The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende
The endless story or also called in German as Die unendliche Geschichte is popular for being a writing by the German author Michael Ende, being initially released in his native language in 1979. It was considered a great success from the first moment and thanks to this it is which has been translated into more than thirty-six different languages and obtained different film adaptations.
We can say that it is a novel that, regardless of having been marked as a recent classic for children's literature, was defended all the time by its author who claimed that this work extends much more than the narration to become a criticism. An example would be that Ende argued that the novel wants to demonstrate the desire to obtain a reality that surrounds the reader through the opposite path.
Before continuing, you can learn about other works such as For whom the Bell Tolls, just by clicking on the link and reading the information we offer. You can also explore more about the universal history of solutions in the same place.
Verbatim words of the author
When we set a goal, the best way to achieve it is always to take the opposite path. I am not the one who invented this method. To reach paradise, Dante, in his Divine Comedy, begins by passing through hell. (···) To find reality, one must do the same: turn one's back on it and pass through the fantastic. This is the journey undertaken by the hero of The Neverending Story. To discover himself, Bastian must first abandon the real world (where nothing makes sense) and enter the land of the fantastic, where, on the contrary, everything is charged with meaning. However, there is always a risk when undertaking such a journey; between reality and the fantastic, there is, in fact, a subtle balance that must not be disturbed: separated from the real, the fantastic also loses its content.
Voiced Michael Ende for an Interview in Paris.
The Neverending Story Plot
The endless story they consist of or comprise two differentiated sections; the first part expresses the fantastic world and that is indicated in this work, the Kingdom of Fantasy and the Real World.
Within this first part, the protagonist is framed for being a youthful and brave character, who bears the name of Atreyu, the same as the Childish Empress and authority of Fantasy, asks him to start a small search to find the cure. of one of the diseases he has and that little by little has been seriously affecting his health.
On the other hand, a second essential character is a little boy named Bastián Baltasar Bux who belongs to the Real World and who was also a child who has no mother and is an asylum seeker.
Start of the Neverending Story
The story begins when Bastián enters Karl Konread Koreander's store, who was in charge of selling very old books. Once the owner appears, Bastián carefully explains what happened, since there were classmates from his school who used to make fun of him and attack him.
After having carried out an extensive conversation and taking advantage of the owner's inattention, little Bastián has taken the book of the endless story which caught his attention thanks to the Áuryn symbol on the cover.
Once the boy is in school, he decides to hide in an attic where no one would approach; now feeling more relieved, he picks up the book and opens it to begin reading. The story tells of a fantasy that remains in danger thanks to an unknown reason, which causes each of the inhabitants and places to slowly disappear, leaving nothingness behind. This nothingness advances as the Empress's illness progresses.
Development of the Neverending Story
As time passes and the new participants are introduced to the story, such as the white-hued Dragon, Fújur, and the various tasks for Atreyu, which the young man must face in order to achieve complete salvation for the kingdom, and the Empress, who manages to maintain contact with Bastián through the book.
The second part is released immediately culminates the first part. It focuses on fantasy and points out Bastián's journey through it and how he rebuilds things through his imagination.
Characters
Bastian Baltasar Bux
Known for being the first protagonist of the Neverending Story, he is the boy who gets the book and shortly thereafter would read it in the attic of his school. Finding himself in the middle of the book, the little boy becomes a character in the play, who talks with the Childish Empress and she assures him that the greater her wishes, the more Fantasia will grow.
However, little Bastian didn't know that every time he made a wish to make Fantasia better, one of his memories would vanish.
Atreyu
It is about a hunter boy belonging to the Grass Men tribe, they are also known as Green Skins. His parents died thanks to a purple buffalo shortly after his birth, that's why he was raised by the whole village.
It is him whom the Empress selects to carry out the Great Quest in order to rescue the land of Fantasia.
The Childlike Empress
Childish Empress known for being the Monarch of the town of Fantasia, she used to live in the Ivory tower in the Palace in the center of the town.
She is described as a beautiful girl, no older than ten years old, despite being much older than the others. Her hair was as white as snow, and her robes and eyes were the color of gold.
Despite the fact that the little girl is the formal ruler of Fantasy, she does not force her inhabitants to do anything more than be as they want to be without arguing to distinguish between good and evil or beauty and ugliness so that in this way they try a Corporeal Fantasy and that is why each of the inhabitants respect it.
If she dies, each of her creatures would die little by little because she is more than the heart of Fantasia. When she died this place would disappear.
Auryn
It is the symbol used by the Childish Empress, which is why all the inhabitants of Fantasy respect it to the great level of not mentioning her real name, since they preferred to refer to this symbol as the jewel, the Pentacle or the Splendor.
The medallion offers absolute protection to whoever wears it, since no being that lives in Fantasy would be able to touch someone who wears this symbol.
Fújur, also known as Falkor or Falcor
Known for being a white dragon that grants luck, at the same time it is one of the most unusual species of Fantasy because lucky dragons have no similarities with conventional dragons. They are creatures of the air and that also have good weather and despite being large they weigh the same as a summer cloud; That is why they do not need wings to be able to fly.
