-
Thought
The story of how Michael Ende wrote his most famous novel was almost endless in itself. It began in February 1977 with the visit of the editor Hansjörg Weitbrecht to the author at his home in Genzano. As soon as the subject of the next book to be addressed was approached, Michael Ende began rummaging through a shoebox and thinking about a lot of ideas. On a piece of paper, he wrote the following summary: "A child takes a book, is literally inside the story and has trouble getting out." -
Editorial
Ende promised to deliver the manuscript before Christmas. He assumed that the project would be simple, and in private he wondered how he could stretch the material to fill a hundred pages. -
More time to deliver the book
The body of the new book grew in the eyes of Michael Ende. In a short time he was on the phone with his editor, requesting an extension of the deadline. The book would be somewhat longer than expected, but it was expected to be finished before the fall of 1979. -
Time limit
However, during the course of 1978, the editors had no news of the author. Then, in the fall of that year, Ende finally resurfaced. The book, he told his editor, was not yet complete. The young Bastian had refused to leave Fantasia, and it was his duty as an author to follow him on his travels. -
Lack of resources for its realization.
Ende's next communication left his editors even more worried. The book, he explained, required a special design: a volume bound in leather with inlaid mother of pearl and completed with brass clasps. Weitbrecht rushed to Genzano. After much discussion, editor and author agreed to a bound volume printed in two-color ink. Each of the twenty-six chapters, which begin with an ornamental letter, would be illustrated by Roswitha Quadflieg. -
Desperation for not being able to finish the book
Ende's struggle to escape the world he had created became increasingly intense. During conversations with his editor, he sounded almost desperate - it was a matter of literary survival. Unless Ende could find a way out of Fantasia, Bastian would be trapped inside. At the end of the year, even environmental circumstances seemed to conspire against him. The winter of 1978-1979 was one of the coldest to remember. The temperature dropped to minus ten degrees. -
book output
The houses in Genzano were not designed to resist such extremes, and Ende's was no exception. With the ice clogging the pipes and wrapped in wet blankets, Michael Ende kept working. Despite these difficult conditions, he was finally able to find a solution: ÁURYN, the gem, would be the way out of Fantasia. It would not be the only time The Endless Story would prove to be a magical book.