Cheap The Neverending Story (Book) (Michael Ende, Ralph Manheim, Roswitha Quadflieg) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of The Neverending Story

Michael Ende's novel first came to my attention after I had seen the wonderful Warner Bros film in 1984. Just a teenager at the time, I sought out the book and read it. It was fantastic, a book I intended to keep for the rest of my life. But it was a yellowing, cheap paperback re-released off the back of the movie. So one day trawling through the catalogues at Amazon, it occurred to me to check out if the book was still in print. It was. And how.

When my copy arrived, I hadn't realised the effort that had been put into its print. The cover art is crisply reproduced with firm hardbacking, but the real surprise was to be found inside; the text is printed in alternating purple (for Bastian's story) and green (for the events within the storybook itself). It's one of those books you want to stick on the shelf and never touch again because you want to preserve its beauty, although well-thumbed books take on an appreciated beauty of their own. I love this book, I would've paid twice the price for it.

Hope you enjoy it as much.

NOTE: Michael Ende's novel is longer than the film, which was based only on the first half of the book. The translation is the original one by Ralph Manheim. For trivialists, Ende died in 1995, Manheim in 1992.

Terrific Book for Children and Adults (Buy the Hardback!)
After reading the book, and having seen the film, the book is leaps and bounds better. Of course, this is usually the case, but I felp obligated to tell the public likewise.

As other readers have mentioned, you should purchase the hardback which will certainly be a staple for your home library. The hand drawn illustrations beginning each chapter are beautiful and feature simple sketches of characters you will soon meet. The story takes place both here on Earth (printed in purple font) and in Fantastica (yes, Fantastica not Fantasia, printed in green). The point, children should never fear to wish or dream. It is written in a style that both adults and children will enjoy and I highly reccommend this book to everyone interested. There are so many unforgettable characters like the Rock Biter (huge stone giants), will-o-the-whisp (flying pixie), Falcor (the flying luck dragon) and more... Ygramul and Grograman the fire lion, as one reader already stated will never be forgotten and add a lot of suspense to the story... nestle this one in, right next to the "Harry Potters" on your bookshelf... you won't be sorry!

More Meaningful Than the Average Fantasy Novel
Most Americans' familiarity with the book will come from the three American movies, despite the fact that the book was a bestseller in Germany for three years.

The first two movies are based on the first and second halves of the book, respectively (fortunately, the events of the third one were never written about). Bastian, rather than being a cute, slim, wide-eyed little boy, is a chubby recluse who withdraws into his own imagination as a replacement for friends, even more so since the death of his mother.

While not amazingly well-written by any stretch of the imagination, The Neverending Story makes up fully for that by being such a gripping adventure. Ende can write an enthralling drama, as equally light-hearted as it can be dark.

The story, however, goes deeper than providing a high fantasy tale. It is, at its heart, when all is said and done, a story about learning to love oneself. Bastian's metamorphosis from a selfish schoolboy to a worshipped, egotistical weilder of Auryn in Fantastica to, finally, a humble, appreciative son is as magical as the rest of the novel.