The Neverending Story

<3

I wish I had read this as a child! It really threw me for a loop. I truely hated the main character, the further down the path of brattiness be went, the more I despised him. But the story brought a series of enlightenments to the reader and to the boy, which shed light onto his actions and kind of vindicated him.
I enjoyed the pace and the sheer creativity that went into building this story, which gave an unusual sort of met-experience involving the reader herself as well as the characters. As a child I would have doubtless rated this five stars, and as a somewhat jaded adult I can still award four.

So lovely especially when read as a ‘book about books', incredible form/content nexus (story is so well adapted to novel format, especially in the modern sense where reading is an individual activity). The limited feeling of Fantastica works so well considering how tied it is to the human world + the books of said world, existing only within the contains of a story with a beginning and end. It's not a fantasy world with super expansive world building (although it's people + places are interesting and inventive), but I don't think it should be, as the narrative + metanarrative of the book would be lessened by a more established setting. Nice translation, reads like a classic children's story despite being written in the 70s/80s, Good stuff loved it

Fun story always worrying about the main character and what he’s losing when trying to help others. Definitely different from the movie from what I can remember.

*4.5 stars. Full review to come.

This was so interesting and fun!

This book is just fantastic.

I think my childhood love for the movie ruined this book for me. At about the half-way point I was ready for the story to end and it kept on dragging.

God this book hit me so damn hard in my Emotions!!!! I always loved the movie as a child but I'd never read the book until now, but Clearly I should have read it sooner!!!

I can't remember if I read this or not as a child, though with how much I loved the films, it's probably a safe bet. Reading it as an adult, I found myself looking for metaphors and reading it as a kind of exploration of childhood grief and depression. Bastian loses his mother literally and his father figuratively, and seeks shelter in Fantástica where he vicariously defeats the Swamps of Sadness, the Oracles, and the Nothing at great cost. Then he loses himself in his own escape, drives away those who love him, and forgets even his own sense of self. That preservation of self and memory is such a strong, resonant theme challenged again and again by various monsters and ephemera. It's really a beautiful book, and while the first film does justice to the first half, the second is well worth exploring, especially as an adult.

Lamento no haber leído este libro cuando era un niño (aunque si vi la película) ya que la primera parte del libro es maravillosa te transporta a un mundo nuevo, te hace viajar a la Fantasía y al mundo de Fantasia, te enseña a que siempre debes creer en la magia y que tu imaginación es importante y te puede salvar, literalmente. Ya en la segunda parte la enseñanza es más compleja, la soberbia y el poder puede hacerte olvidar quien realmente eres y que es lo realmente importante.

Una historia de amor, amistad, magia y enseñanzas que debe ser leía por los más pequeños y por todos los que tengan un alma de niño con la que puedan identificarse.

It's late, but I wanted to review this before bed.

I was looking for a book to listen to at work. (So long as I get my job done, I can listen to whatever I want). This has been on my “to-read” list for quite some time. I recently rewatched the film and decided to give the book a chance.

The book completely destroyed the movie. (Not a surprise. Most books are better than their films). I was surprised to find out the movie only covers the first half of the story. There is an entire second half I knew nothing about. This was rather exciting. I was drawn in with the familiar and was carried on a second adventure.

The book was original and delightful. It was at times difficult to follow all the character names, but I loved the originality. I'd like to pick up the physical copy of this book and re-read it.

Maybe will return to this when reading it together with a young person.

The Bastion of the book is so much less likable than the Bastion of the movie of my childhood.

I was surprised to discover that both the movie and its sequel were derived from this book - I hadn't thought the sequel was based on anything. That being said, the book is terrible. It lags on, it writes characters out for no reason, and Bastian is completely unlikeable. I'm glad I read it, but I loved the movies WAY more.