The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure - William Goldman

Unusual twist

I'm a reader, first and foremost, and in general, I prefer books to movies. In this case, I prefer the movie. I tried very hard to like this book. Very hard. And I honestly was able to make it through 8 chapters before throwing in the towel and considering it a lost cause.

Make no mistake; the writing was excellent, the humor quite dry and witty... but it wasn't what I'd thought I'd be reading. I picked it up thinking it would be a fun, action packed, fantasy adventure. What I read was the whining and moaning of a middle aged yuppie from the 80's interspersed with brief bursts of actual plot.

Satirical social commentary is all well and good; in fact, I generally enjoy it. However, in this case, I felt betrayed. I've watched 'The Princess Bride' 50 some odd times since I was a child. I can quote whole scenes with the geekiest of geeks. I'm a fan. But the book is something altogether different. While well written and certainly quite good for what it actually is, which is mainstream fiction, it's not to my taste at all.

Regardless of what anyone else says, not everyone likes mainstream fiction; it's a bit of a dirty word in my house. I've tried several times in the past to read "best sellers" and "book club picks" but can't get beyond the first few chapters before being bored out of my mind. Give me a Romance novel, a Fantasy novel or even a Manga and I'll be entertained for several hours. Even mainstream works from the 50's, 60's and 70's will tide me over to a degree. And I read Fan Fiction voraciously.

Yes. I am a weird geek. I have no qualms about admitting that I prefer Star Trek to Friends and Jayne Ann Krentz to Dan Brown.

This has not been the only book I've read after watching the movie where the literary roots bear little resemblance to the popular movie. 'Howl's Moving Castle' was done by Studio Ghibli in 2004 and I fell in love with it instantly. When I read the book, by Diana Wynne Jones, in 2007 I found they were two completely different animals; it's barely the same story. However, the story Jones told was also something I enjoyed.

Goldman's 'Princess Bride' was as fun for me as... reading the collected works of Shakespeare, Walt Whitman or e. e. cummings might be for other people. In other words, a bit too dry, a bit too boring and not really all that much fun.

To sum up, 'The Princess Bride' was a wonderful movie which I still love. The book was well written and quite funny for a satire written from the perspective of an aging yuppie contemplating a midlife crisis; but it wasn't what I was expecting and I felt betrayed and disappointed.

Romance and adventure and political documentation!

There are so many times whilst reading this book that I just wanted to roll my eyes like no other... but then again, that's part of the charm of this nearly surreal, satirical fairy tale that still manages a heart of gold.

The set-up is that this is an abridged version of a much longer, much more serious novel (not true, but it makes it a lot of fun). We get the "good parts", a wonderfully melodramatic story of piracy, princesses, murder, and the like.

The humor is off-beat, hilarious, and surprisingly sweet. The characters are quirky, vibrant, and always endearing. Even the tongue-in-cheek notes-of-the-"editor" are a must-read.

It's a conspiracy with a great story, and is definitely a modern classic.

Great story, questionable reading.

I'm a fan of Rob Reiner's work, but his reading of this classic leaves quite a bit to be desired, in my opinion. He reads too fast and with little differing inflection, making it difficult at times to tell when he ends one character's line and starts another. This fantasy would have benefitted from a voice that could handle multiple characters and perhaps someday we'll even get a version with a full cast and music.

Still, it's clearly a story that means a lot to him and to its listeners and readers, so his pace and reading style don't entirely distract from the experience...a very worthwhile purchase.

True Love and High Adventure Indeed!

This story is so charming and delightful. There is definitely something for everyone - humor, true love, fencing, kidnapping, the fire swamp, and the zoo of death. There is so much more detail and humor that was left out of the movie, that it was a real treat to read. Definitely a classic adventure story!

Real Fantasy

I was afraid to read this book and avoided it for many years. I so dearly love the movie and I just didn't want to be disappointed either way. If the book was better, as is usually the case, then my movie experience would be tarnished. If the movie was better then I'd be wasting my time with the book.

Well nevermind to all of that, because I LOVE this book and now the two separate entities will forever positively reinforce each other in my mind. There are some significant changes from the movie which should help separate them.

I love the inclusion of the character, "William Goldman". Oh, he's not a character you say? He's the author? Well he's one of my favorite parts of this book. I love the interaction between the characters, especially Fezzik and Inigo who throughout the book had me in all kinds of tears: of laughter, of joy, of sadness.

I read every word of "The Princess Bride" and I'm usually a big skimmer and skipper.