Editing Michael Ende (section)

===Writing style and themes===
Ende claimed, "It is for this child in me, and in all of us, that I tell my stories", and that "[my books are] for any child between 80 and 8 years" (qtd. Senick 95, 97). He often expressed frustration over being perceived as a children's writer exclusively, considering that his purpose was to speak of cultural problems and spiritual wisdom to people of all ages. Especially in Germany, Ende was accused by some critics of [[escapism]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.michaelende.de/en/author/biography/escapism-censured|title=Escapism Censured|date=17 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.welt.de/kultur/article5174581/Michael-Endes-Buecher-waren-Opium-fuer-Kinder.html|title = 80. Geburtstag: Michael Endes Bücher waren "Opium für Kinder"|newspaper = Die Welt|date = 12 November 2009|last1 = Freund|first1 = Wieland}}</ref> He wrote in 1985:

<blockquote>One may enter the literary parlor via just about any door, be it the prison door, the madhouse door, or the brothel door. There is but one door one may not enter it through, which is the nursery door. The critics will never forgive you such. The great [[Rudyard Kipling]] is one to have suffered this. I keep wondering to myself what this peculiar contempt towards anything related to childhood is all about.<ref>"''Man darf von jeder Tür aus in den literarischen Salon treten, aus der Gefängnistür, aus der Irrenhaustür oder aus der Bordelltür. Nur aus einer Tür darf man nicht kommen, aus der Kinderzimmertür. Das vergibt einem die Kritik nicht. Das bekam schon der große Rudyard Kipling zu spüren. Ich frage mich immer, womit das eigentlich zu tun hat, woher diese eigentümliche Verachtung alles dessen herrührt, was mit dem Kind zu tun hat.''{{-"}} [http://www.thienemann.de/me/galerie.htm Page on Michael Ende] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091119045820/http://www.thienemann.de/me/galerie.htm |date=2009-11-19 }} by Thienemann, the publishing house that published most of Ende's works.</ref></blockquote>

Ende's writing could be described as a surreal mixture of reality and [[fantasy]]. The reader is often invited to take a more interactive role in the story, and the worlds in his books often mirror our reality, using fantasy to bring light to the problems of an increasingly technological modern society. His writings were influenced by [[Rudolf Steiner]] and his [[anthroposophy]].<ref>Peter Boccarius, ''Michael Ende: Der Anfang der Geschichte'', München: Nymphenburger, 1990. {{ISBN|3-485-00622-X}}. German.</ref><ref>[http://www.michaelende.com/bio.php?id=10&lang=de Michael Ende biographical notes], "Michael Ende und die magischen Weltbilder" (German). "...es sei nicht nur die Steinersche Anthroposophie gewesen, die Michael Endes Weltsicht geprägt habe." ("...it was not only Steiner's anthroposophy that defined Michael Ende's world view.") Accessed 8 September 2008</ref> Ende was also known as a proponent of economic reform, and claimed to have had the concept of aging money, or [[demurrage currency]], in mind when writing ''Momo''. A theme of his work was the loss of fantasy and magic in the modern world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rossipotti.de/inhalt/literaturlexikon/autoren/ende_michael.html|title = Michael Ende &#124; Rossipotti Literaturlexikon}}</ref>