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Neverending Story


Seaworth'sShipmate

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Has anyone ever read the book version of the classic children's film so many of us grew up with? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neverending_StoryI just finished reading it.

 

As far as children's fantasy books go it is very well written, very deep. Easily better kid's fantasy than Harry Potter Imo.

 

Although it was originally written in German, and thus the English translations sometimes read a bit strange, it is still very emotive and descriptive in spite of that. Although it was first published in 1978, it reads like classic literature almost, almost as high quality as the Narnia series, written 30 years earlier.

 

The creatures (Falcor, Gmork, Atreyu) and the world of Fantasia are so descriptive and well rounded, it seems like the pinnacle of children's fantasy lit. Plenty of references to medieval and Norse mythology as we'll (not to mention are almost whole chapters devoted to moral philosophy.)

 

I would highly recommend the book. Has anyone read it.

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It was one of my favored books in my early teens.  Besides the depth of the characters and great pace, I found that the book within the book narrative with the two ink colors was exceptionally well done, and the idea of starting each chapter with a different letter of the alphabet was also a fun.

 

I remembered that after reading it I tried many other books from Michael Ende, but I always ended disappointed. None of them compared to the Neverending Story.

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It was one of my favored books in my early teens.  Besides the depth of the characters and great pace, I found that the book within the book narrative with the two ink colors was exceptionally well done, and the idea of starting each chapter with a different letter of the alphabet was also a fun.

 

I remembered that after reading it I tried many other books from Michael Ende, but I always ended disappointed. None of them compared to the Neverending Story.

 

He didn't write to many did he? Unfortunately he is no longer alive :(.

 

Still, probably for the best he didn't live to see Never-ending Story III made :stillsick:

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He wrote a lot of books and novellas. There are like a couple dozens of them, at least.

 

Besides Neverending Story, the most notable one is probably Momo, which is an interesting methapor but not on the same level. Most of his other works is aimed at young kids, I think.

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Has anyone ever read the book version of the classic children's film so many of us grew up with? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neverending_StoryI just finished reading it.

 

As far as children's fantasy books go it is very well written, very deep. Easily better kid's fantasy than Harry Potter Imo.

 

Although it was originally written in German, and thus the English translations sometimes read a bit strange, it is still very emotive and descriptive in spite of that. Although it was first published in 1978, it reads like classic literature almost, almost as high quality as the Narnia series, written 30 years earlier.

 

The creatures (Falcor, Gmork, Atreyu) and the world of Fantasia are so descriptive and well rounded, it seems like the pinnacle of children's fantasy lit. Plenty of references to medieval and Norse mythology as we'll (not to mention are almost whole chapters devoted to moral philosophy.)

 

I would highly recommend the book. Has anyone read it.

 

Yes, I did read it.

 

The film is terrible.

 

"Do what thou wilt that shalt be the whole of the law." Michael Ende obviously knew his Crowley.

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I was a little too young when it came out but read it a few years later (in ca. 1983, when I was 11) and it was one of my favorite books for a while. My impression is that in Germany it was the first "mainstream" fantasy success. The whole genre had been a nerdy niche before and was probably dominated by translations of english language stuff (and this was a lot of Tolkien clones in the 70s and early 80s I guess).

 

Ende had been well known as a children's book author before that. The most famous of these are the two books about "Jim Button and Luke the Engine driver" (which were my favorites when I was about 7), and Momo. The latter, written in the 1970s, has also some elements of criticism of modern industrialized society that found resonance in that time. The Momo movie from the 80s is pretty good as well.

Ende wrote a few more books, some for smaller children, and also a volume of short stories for adults. But none of them is even close in popularity and importance for their respective genres than those four.

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I love the Neverending Story (I wish you have not started the thread with a reference to the movie, which is awful). I would say it is better than Narnia, but that is maybe me being biased. It has so many layers to talk about: the references to classical literature, the green-and-red structure with pictures and initials following the alphabet (my German edition, which is supposed to be a copy of the first edition, even has the full title "Die unendliche Geschichte von A bis Z" = The Neverending Story from A to Z), the deep thoughts about what fiction, imagination, literature, will and creation actually are ... surely one of the fantasy books very worth discussing.