They have a long and completely flexible body in addition to having mother-of-pearl scales and ruby-colored eyes; on the other hand, they swim in the sky like a fish in water and from the ground they look like lightning bolts of slower speed. However, the most outstanding characteristic of these dragons is their song, it is said that whoever hears them will never forget it.
How was the Creation Process of the Neverending Story?
The story of how Michael Ende began writing his most successful novel is almost endless. It began in February 1997 thanks to the help of editor Hansjörg Weitbrecht (author of Genzano).
After the topic of the next book to be published was broached, Michael decided to go through an old shoe box and give himself the opportunity to generate millions of ideas.
On a piece of paper he wrote a short summary that read: "A child picks up a book, is literally inside the story, and has trouble getting out." Once he received the approval, Ende assured that the manuscript would be completed before Christmas of that same year; he commented that the project would be quite simple and finding himself alone wondered how it was possible for him to stretch out his material to complete a certain number of pages.
The body of the book advanced right in front of the eyes of the writer of the endless story; shortly afterwards he found himself asking for an extension in the time frame, since the book would turn out to be a little longer than expected but it was also estimated that it would be completed before the fall of the year 1979. However, in the course of the year 1978 none of the publishers kept any notice of the author.
More details
After the autumn of that year passed, Michael finally announced himself and the book was not yet finished, little Bastián still had not been able to leave the town of Fantasia and he, as the author, had to continue with his journey.
Ende's next announcement left some publishers a little worried, as he explained that the book needed a special design as a leather-bound volume with some mother-of-pearl inlays and worked with different brass clasps.
Ende's struggle to get out of the world that he himself had created turned into a much more intense job. At the moment of chatting with his editor, he looked almost on the verge of despair; this was an extreme case of literary survival unless Ende was able to find his way out of the town of Fantasia, otherwise little Bastian would be trapped there.
end of the year
Toward the end of the year, he believed that some environmental circumstances were conspiring against him, as the winters of 1978 and 1979 were among the coldest yet; temperatures fell below ten degrees, and the houses in Genzano were not prepared to withstand such temperatures. Of course, Ende's house was no exception, as despite the cold, the man continued to work hard until he finally hit the nail on the head.
Symbology of the Neverending Story
This literary work is known for being a book which contains itself, within the story the story told within it appears, and is told again; all this obtaining different meanings. On the other hand, to continue with the adventures of little Bastián was to want to continue with the adventures of someone who is locked up in literature.
The nothing
It reflects Shattered Fantasy and represents the little imagination that humans have in real life, that they no longer dream and no longer believe.
Bastian
As the little boy reads, he makes it increasingly clear that a new name should be given to him, however, he needs more courage; what Ende wants to express with this is not what it seems, because Bastián is overwhelmed by reading, however, his only adventure was not just reading, because at some point that little boy would narrate his own story. This indicates the granting of a name to the Empress, Nothingness expands as humans no longer dream and do not believe.
The Old Man of the Wandering Mountain
It could be said that this is the character with the greatest mystery in the novel, as was the Empress. It could be said that she was a girl and he was an old man and one of the clues came to light when the Empress climbed a small ladder made up of letters that made her reach the lair.
“The lyrics didn't always treat her well”, it could be said that the Childish Empress is the biggest inspiration to create the stories, and the old man is the toughness that is required to capture a good story.
Do what you want
The "do what you want" phrase described in the fantasy town in the novel by the endless story He does not point out that little Bastián could do everything he wanted, he refers to the fact that it is important that he follow each one of his wishes until he finds his True Will, this being the little boy's search in the town of Fantasia.
Reality
Bastián wants to find his True Will but different obstacles stand in his way and by doing things that he really does not want, he falls more and more into perdition. All the wishes of little Bastián make him forget much more about the real world, which really doesn't bother him any more, however he who remembers nothing can wish for nothing; At the moment of losing the last memory of him, the little one will not be able to wish for anything.
Thus, when the author loses himself in his fantasy world and forgets reality, he finds it impossible to create new ideas. The basis for creation is reality.
Adaptations of the Work for the cinema
- The Neverending Story II, an adaptation starring Julie Cox, Jason James Ritcher, Jack Black and Melody Kay, was a work released in 1994. The story remains based on the original work by the endless story, however, is a new story.
- the never ending Story, popular for being the first adaptation of the endless story, was a work premiered in 1948, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, starring Barret Oliven as Bastián, Tami Stronach as the Childlike Empress and Noah Hathaway as Atreyu.
- The film focused on the first part of the book until reaching the moment when Bastian arrives in Fantasia. Ende, on the other hand, openly expressed his disappointment with the result, even going so far as to say that it was a film full of commercial melodrama, and then requesting that his name be removed from the film's credits.
- The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter, a play directed by George T. Miller and starring Jonathan Brandis was a play published in 1990. It focused on using the aspects of the second part of the original plot, however, it lost all the essence of the original work.
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