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A review by dorhastings
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
4.0
I think I bought this book back in the time of Borders. That's how long I've had it, and I was surprised to see it in my bookshelf. The funny thing about carrying this book around is that I've received the following question many times: "Is it like the movie?" "Well, I saw the movie a long time ago, so I have absolutely no idea. I don't remember much." And at the moment that's still true, though after looking at the synopses of the films on Wikipedia, I've found that apparently I've seen two of the three films associated with this book, and that I've confused them. But apparently that's okay, because the book covers the first two films and have different actors throughout. I digress a bunch.
But I did want to read something that is more young adult. I still can't believe the first film came out in 1984. My expectations were fairly low, and I think the book exceeded my expectations. I think the book should really be split into two: the first half of the book heavily follows Atreyu, the Fantastican (Fantasian, in the films), and the second half of the book heavily follows Bastian, the human boy, so really, you have two main characters. The description and imagery in the book is fascinating. The morals are great. And I like the story itself; I don't know of many YA books that so successfully use the story within the story aspect, but the unique characteristic is that both stories are as interlocked as the symbol of AURYN (the black and white snakes eating each others' tails). I think you easily root for both Atreyu and Bastian (though perhaps occasionally less so for Bastian, since he becomes self-righteous and spoiled).
I think the writing could be a little stronger, and there are still some aspects that elude me, but neither issue is particularly significant. Aesthetically, I love the green and purple texts. HOWEVER, I do wish the cover of this book had been different. I think the paper sleeve and hardcover of the book should have AURYN on them.
I would definitely recommend the book. It's creative and beautiful in terms of a transition from a super-young reader to teenager, and It looks like a fantastic book for reading to a younger child.
But I did want to read something that is more young adult. I still can't believe the first film came out in 1984. My expectations were fairly low, and I think the book exceeded my expectations. I think the book should really be split into two: the first half of the book heavily follows Atreyu, the Fantastican (Fantasian, in the films), and the second half of the book heavily follows Bastian, the human boy, so really, you have two main characters. The description and imagery in the book is fascinating. The morals are great. And I like the story itself; I don't know of many YA books that so successfully use the story within the story aspect, but the unique characteristic is that both stories are as interlocked as the symbol of AURYN (the black and white snakes eating each others' tails). I think you easily root for both Atreyu and Bastian (though perhaps occasionally less so for Bastian, since he becomes self-righteous and spoiled).
I think the writing could be a little stronger, and there are still some aspects that elude me, but neither issue is particularly significant. Aesthetically, I love the green and purple texts. HOWEVER, I do wish the cover of this book had been different. I think the paper sleeve and hardcover of the book should have AURYN on them.
I would definitely recommend the book. It's creative and beautiful in terms of a transition from a super-young reader to teenager, and It looks like a fantastic book for reading to a younger child.