The Neverending Story by Michael Ende Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Neverending Story
Book Review: A very deep and touching work
Summary: 4 Stars
Bastian Balthazar Bux is a fat, lonely boy who seems like a bit of a screwball to the kids in his school. So one rainy day when he was running away from them, he hid in a bookstore. There he found a fabulous book called The Neverending Story. Tempted by the promise that this book would never end (who doesn't want a book that won't stop before you find out just what exactly the author means by "happily ever after"?) Bastian steals the book and runs with it to school. On the way he is mortified by what he's just done. He decides he can never go home again, because he's a criminal. He climbs to the school attic and locks himself in with only his lunch and the Neverending Story to sustain him.
This is a story of adventure, of truth, of friendship, of joy, of hope, of despair, of power, of self-esteem, of humility, of pride, of wisdom, of mistakes, of, of... of everything!
The Neverending Story is the circle of life, is what I believe the author was trying to say. That's the main idea I gleaned from the mountain of allegory in this dazzling, thought-provoking story.
The other major theme is love, which becomes extremely clear only at the end of the book. But all of the aforementioned themes were in the book, one after another, drawing you back for more. This book is not for fun, although its characters and locales are so wierd and beautiful that it often is fun.
The prose is powerful because it is so stark. I'm not saying there wasn't enough description. Rather, there was the perfect amount of description, and no excess. You have to use your imagination to see the described things, but you never have to fill in uncomfortable blanks. One small thing I found confusing was the way the author describes sounds. He seemed almost...well, inept at that. For example, he says that a stone-eating giant with buckteeth "crackled" words out, instead of saying he had a gravelly voice or whatever he could have meant by that. He also describes a dragon's voice sounding like a bronze bell, but that's a bit easier for me to imagine.
The book is extremely long for a children's novel, but every word counts, so careful reading is a must. Nonetheless, I was so absorbed in the story that I finished it in two days!
There are some theories in the book that are absolutely mind-blowing. For example, while Bastian is inside the story, someone mentions to him that perhaps someone else is reading the story that he's in. It sent a chill down my spine, because while he had been reading a book by the selfsame title, he had been blasted into its pages! For a split second those words give you the feeling that the same could happen to you! If you don't believe me, try it. It's freaky.
Book Review: A wonderful novel. It's like a hallucination with a plot.
Summary: 4 Stars
A young boy, Bastian Balthazar Bux, storms into a the shop of Mr. Correander, the keeper of mystical book bound in copper leather and surmonted by a serpentine emblam, and makes off with what will become the doorway to another world. In the Neverending story we see two worlds come together. The world of fantasy and the world of men. It is Bastian's quest to bring the world of fantasy and imagination back to his world, but first he must overcome his desire to blend into this dream world and fade away. With every passing wish Bastian's power in Fantasia increases but at a great cost - his memory. Only by denying his desire to overthrow the Childlike Empress, by mounting himself up as Lord of Fantasia, and by straining to keep hold of what memory he still has from his own world will Bastian reach the end of his great quest.Book Review: A wonderful world of imagination...
Summary: 5 Stars
Michael Ende's "Neverending Story" is a childhoodclassic in Germany and is truly a great novel. After reading the HarryPotter novels and JK Rowling's imaginative world full of great ideas, I had to think of the worlds Ende creates in his novels, of his ability to bring together pieces of different mythologies and fairy tales and to create a witty book full of references, word play and ideas. This book should not have been made into a movie for it is an argument in favour of the world of reading and "the movies" that are created in your mind. It is very sad that Ende died some years ago and therefore will not be able to bring us more novels like this and I am very surprised that most of his other books are still not available in English.Book Review: A young boy strives to have confidence in himself.
Summary: 5 Stars
Bastian,a young boy, is being picked on his way to school. To get away from his peers, he runs into a book store and while inside he finds the book The NeverEnding Story on the check-out counter. Something draws him to the book so much that he steals the book from the book store. Instead of going to class that morning Bastian sneaks up into the attic of his school so that he can begin to read the mysterious book,which he was drawn to. Basitan completes all of the adventures together with the main character of the book. In the story Artryu and Bastian's mission is to find a way to stop the plague called the nothing from taking over Fantasia. This is one of the best books I have ever read. This story was a childhood classic when I was very young. This story has magic, adventure, and monsters. If you have seen any of the NeverEnding story movies you have to read the book. This book is for anyone who loves fantasy novels.Book Review: Aah, a book you don't want to miss!
Summary: 5 Stars
It's different from other books! The chapters are from A-Z! You've seen the movie, right? If you have, it's like that, but with much more! And better! For those who haven't, it's about a boy who stole a book from a store, ran to the school attic, and locked himself in. Then started to read. The Story in the story we're reading, is about the mission Atreyu must take- to find an earthling child, to give the empress a new name, because the nothing is taking over Fantastica! Pretty complicated, huh? Well, The boy (Bastian Balthazar Bux) gives her a name (not telling!). He gets a grain of sand and endless wishes! (here's something I don't know if I should tell...) The problem is, Bastian has to wish to 'regain' Fantastica, but with each wish, he loses a memory, and he needs a memory to get back home! Oh the horror of it all!!! I read this at camp, I took it everywhere, I couldn't stop reading, I really wanted to know what happened! You will too ;oP