Author: Michael Ende (1929 – 1995)
Translator: Ralph Manheim
Publisher: Puffin Books (2009 Edition)
Bought: Borders Parkway Parade
Introduction
Michael Ende was a German author of children literature. Die Unendliche Geschichte first published in 1979, is his most famous novel. The English translation, titled The Neverending Story, by Ralph Manheim was first published in 1983.
What is the story about?
Bastian Balthazar Buz was an insecure fat little boy of ten or twelve. He had lost his mother to illness recently and his relationship with his father had all but broken down. One day, he stole a book titled The Neverending Story. As he read the book, he found his reality intertwining with the story in the book.
The story in the book was set in a land called Fantastica ruled by the Childlike Empress. She was the center of all life in Fantastica and every creature in the land owed their existence to her existence. However, the Empress had been ill and Fantastica itself engulfed by an evil called the Nothing. One character described the Nothing: when you look at a place that has been swallowed up by the Nothing, it’s as if you were blind. It was not clear if the Nothing had caused the Empress’ illness or the Empress’ illness had begotten the Nothing.
A boy warrior named Atreyu was selected to find a cure for the Childlike Empress and to save Fantastica. He learned that the Childlike Empress’ life was not measured by time but names. She had had many names but they were all forgotten. Without a name she could not live. All she needed was a new name, then she would get well. But there was a catch. Only a human, a child of man, someone from the world beyond the borders of Fantasia, could give the Childlike Empress a new name.
Just as a human can cross over to Fantastica, someone from Fantastica can also cross over to the human world. A creature from Fantastica would end up in the human world if it was engulfed by the Nothing. The Nothing would cling to the creature on the other side. The creature would be like a contagious disease that made humans blind so that they could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion, in other words, it would become a lie. Such lies have stopped humans from coming to Fantastica and giving the Childlike Empress new names. The more of Fantastica that was destroyed, the more lies flooded the human world, and the more unlikely it became that a child of man would come to Fantastica. It was a vicious circle from which there was no escape.
Bastian overcame his fear and crossed over to Fantastica and gave the Childlike Empress the name Moonchild, whereupon she disappeared.
Then Bastian helped rebuild Fantastica with his imagination using AURYN, a magical amulet. Every wish he made was granted. But there was a high price. Every wish that was granted cost him a memory of his own world. As he lost more and more of his memory, he fell prey to Xayide, an evil witch. He tried to crown himself Childlike Emperor but was foiled by Atreyu. Bastian pursued Atreyu and discovered a group of humans trapped in Fantastica – having lost all their memories. Bastian realised that this was what he would become. With the help of Atreyu, Bastian made his one true wish (to love and be loved by his father) and with that, he lost his remaining memories and returned to earth.
How was the book?
This is a Puffin book so there is nothing to shout about.
Finally …
The story is a rich tale with fantastical creatures (including Falkor the luckdragon) and a message about the power of imagination and dreams.
Et cetera
The Inkworld trilogy by German author Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (2004), Inkspell (2006) and Inkdeath (2008) – also make use of the idea that books can be portals to other worlds.
1950 – today 