The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story was always one of my favorites growing up. The idea that a kid could get pulled into this amazing world full of adventure really spoke to me as a kid (I’m sure you’re starting to see the theme here). I loved that I could follow along and it felt like I was also going on these grand adventures.

I pick this book as my favorite because it’s a young adult book about looking inside ourselves for inner strength. It explores ourselves as a person and it teaches values like believing in ourselves. It helped me overcome my fears about my self-worth and to believe what is important.

I think it's important to have values included in young adult books.

On the surface, The Neverending Story is a fun adventure with a wonderfully unique and imaginative setting. But what truly makes this book stand apart is the depth of meaning buried in its prose. Michael Ende’s masterpiece is so much more than it first appears, offering the reader a lot more to think about and many more feels than the simplified movie adaptation. The Neverending Story is, in essence, a story about storytelling, demonstrating how and why it changes us and the world we live in.

I saw this book in an independent bookshop in London about 10 years ago, and having read my childhood copy to tatters I treated myself to a brand new copy. I’m so glad I did, as I missed loads just reading it for the story. My knowledge of story-building techniques has shown me hidden depths in the narrative, from the 26 chapters each starting with a different letter of the alphabet to the symbolism of the book cover logo (two snakes biting each other’s tails—infinity). Seeing Bastian learn how to let go of so much but keep hold of his… show more.

If this title sounds familiar, it’s because it was made into a famous 1980s fantasy film. Shy Bastian Bux skips school to read a mysterious book, only to find himself being pulled into the world it describes. Once he enters Fantastica, Bastian has unlimited wishes that will help rebuild everything destroyed by the devastating Nothing. But this seemingly happy ending has a dark side: with every wish Bastian makes in Fantastica, he loses a memory of his life from the real world. Forgetting his origins as a kind underdog, Bastian grows power-hungry and selfish, and runs the risk of trapping… show more.

You cannot change the past, but your actions today can inform the future. That is the message I subconsciously internalized from reading and re-reading this book. I had the great fortune of having the beautiful illustrated German hardcover edition that is printed in two colours: red and green; one for Bastian reading the book, and the other for Atreju on his adventure to save Fantasia. I’ve always adored Ende’s knack for taking the mundane and twisting it into something utterly magical, and in this book he does that with extra flare, which is why I believe it is his most… show more.

I grew up watching The Neverending Story. It simultaneously scared the hell out of me and enthralled me, so when I discovered that the movie was based on a book, I immediately picked it up. As most people argue, the book is always better than the movie and in this case I felt that the movie didn’t even come close to doing it justice. In fact, I found it interesting that the story itself is spread across movie sequels, whereas everything is in one book. There’s also so much more emphasis on the strange creatures, ever-changing world, and magical… show more.