First of all, in Czech we are used to Falco or Falko, but in the German original the white dragon dog is Fuchur, in English Falkor. Atrej is properly Átrej or Atreyu, and Bastian’s full name is Bastián Baltazar Bux. “I will definitely finish it by Christmas. It will be about how, while reading, the story literally draws the boy into a plot from which he finds it difficult to find a way out,” promised Michael Ende (1929-1995) in 1977 to the publisher Hansjörg Weitbrecht a book of a maximum of 100 pages, which he was to write at his suggestion. We already know that he didn’t make it and the number of pages exceeded. “What happened to me in The Neverending Story was that I didn’t know where the limit of Fantasy was until the end. The publisher had the printing dates ordered, the paper, he kept calling and asking: When will I get it?, and I always had to say: You, I can’t give it to you, Bastian isn’t coming back yet. I have to wait until the time comes…,” the author recalled the birth of a phenomenon that even Czech readers and viewers still love today.
The never-ending story: Ten-year-old Bastian hides from evil classmates in a shop, where he finds an ancient book that its owner tells him is dangerous to read. But Bastian can’t resist. A fantastic adventure can begin! | New Constantin Film
“All the creatures in the Howling Forest remained safe in their caves, nests, and burrows. It was midnight, a stormy wind was blowing in the crowns of the great ancient trees…” (All the beasts in Howling Forest were safe in their caves, nests, and burrows. It was midnight, the storm wind was whistling through the tops of the great ancient trees.) Ende’s The Neverending Story is celebrating its 45th (40th film) anniversary, and New York publisher Penguin Random House has released a new edition in beautiful hardbacks with silver print. Anyone trying to tackle books in English is perfect for them and, above all, available everywhere. An adventure that sticks in the memory like BonPari on the teeth, even after four decades it transports us to the realm of Fantasy, where animals talk and nothing is impossible (probably like a normal Monday at work).
The publishers present the story as follows: When the timid Bastián Balthazar Bux runs away from his classmates who bully him one day, he decides to hide from them in an antique store. Safe behind the door of the shop, he is drawn to a book with the motif of two snakes biting each other’s tails and the title The Neverending Story. Unable to resist, the boy steals the volume and takes it to his hiding place in the school grounds when the bookstore owner is engrossed in a phone call. Her story tells about the realm of Fantasy, which is slowly falling into Nothingness. As he reads about the rescue mission of the Atreus warrior, he realizes that the whole narrative is about him as well. He, too, will have to be actively involved so that the empire that enchanted him and its ruler, the child empress, can be saved. But will he be able to deal with the consequences of his actions in the reality he created using his wishes, and will he be able to face his dark side? Only then will he be able to return to the world where he belongs…
The never-ending story: Ten-year-old Bastian hides from his evil classmates in a shop, where he finds an ancient book that its owner tells him is dangerous to read. But Bastian can’t resist. A fantastic adventure can begin! | New Constantin Film
Bastián and others come to the reader with a writing style so engaging that Ende could liven up a shopping list with it! “What’s in the book today is about a fifth of what I actually wrote. Four fifths went into the trash,” admitted the writer, whose work has won the hearts of fantasy literature lovers around the world. Ende perfectly connected the world of fantasy with ours, allowing the reader to really become a part of the narrative. This is not only a fairy tale, but also a reflection on the power of imagination, on the importance of friendship, courage and self-transcendence. Although Ende disliked the book’s most famous film adaptation, the adaptation expanded its popularity and brought The Neverending Story to a new generation of readers. Were you once “the weird ones who read” at school?
The Neverending Story is a return to all book adventures, to childhood and the worlds we always wanted to wander in and not return to reality. In a great performance by Jan Vlasák (even he could easily read the instructions for the washing machine, and it would be exciting) then you can play it in Czech in perfect audio form (awarded Audiobook of the Year 2017 by OneHotBook). Dream, open the door to fantasy between the letters and go somewhere far away for a while, with Atreus and Falk… So that you can enjoy the feeling of a beautiful book long after you’ve finished reading, if you can find your way back.
Play a preview of the audiobook version:
Until his death, Ende was constantly asked what he wanted to convey to the world with the original title. He just laughed and repeated: “Art and poetry do not explain the world, but depict it. They don’t need anything directed outside of them. They are the target themselves. A good poem is not there to improve the world – it is itself a piece of the improved world, so it needs no message. This view of the message (moral, religious, practical, social, etc.) is the unfortunate invention of literature professors and essayists who otherwise would not know what to write and rant about. Shakespeare’s plays, the Odyssey, One Thousand and One Nights, Don Quixote – the greatest works of literature have no message. They neither prove nor disprove anything. They are just something like a mountain, a sea, a deadly desert or an apple tree.” Nevertheless, he left us with a truly Infinite story that endlessly provides caressing, belief in good endings, joy and… Fantasy!
Recall the iconic hit of the hit, the title track of the film version:
Rating: 95%
Michael Ende
Endless story
In the original: Die Unendliche Geschichte • Annual edition: The Neverending Story: 45th Anniversary Edition, 510 pages, Penguin Random House, 2024 • Latest Czech edition: 396 pages, translation: Eva Pátková, Albatros, 2022 • Audiobook: 14 h. 53 m ., interpreter: Jan Vlasák, OneHotBook, 2017.