I'm still trying to keep up my goal of reading more this year than last, and though this one took me slightly longer to read than I had hoped, it wasn't for lack of reading, it was because the story was so engrossing that I purposely let it linger a bit to let myself be contained in its world for little longer. But not to fear, I've already finished reading another book since this one, so I'm getting back on track, or at least I'm trying to, so look for more reviews to come sooner rather than later. Enjoy.
MoMo by Michael Ende
(1973)
When you reach a certain
point in your reading life, there are few stories that hold many
surprises. This fact is compounded when you are also a writer. Story is a
such a huge part of your thinking, and given that there are a finite
amount of ways to construct a story, it's rare that you find one that
feels so incredibly unique. MoMo is one such story.
As with Michael Ende's more widely read novel, The Neverending Story, this is a book that feels like a story in two parts. The first half of the story, while not exactly traditional, follows an established trajectory. Momo, a vagabond child, arrives in the outskirts of an unnamed city and takes up residence in the ruins of an amphitheater where she befriends the lively, if not well-to-do, locals. Her gift is that she listens to people, respects people, and allows everything to run its natural course in an unhurried way. As a result, people connect with her and children's imaginations blossom around her, because she puts no constraints on their creativity.
The second half of the story takes on new and intriguing dimensions as the grey man begin to take up more and more of the story and introduce sci-fi and fantasy elements into the narrative. The result is that the reader, after being lulled into a story of a girl, find themselves wrapped into an imaginative adventure involving time thieves, the nature of modern life, and the nature of time in general. This part of the story takes on so many dreamlike qualities and fantastical situations that blew me away with their creativity.
Thought-provoking and utterly satisfying, this is also the rare book that can be equally enjoyed by young readers and seasoned readers.
As with Michael Ende's more widely read novel, The Neverending Story, this is a book that feels like a story in two parts. The first half of the story, while not exactly traditional, follows an established trajectory. Momo, a vagabond child, arrives in the outskirts of an unnamed city and takes up residence in the ruins of an amphitheater where she befriends the lively, if not well-to-do, locals. Her gift is that she listens to people, respects people, and allows everything to run its natural course in an unhurried way. As a result, people connect with her and children's imaginations blossom around her, because she puts no constraints on their creativity.
The second half of the story takes on new and intriguing dimensions as the grey man begin to take up more and more of the story and introduce sci-fi and fantasy elements into the narrative. The result is that the reader, after being lulled into a story of a girl, find themselves wrapped into an imaginative adventure involving time thieves, the nature of modern life, and the nature of time in general. This part of the story takes on so many dreamlike qualities and fantastical situations that blew me away with their creativity.
Thought-provoking and utterly satisfying, this is also the rare book that can be equally enjoyed by young readers and seasoned readers.
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