bitter tears because a wonderful story has come to an end and you must take your leave of the characters with whom you have shared so many adventures, whom you have loved and admired, for whom you have hoped and feared, and without whose company life seems empty and meaningless.

If such things have not been part of your own experience, you probably won't understand what Bastian did next.”
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“Every real story is a never ending story.” 152 people liked it
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