Most people have heard of the 80s movie The Neverending Story. Plus, if you’ve seen Stranger Things, you’ve heard the song. But did you know that there was a book?
This timeless fantasy was originally written in 1979 by German novelist Michael Ende. Later, in 1983, Ralph Manheim translated The Neverending Story into English just in time for the movie to come out the next year. The movie tends to be more popular among English speakers, but you can probably guess what I’m going to say next…
The book is better.
The Neverending Story tells a story within a story in a very self-referential way. It begins with a young reader, Bastian Balthazar Bux (say that three times fast), reading the story of Atreyu, the hero working to save Fantastica from the Nothing. The first half of the book follows Atreyu’s adventures faithfully. But there’s a twist.
Half way through, the book does an unconventional protagonist switch-out, leaving Atreyu backstage and completely turning over the limelight to Bastian — something that definitely doesn’t happen in the movie. Because of this story-within-the-story concept, the book heavily involves the reader all the way through. The protagonist switch isn’t the only twist either, but you’ll have to read to find out more!
I give this book a five star rating — Michael Ende truly is a wonderful storyteller.
This book is very literary and some parts are a bit dark for younger children; thus, I would not recommend it for anyone under the age of 10. But it is a great book to make your 11- and 12-year-olds think.
More Books Like This
If you like the literary storytelling in The Neverending Story, you may also like The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952) or The Silver Chair (1953) from C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia.
– by Abbie Call
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Abbie Call – Cannonville/Kirksville, Missouri
Abbie Call is a journalist and editor at The Byway. She graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in editing and publishing from Brigham Young University. Her favorite topics to write about include anything local, Utah’s megadrought, and mental health and meaning in life. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hanging out with family, quilting and hiking.
Find Abbie on Threads @abbieb.call or contact her at [email protected].