The Princess Bride by William Goldman 5/5 stars

Hey, guys! In a weird fit of nostalgia, I decided I wanted to read the book that the classic The Princess Bride was based off of. Now, I had seen the movie tens of times, which I am normally against before reading the book, but really, who hasn't seen The Princess Bride?

I was actually surprised quite a few time throughout the book, though it follows the outline of the movie almost perfectly. I actually really enjoyed it, and it was no problem (for me anyway) that I already knew so much of the story.

The Cover:

It shows the man in the black mask taking Buttercup away from the men who kidnapped her. I like this cover. It's simple, but implies a lot of action and emotion behind it. I like the cover, with its simple elegance. A+ cover

Official Description:

What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams?

As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears.


Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.


What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.
In short, it's about everything.

My Review:

Let's start with the things that you would expect from The Princess Bride. The novel contains, as marketed, Love, Fighting, Beasts, Lies, Truth, and everything. It has all of the scenes you remember from the movie, told with a bit more detail and background information. There is romance and violence in a constantly shifting relationship with one another.

I was riveted by The Princess Bride. I couldn't put it down, despite knowing what was going to happen. The story was just well-written. The writing and humor is what makes it special. It manages to walk the fine line of being funny and being dramatic, without overdoing it on one side or the other. 

The characters were shallow, as they were supposed to be. Comically shallow in most cases. But, I was actually surprised at the depth of Inigo Montoya's character, as well as Westley's. With characters, too, Goldman walks a fine line well of depth and shallow-ness.

Now, moving on to what you might be surprised at. The story itself is told as a copy of Goldman's abridgment of S. Morgenstern's novel, which his father read to him as a child. Firstly, this is all fictional. Goldman made up the whole story as is. But, according to The Princess Bride, it is an abridgment of an original, boring book. The story goes that Goldman's dad read him The Princess Bride when he was young, but only read the exciting parts aloud and skipped all the boring bits. Throughout the novel, a chapter will occasionally start off with an explanation of what was left out (dining etiquette, etc.). It adds something to the book to have the little snide remarks every so often.

Overall, I would definitely recommend reading The Princess Bride. It is almost exactly what you would expect, but it was still fun. However, if you are the kind of person who doesn't enjoy rewatching things, maybe steer clear.

Phrase:
But I'm left-handed!

If You Liked This Book, You Might Also Like:
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead

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Happy Reading!

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