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Book Review of The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story
reviewed on + 71 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5


As other reviews have indicated, this is indeed quite different from the movie. I love the movie (the first, definitely *not* the second) and thought I would give the book a try. Very, very different. However, the movie, for once, did a wonderful job of distilling the essence of the story.

The book is full of rich detail, from the host of fanciful creatures to the language itself. The only drawback is that it can be a trifle wordier and preachier than need be, this can be overlooked in the grand scheme of the story. Perhaps why one reader found it boring is that it does take a while to get to the meat of the story (it would have benefitted best, from an editing stand point, to cuts at the beginning), but this is true of many books even those produced by the "best" writers, and it is worthwhile pressing onward. The takeaway message (in my opinion): love changes everything, indulging your imagination changes everything, having fun changes everything. These are the things that make life worthwhile and we often learn them out of books, morphing them from words into experience.

While I don't have children myself and couldn't try this out, perhaps it would benefit from being read aloud. At 377 pages (and small print) this book took a while to read, even for a fast reader like myself, so it's definitely not a quick weekend read.