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The Neverending Story

Michael Ende

Start date: August 1, 2018

Finish date: August 31, 2018

Discussion: Classics (On Hiatus)

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Showing 2 of 36 topics — 68 comments total

Classics (On Hiatus)

* July 2021: Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta
By Megan · 1 post · 23 views

last updated Jul 03, 2021 10:36AM

June 2021: The Hero and the Crown
By Megan · 1 post · 31 views

last updated Jun 05, 2021 06:39PM

What Members Thought

Jul 07, 2020 seak rated it liked it

Shelves: 2020, audio

"This is another one of your weird [books], man." Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords)

Okay so that's a bit out of context, but The Neverending Story is definitely an odd one. Which also means that it's pretty well-represented in the movies, which I absolutely loved as a kid.

The first half of the book is really well-told, really interesting, definitely weird, but mostly the movie follows it to a T (I googled it, that's how you write that idiom). All very good things. I loved it, it was fun, ex "This is another one of your weird [books], man." Bret McKenzie (Flight of the Conchords)

Okay so that's a bit out of context, but The Neverending Story is definitely an odd one. Which also means that it's pretty well-represented in the movies, which I absolutely loved as a kid.

The first half of the book is really well-told, really interesting, definitely weird, but mostly the movie follows it to a T (I googled it, that's how you write that idiom). All very good things. I loved it, it was fun, exciting, just enough rememberances of the movie I haven't watched in at least 20 years. Great stuff.

Bastian Balthazar Bux is a pudgy kid who loves reading, making up stories, and not really being around people. Just my kind of kid. He finds a magical book that goes even further than choose your own adventure books, as if you don't know how things go.

The land of Fantastica is dying and the child-like empress chooses a hero in Atreyu (Best name ever and I don't even follow the band). He does heroic things, has adventures, meets Falcor (what!) it's all kind of random and almost episodic. Then we find out why he's doing that and I won't spoil that here. I will say that BBB doesn't enter the book nearly as soon as I remembered...

Then you get to the second half of the book and it gets a bit crazy. BBB goes kind of power-crazy, starts losing memories (remind you of the second movie?), and it's a completely different book.

Here's where the movie and book deviate quite a bit. The movie uses the same "bad guy", Xayide, and BBB loses memories for making wishes (this is getting a little hazy with my memory of the movie), there is an invisibility belt and ultimate betrayal by Atreyu and Falcor, but otherwise BBB meets some even weirder creatures, one of which is a melody, and the whole pacing kind of takes you out of it. (view spoiler)

In the end, I think this would have done better as two different books, similar to the way the movies split things up, because the second half really detracts from the first. It's definitely a classic and a fun read, but it's its own thing too.

3.5 out of 5 stars (Recommended) ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2021 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

4.5 stars
Parts of this are incredibly moving and at times the story pulls you in so that you can't possibly put it down, but there are bits that drag after the Childlike Empress has a name when you can't help but lose patience with Sebastian. I wouldn't be surprised if people gave up on Sebastian when he treats Atreyu poorly, but missing Sebastian in the mines would be a terrible pity. Fantastica has hidden depths. ...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Wendy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reccommend, fantasy, young-adult

What a wonderful, lyrical book. I am delighted to have finally read this. I also wonder how my Mom missed this one, as she read aloud to us. I am guessing it was published after we grew out of it...

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