2015 Reading Challenge [Closed] discussion

This year, I discovered that The Neverending Story is a book. Of course, I saw the movie a long time ago and liked it, so I'm curious to discover the original text.
As we have a very very nice french edition, I bought it some months ago and it is waiting patiently on my shelf :)


Summary:
The story begins with a lonely boy named Bastian and the strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica. Only a human can save this enchanted place--by giving its ruler, the Childlike Empress, a new name. But the journey to her tower leads through lands of dragons, giants, monsters, and magic--and once Bastian begins his quest, he may never return. As he is drawn deeper into Fantastica, he must find the courage to face unspeakable foes and the mysteries of his own heart.

It's translated from German, so it can fit too on the "another language" week.

This is the book I have planned to read for my birth year - 1979. I loved the movie when I was a child. I too recently found out it was a book first!

I've got this on hold at the library (I've been in the queue for quite some time). If I get it in time I'm going to read it as the book written in another language.

This was a very strange read for me! I'm not sure if I liked it or not.

Things I totally enjoyed: the stories inside stories, the first and last parts and the unusual darkness. The world building was quite interesting too, with plenty of things to discover.
On another hand, the middle felt flat and lacked feelings, it was more telling over showing for me, but I understand these adventures were necessary to build Bastian's evolution. Maybe the writing was too much average there, which is sad as some other parts were outstanding!

It was a unique experience, so I recommend the book, but don't expect to be amazed all along the story ;)

Finally finished this one. This was a long read for me as I was reading it out loud to my son. We enjoyed it.