 

On my last reread, I noticed something I have never noticed before though, and that is the odd gender relations in it. They are surprisingly conservative. I tried to find any scholarly articles about it, but weirdly enough, I did not find any about it. Basically all the active characters - Bastian, Atreju, Fuchur, Kairon, Hynreck and the three knights etc. - are male, while the female characters are all quite passive and more reduced to schematic characterisations. Especially the Empress is a bit problematic, because she is really just what we would call a "muse" in literature - she allows everything to exist by her existing, like a goddess, but unlike a common picture of God, she does not create anything. She is called the Empress, but in the same sentence, it is said that she does not really have any political power. So basically the men create stories (Bastian and the man of the moving mountain), have adventures (Bastian, Atreju, Fuchur), save the world, while the female character is only there to allow all of it to happen, but not really play an active role in it. The only more active female character is Xayide, who is the evil evil (and sexualised) witch that should be feared and hated because she wants to have political power (which is also what Bastian wants at that point, but Bastian is excused because he was bewitched by her evil charms). This a bit problematic part of the book, but despite that, I think Neverending Story is one of the best fantasy books out there.

 

I will also add that I find the first half of the novel, up to Bastian's travel to Phantasien, more pleasant read than the second in which he is trying to find his true will.

 

(I have also read Momo and the both Jim Knopf books, but I do not remember those that well.)

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The first movie was the first movie I saw in the cinema and I hated it. In hindsight it is probably not so bad but it does not capture any of the poetry and mood of the book.

 

As for the gender portrayals. This might be true but despite 1970s feminism I do not remember that anyone was bothered about that. And it does make quite some sense that there is no strong female counterpart in the narrative. Because the "hero" is a "fat loser" in our world (and such "loserdom" is, I think, both more frequent and more of a problem for boys in "our world"), he rather obviously needs a heroic male kid to identify with in Atreyu in the first part and wants himself to become a somewhat clicheed hero type in the second part. As he is still a (pre)pubescent boy, female adoration does not yet play a role for him (he wants to be admired but not particularly by females).

In the last part of the book when Bastian has to find the "true will", there is to some extent a "deconstruction" of male heroic ideals because he has to abolish those aspirations and memories and become the dependent child again.

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Nah, it is really not something to be bothered about, just something I noticed and wanted to post.

I disagree that being a fat loser is more of a problem for boys in our world, but yes, I agree that Bastian and Atreju needed to be as similar as possible because Bastian identifies with him and he would identify more easily with another boy, plus the reader catches the parallels between them easier that way.

 

Interesting thought about the deconstruction of those heroic ideals, never thought of it that way. Thanks!

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I know Ende himself hated the movie, but it's hardly awful.

 

(Bearing in mind that there was only ever one movie. Reports of sequels shall be met with extreme prejudice).

 

True he did. Considering the standards/practices of hollywood even in 1984, it could have been hideous. A lot of talented authors can be a bit persnickety tho. Ronald Dahl apparently hated the adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate fantasy (better than book imo.)

 

The movie cuts a lot, but still retains the philisophical, dark, existential themes of Ende's novel, with plenty of fun hollywood charm.

 

At least he never lived to see NeverEnding Story III lol!

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Whatever, Ende picked a boy (and I think it is at least more obvious for a 10-year-old boy what "fat loser" means and also what the opposite ideal would be that Bastian sees in Atreyu and aspires to become in the second part of the book) and the rest more or less follows from this, I think. In any case a main point of the last third of the book seems to show the shallowness of the wishes Bastian used to become an exemplary fantasy hero. And in the end he has to learn cooperation (on that fog sea), compassion, love etc. More generally, it is not mainly a deconstruction of particular heroic values but an exploration of the old saw "be careful what you wish for". Already earlier, Bastian tries to correct some side-effects of his made up stories/wishes, often with still more unwelcome side-effects, e.g. those creatures that constantly cry and craft silver ornaments or sth. like that with their tears.

 

Maybe because the most famous European post WW II children's book heroine was an anarchic over-the-top female (Pippi Longstocking) authors were not so much bothered to keep to more traditional roles in some books.

 

The two Jim Button/Jim Knopf books show that what in 1960 was obviously supposed to be a plea for international friendship and equality (black hero saves Chinese princess as well as a bunch of other kids from all nations) is from a early 21st century perspective rife with problematic ("racist") stereotypes. Ende himself agreed in the early 1990s to changing the name of the stereotyped "fantasy-China" (with supersmart babies, fantastically skillful artisans, very odd food and corrupt bureaucrats) to "Mandala". While re-reading them as an adult they may not keep up as well as the "Neverending Story" (or the "Hobbit"), I still think that they are extraordinarily good children's books.

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