Momo [Hardcover]

Michael Ende (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1985

At the edge of the city, in the ruins of an old amphitheatre, there lives a little homelss girl called Momo. Momo has a special talent which she uses to help all her friends who come to visit her. Then one day the sinister men in grey arrive and silently take over the city. Only Momo has the power to resist them, and with the help of Professor Hora and his strange tortoise, Cassiopeia, she travels beyond the boundaries of time to uncover their dark secrets.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation)

About the Author

Michael Ende was one of the most popular German authors of the 20th Century, captivating millions of children around the world with his fantasy stories. His most successful book, The NeverEnding Story (1979) has been translated into more than 30 languages, made into a hit movie in 1984, and remains a much-loved, international bestseller. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 227 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (February 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038519093X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385190930
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #430,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book in the world December 9, 2003

By MarianaP

Format:Paperback

I still have my first and only edition of this book, that I read before "The Never Ending Story" became famous and was turned into a film, making Michael Ende a recognizable name.

I love reading stories about beautiful princesses, but Momo is a princess of a different kind.
She's on her own, homeless and destitute, without a family or means of her own. Her magical power is not that of a lovely face and a providential Godmother, but the fact that she remains a lovely, giving person, uncorrupted by her misfortune and possesses a supernatural ability to listen to others. Reading the book you understand just how and why such an apparently small thing can be so life changing, more so than any "action".

The book is ostensibly about how time is subjective, about how people "save time" by doing as little as possible the very things that make life worth living - in order to have more time to do them later on, when one has "more time" for that sort of thing - only to get there and realize that it's too late, life has passed you by, and you've got no more time left to enjoy them any further, or any one to enjoy them with.

But the reason I read it time and again was because of Momo and her two best friends, the old man and the young man, who are so completely different from each other; The turtle Cassandra, the forest of clocks, the one hour flowers...I can't stress enough how much you need to buy this book.

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars a book second to none April 14, 2006

By Andrzej Sroka

Format:Paperback

First of all, I was in shock to find there are no reviews of "Momo". Really. A few minutes ago I checked "The Neverending Story" by the same author and there are several hundreds of them. Let me refer to that book before I move on to "Momo".

I saw the film based on "The Neverending Story" and like many wanted to read the novel. Even though I was just around 10 I immediately understood how worthless the movie was compared to that masterpiece. Yes, masterpiece of the same class as those telling stories of Alice, Winnie the Pooh or Peter Pan. Readable at every period of life, it reveals its secrets as you get older.

"Momo" is a book not a bit worse. It is much shorter but just as imaginative and intense.

Its title serves as the name of a strange little girl. She appears in a possibly Italian town wearing a too-big-for-her coat but noone can tell anything about her. She finds herself a place under a ruined amphitheatre and good, even though poor, people bring her food. Local children soon discover how precious a companion that skinny girl is.

Momo does not talk much. She mostly listens, yet thanks to her presence other children and even adults find wisdom, patience, creativity, compassion. For a group of cigarette-smoking, apparently invisible men this is not an acceptable situation. They want to make a deal with the town inhabitants. The transaction seems to be perfectly OK, a bargain even, but there is a catch in it which Momo will be able to see, so she must be taken out of the way.

I cannot reveal more of the plot. You have probably read or watched "The Neverending Story", that is what brought you here. If you want to immerse yourself once again in the vivid world of Michael Ende do it with Momo....

See what great adventure you have been waiting for. Read more ›

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantasy for children, wisdom for adults October 26, 2001

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I read Momo as a kid, and loved it. But it was not until I was an adult that I got the message behind this beautiful fantasy story for kids. I was shocked at how the novel was an allegory of modern times, of the loss of values, of how the meaning and joy of life get lost if you let yourself be carried away by ambition and haste. Modern society argues this is the right way to make use of your time--but is it? A book about chosing what you do with the time you have in your heart, written beautifully. Also, the character of Momo is absolutely magical. Great for anyone, any time, any place. HOW CAN IT BE OUT OF PRINT????

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond wonderful March 20, 2008

By Khodadad REZAKHANI

Format:Paperback

Maybe the reason that this is the hardest Michael Ende book to find in English is that it really is telling children a lot about the real nature of the society, particularly the wonderful "free market economy" part of it, as well as "productivity" and "gross domestic product" and the rest. It is a dangerous book, it really makes you think about all the benefits of the new global religion of consumerism.

Momo is a masterpiece, no doubt about it. It is a children's book, and I read it as a child, and it made me look differently at the world. It does not take its intended audience (children) for fools and treats them as they deserve (as reasonable, open-minded children, not bigotted, senseless adults). It has great comedic moments (stories of Girolamo) and has wonderfully created villain (the cigarette smoking gray men), as well as cool characters like Caseiopeia. it is a perfect children's novel and will keep you reading and re-reading for years to come.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read Momo to learn about THE NOTHING (Neverending Story) January 22, 2004

By Brian Moser

Format:Hardcover

Most people are aware of The Neverending Story, written by the same author, that was turned into a famous movie. But most people are unaware that Momo was also turned into a movie. I have it in the German language, but I'm under the impression it was originally made in English. It is an outstanding book with lessons to learn about our values in modern times, with similar themes to the Neverending Story. In the Neverending Story, part II, a rockbiter's baby eats a lot of rocks, but keeps crying because it feels empty inside. In Momo, the heroine of the book has three lunches but feels empty inside. In the Neverending Story, the childlike emporess has a fatal illness, caused by The Nothing. In Momo, the dispensor of people's time, Professor Hora, is afraid the men in gray will poison the time he allots to people, causing a fatal illness. Quote:" A fatal illness, though you scarcely notice it at first. One day, you don't feel like doing anything. NOTHING interests you, everything bores you. Far from wearing off, your boredom persists and gets worse, day by day and week by week. You feel more and more bad tempered, more and more EMPTY inside, more and more dissatisfied with yourself and the world in general... you bustle around with a blank gray face, just like the men in gray themselves - indeed, you've joined their ranks. The disease has a name. It's called deadly tedium." Another quote: "So the men in gray aren't human? No. Their human appearance is only a disguise. What are they then? Strictly speaking, they're NOTHING. So where do they come from? They exist only because people give them the opportunity to do so."