The Neverending Story

The book centres on a boy, Bastian Balthazar Bux, an overweight and imaginative child who is neglected by his father after the death of Bastian's mother. While escaping from some bullies, Bastian bursts into the antiquarian book store of Carl Conrad Coreander, where he finds his interest held by a book called The Neverending Story. Unable to resist, he steals the book and hides in his school's attic, where he begins to read.

The story Bastian reads is set in the magical land of Fantasia, a place of wonder ruled by the benevolent and mysterious Childlike Empress. A great delegation has come to the Empress to seek her help against a formless entity called "The Nothing". The delegates are shocked when the Empress's physician, a centaur named Cairon, informs them that the Empress is ill, and has chosen a boy warrior named Atreyu to find a cure. Upon finding Atreyu, Cairon gives him AURYN: a powerful amulet that protects him from all harm. At the advice of the giant turtle Morla the Aged One, Atreyu sets off in search of an invisible oracle known as Uyulala, who may know the Empress's cure. In reaching her, he is aided by a luckdragon named Falkor, whom he rescues from the shapeshifting creature Ygramul the Many. By Uyulala, he is told the only thing that can save the Empress is a new name given to her by a human, who can only be found beyond Fantasia's borders.

Through reading the story, Bastian becomes increasingly disturbed by hints that the characters are somehow aware that he is reading their adventures, being able to hear or even see him at points. As Falkor and Atreyu search for the borders of Fantasia, Atreyu is flung from Falkor's back in a confrontation with the four Wind Giants and loses AURYN in the sea. Atreyu lands in the ruins of Spook City, the home of various creatures of darkness. Wandering the dangerous city, Atreyu finds the werewolf Gmork, chained and near death, who tells him that all the residents of the city have leapt voluntarily into The Nothing. There, thanks to the irresistible pull of the destructive phenomenon, the Fantasians are becoming lies in the human world. The wolf also reveals that he is a servant of the force behind The Nothing and was sent to prevent the Empress's chosen hero from saving her. Gmork then reveals that when the princess of the city discovered his treachery against the Empress, she imprisoned him and left him to starve to death. When Atreyu announces that he is the hero Gmork has sought, the wolf laughs and succumbs to death. When approached, Gmork's body instinctively seizes Atreyu's leg in his jaws, preventing him from escaping the Nothing. Meanwhile, Falkor retrieves AURYN from the sea and arrives in time to save Atreyu from the rapid approach of The Nothing.

Falkor and Atreyu go to the Childlike Empress, who assures them they have brought her rescuer to her; Bastian suspects that the Empress means him, but cannot bring himself to believe it. When Bastian refuses to speak the new name, to prompt him into fulfilling his role as savior, the Empress herself locates the Old Man of Wandering Mountain, who possesses a book also entitled The Neverending Story, which the Empress demands he read aloud. As he begins, Bastian is amazed to find the book he is reading is repeating itself, beginning once again whenever the Empress reaches the Old Man — only this time, the story begins with Bastian's meeting with Coreander, his theft of the book, and all his actions in the attic. Realizing that the story will repeat itself forever without his intervention, Bastian names the Empress "Moon Child", and appears with her in Fantasia, where he restores its existence through his own imagination. The Empress has also given him AURYN, on the back of which he finds the inscription "Do What You Wish".

For each wish, Bastian loses a memory of his life as a human. Unaware of this at first, Bastian goes through Fantasia, having adventures and telling stories, while losing his memories. In spite of the warnings of Atreyu and Bastian's other friends, Bastian uses AURYN to create creatures and dangers for himself to conquer, which causes some negative side effects for the rest of Fantasia, such as the rampage of the dragon "Smerg" and the birth of the Shlamoofs winged insane clown creatures. After being abetted by the wicked sorceress Xayide, and with the mysterious absence of the Childlike Empress, Bastian decides to take over Fantasia as emperor. During his coronation ceremony he is stopped by Atreyu, whom Bastian grievously wounds in a battle so fierce it results in the destruction of the Ivory Tower. Bastian then enters "The City Of Old Emperors", inhabited by human beings who came to Fantasia earlier but could not find their way out, eking out a meaningless existence there. Ultimately, a repentant Bastian is reduced to two memories: that of his father, and of his own name. After more adventures, Bastian must give up the memory of his father to discover that his strongest wish is to be capable of love and to give love to others.

