Spaces in Between

Author: Michael Ende
Category: Children’s book

The story:
Bastian (whose real name was Bastian Balthazar Baux – something that caused him endless embarrassment) was a boy of ten. His father was always engrossed with his work that he seldom had time for Bastian. Aside from being ignored – albeit unintentionally – by his father, he was also always bullied at school.

One day, while escaping some bullies, he stumbled upon an old book shop owned by a man called Carl Conrad Coreander. It was at this bookshop that Bastian saw a book called The Neverending Story – a book he found he must have at all cost. When Mr. Coreander turned his back to Bastian to attend to some business, thus leaving the book that had caught Bastian’s attention unattended, Bastian felt the compulsion to just pilfer the book and leave.

Now, it so happened that this book had magic; it was this magic that urged Bastian to take it. The book told the story of Fantastica, a magical world that was in danger of vanishing because of some dark magic. What Fantastica need was a hero to save it by giving the Childlike Empress a new name. This hero must come from the real world and must, aside from having a strong belief in magic, desire sincerely to go to Fantastica. This hero became Bastian, but his journey to, around, and from Fantastica was not without difficulty. Along the way, he met unlikely friends. Among these were Falkor, a luck dragon; Atreyu, a boy from Fantastica who befriended Bastian and helped him in his quest (even when Bastian had at some point become a bastard towards Atreyu and Falkor); Grograman, a lion that turned to stone every nightfall and became alive again every morning; Dame Eyola, a woman with flowers for her head, who lived in an ever-shifting house, and who must become old and die in order to be born and be young again (much like a phoenix, eh?); and Yor, a blind miner who mined pictures of important memories.

Bastian’s adventure in Fantastica taught him valuable life lessons, especially about the value of family and friendship. He also rediscovered the father he thought he lost, and gained a new friend in process – Mr. Coreander.

Me on it:
The Neverending Story is to me one of the best books ever written for children. Disregard the fact that hardbound copies are interesting because they are printed in two colors – purple for the events that take place in the “real” world, and green (my favorite color) for the events that take place in Fantastica. What makes the story interesting, aside from Bastian’s adventures in Fantastica, is how he (Bastian) had to go through several hardships to grow up and discover himself and the things that mattered to him.

While reading the story, I couldn’t help but be transported to Fantastica myself. I felt like I stayed there for what felt like days though it only took me less than a day (more like less than a night, actually) to finish the book. It also made me wish for my own luck dragon. Now, who wouldn’t want to be lucky all the time?

Funnily, though, for a children’s book, The Neverending Story (like Herr Ende’s other children’s book Momo) talks about some ideas and concepts that may not be easy for some children to grasp. The title itself and its significance to the story as a whole and the concept of the story are mind-boggling enough… well, to me at least.