So began reading The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. Can't help but having flashbacks of the movie which I haven't seen in years. I think I'll just have to re-watch it after I finish the book, or get to the middle because Wikipedia says it was based on the first half. We'll see. So far there are many noticeable differences but most can be put under time like how in the film Atreyu shows up in the castle Ivory Tower instead of Cairon (was that his name?) traveling to him. Compression only so far. But there are some parts where the movie (to my memory) was better where at the beginning of the book within a book the rock chewer, the tiny and nighthob talk about the Nothing. Also Arthrax talks. That's a thing. And that makes his death in the Sadness Swamp (I think it was called that) very... silly. The dialogue is just funny. I mean the movie scene where the poor animal sinks and Atreyu is screaming has at times made me cry. Here we are told that Bastian cried but the scene doesn't feel as sad. So I ended where Morla the Aged One tells Atreyu the Childlike Empress must have a new name and the Oracle (Southern?) knows who can re-name her. So, to recap, the dream buffalo tells him to go to Morla and Morla tells him to go to the Southern Oracle.
And we finally finished the menacing Queen Victoria: A Personal History. An it just ended with some quick words how the Victorian era ended with her (duh) but no real discussion about her influence and legacy. I gave the book a well deserved 2 stars on Goodreads. Tomorrow I'll start reading Alison Weir's The Life of Elizabeth I. Maybe she can give me a better portrait of and English queen.
And with that I have finished my Goodreads challenge of 50 books. Considering how lowly my goal was at the beginning of the year we have done really well for ourselves.
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