Fantasy Aficionados discussion

Wasn't sure where to put this, but I really need help with this.

I used to have a hard cover copy of The Neverending Story when I was younger, and it had red and green text, alternating between the two worlds, along with giant letters illustrated at the start of each chapter. I lost it years ago, and can't seem to find the copy I had.

Does anyone know which editions (pictures of the cover would be EXTREMELY helpful) have the red and green text, and the letter illustrations?

It's been bothering me for some time now, trying to figure it out on Amazon/eBay/ANYWHERE.

Thanks!

Here's the info GR has. Is your cover on there?
http://www.goodreads.com/work/edition...

I lost the dust cover when I was really young and don't remember what it looked like :(


But thank you!

Try here:

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Searc...

Heh, my version is pretty much like that, but I'm afraid it's the Dutch translation, sorry...

Erica wrote: "Heh, my version is pretty much like that, but I'm afraid it's the Dutch translation, sorry..."

that's a start. What year is it? That should help the OP narrow it down a bit.

Thanks Arshad, I tried but it was still difficult to discern which versions would be in colour.

And Erica, if you could give a pub date, like MrsJoseph said, that would help a lot!

My book is actually printed in blue and red, but it definitely has the big illustrated letters at each chapter. It was first published by Sijthof in Amsterdam in 1982, and I appear to have the fifth imprint, dated 1985.

Wow, it's years since I last read this book, but I always adored it. It looks like the original German book was first published in 1979.

Oh, and it looks like this:

http://www.bol.com/nl/p/het-oneindige...

that's beautiful!

I think this is it!

http://www.amazon.com/Neverending-Sto...

Now i want to buy this. I realize now I've never read this one...only watched the movie.

When the movie finishes you're only halfway through the book. As I said, it's ages since I read it, but I always absolutely loved it. Loved the film too though. You know how kids have a film they'll watch every day for months on end? That was the Neverending Story to me.

Oh, and that link definitely looks like the right one. The letter A certainly is the same as the one in my book.

Erica wrote: "When the movie finishes you're only halfway through the book. As I said, it's ages since I read it, but I always absolutely loved it. Loved the film too though. You know how kids have a film they'l..."

Really?? That does make sense.

I remember watching this as a kid...and being TERRIFIED. I had to watch the last 1/2 through my fingers, lol.

!!!! I just ordered it, thank you so much!

So did I. :)

I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed that book. Would be a treat to read it in the original red and green format.

Later editions changed the text to black type with italics to denote the difference between the red and green inks of the original edition, if I recall correctly. Caveat emptor.

Hmm, when I buy this I better get the new copy - that way I can return it if its the wrong version.

I'm going on very old memory here, but the second half of the book is darker than the first, and I suspect that this is one of those books from your childhood which doesn't disappoint even when you read it as an adult many years later.

I guess I'm going to have to put that theory to the test now...

Arshad wrote: "Later editions changed the text to black type with italics to denote the difference between the red and green inks of the original edition, if I recall correctly. Caveat emptor."

Yes, they did. That's why it was such a difficult thing for me, trying to find a proper version. I just can't read the novel without the coloured text.

I find that quite annoying really... Michael Ende came up with quite a unique format for his book, and then someone randomly decides to do it differently? I think I'd have real difficulty reading long blocks of text in italics.

I think it comes down to the publisher not wanting to spend the money to use coloured text. Publishers are cheap these days, and very afraid to try new things, even if they aren't particularly 'new' but just differing from the norm.