After much searching, and having lost his final pre-Fantasian memory (his name and knowledge of himself), Bastian is unable to find the Water of Life with which to leave Fantasia with his memories. After an attack by the Slamoofs he is rescued by Atreyu. Of his own volition, Bastian lays down AURYN at his friend's feet, and Atreyu and Falkor enter AURYN with him, where the Water of Life demands to know Bastian's name, and if Bastian has finished all the stories he began in his journey, which he has not. Only after Atreyu gives Bastian's name and promises to complete all the stories for him does the Water of Life allow Bastian to return to the human world, along with some of the mystical waters. After drinking the Water of Life, Bastian returns to his original form, and feels comfortable and happy with it. He returns to his father, where he tells the full tale of his adventures, and thus his father is restored from his grief. Afterward, Bastian confesses to Coreander about stealing his book and losing it, but Coreander denies ever owning such a book. He reveals he has also been to Fantastica, that the book has likely moved into the hands of someone else and that Bastian—like he did—will eventually show people the many ways to Fantasia.

The Neverending Story was first published under the title Die unendliche Geschichte in 1979 by West German publisher Thienemann Verlag. It was number one on West Germany's highly respected Der Spiegel bestseller list for 113 weeks, and remained on the list for 332 weeks.[2] The original edition was printed using red and green text: red writing to represent the story lines which take place in the human world, and green writing to represent the events taking place in Fantastica. The illustrations by Roswitha Quadflieg that begin each chapter are drawn in both colors to illustrate how the two worlds intertwine.[3] It was initially only printed as a hardcover, not paperback, because Ende wanted the book to look as much as possible like the book that Bastian steals from Mr. Coreander in the story.[4]

The English version, translated by Ralph Manheim, was published simultaneously in the United Kingdom and United States in 1983.[4] Several other English-language editions have since been published, with a variety of covers and lettering styles.[5] As of 2010, The Neverending Story has been translated into 36 languages, and sold more than eight million copies worldwide.[2]

In 1998 Der Niemandsgarten (English: The No Man's Garden) was published. This anthology of Michael Ende's unpublished works includes insight on the creation of The Neverending Story and has been translated into Japanese but not English.[6] Also unavailable in English is Aber das ist eine andere Geschichte – Das große Michael Ende Lesebuch (English: But that is Another Story: The Big Michael Ende Reader), which contains the previously unpublished chapter "Bastian erlernt die Zauberkunst" (English: "Bastian learns the art of magic").[7]

A survey conducted by German filmmaker Ulli Pfau found that The Neverending Story appeals particularly to readers aged 18–35. It remains most successful in Germany and Japan, while the 1984 film tends to be better-known among English-speaking audiences.[4]

Early reviews of the English-language edition included positive reviews in Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews, the latter calling The Neverending Story an "appealing, delicately wrought, engrossing adventure—for children of all ages".[8][9] A less positive review in gaming magazine White Dwarf took issue with the appearance of the physical book, writing that "despite plush production the artwork is grotty, while the promised 'shimmering copper-coloured silk' binding looks like plain red cloth to me. A good buy, though, unless you suffer from red/green colour blindness".[10]

In subsequent years the text of The Neverending Story has been analyzed from several different viewpoints. In The Rhetoric of Character in Children's Literature, literary critic Maria Nikolajeva states that "the two parts of the novel repeat each other" in that Bastian becomes a hero but then in the second half he "acts not even as an antihero but as a false hero of the fairy tale" and the characters of Bastian and Atreyu can also be seen as mirror halves.[11] Helmut Gronemann's Fantastica—the Realm of the Unconscious explores the novel from a Jungian point of view, identifying archetypes and symbols in the story.[4] Additionally, some religious groups have analyzed the text for occult messages and imagery.[4]

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Neverending Story.

• The Neverending Story at The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
• The Neverending Story title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Michael Ende at IMDb