Summary: William Goldman's modern fantasy classic is a simple, exceptional story about quests—for riches, revenge, power, and, of course, true love—that's thrilling and timeless.
Anyone who lived through the 1980s may find it impossible—inconceivable, even—to equate The Princess Bride
with anything other than the sweet, celluloid romance of Westley and
Buttercup, but the film is only a fraction of the ingenious storytelling
you'll find in these pages. Rich in character and satire, the novel is
set in 1941 and framed cleverly as an “abridged” retelling of a
centuries-old tale set in the fabled country of Florin that's home to
“Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward
men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passions.”
*Summary from Amazon
Thoughts: Okay, we've all seen the Princess Bride right? Pretend that the scenes with Grandpa reading to boy was actually Goldman's childhood, he told you in the introduction and forwards and author's notes. So you can believe the wonderful, funny, almost heart wrenching stories he tells you of his life and the real author, Morgenstern, and the abridgment right? Wrong! It's all lies! Even the forwards and AUTHOR'S NOTES! I will never trust an author again! Ok, maybe it wasn't that dramatic but I was duped. I hate abridgements so I spent a good half hour pulling my hair out trying to get a hold of an original and eventually looked it up on Wikipedia and found to my chagrin that the author was just playing around and being a troll. Once I got passed that I fumed at nearly every piece of his fictional life that he interwove into the story and how he blamed the fictional Morgenstern for scenes he didn't want to write* or for making a chapter ridiculously short, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it! I'll admit it was corny and some of the romantic descriptions, especially of Westley's perfection, made me near ill (despite being a girl I would much rather a rousing adventure with dragons or high seas than anything romantic), but it was still fun. It reads like a lighter version of Lemony Snicket's books and while I didn't feel like I got much from the characters themselves I still giggled and had fun in the wild, crazy, nonsensical adventure. If your looking for a different or more serious version of the Princess Bride, I wouldn't suggest this. I also don't suggest this for those easily tricked like me or those who (if you read the special in the end called Buttercup's Baby) don't like the possible suggestion of characters dying and have a hard time dealing with denial (I've denied too many fictional instances to not be somewhere near an expert). But if you want a few more scenes, points or view or a little more laughs with the characters from the film, I highly suggest this book!
(*He did go back and rewrite the reunion scene at least and he claims he'll email to anyone who submits their email Here, I haven't tried it yet so I can't vouch for it, plus I just don't trust him anymore!)
Content: Well, we all know there's language but B* twice (once from Inigo who may have had a right and one purely from the author who didn't really) was the worst, then there was the occasional D* every now and again and a bit of profanity. Then there was Buttercup going on and on about Westley without a shirt somewhere in the first chapter. Over all there wasn't too much unless you read the special, Buttercup's Baby and well...before the baby there's a scene that all but leads up to the baby. It would probably go over a kid's head but adults will get it. I was pretty shocked since I hadn't encountered anything like that in the rest of the book and while I knew where babies came from I hadn't expected Goldman to go there! Aside from that there wasn't really anything else and it made a fairly clean read...more or less!
*Summary from Amazon
Thoughts: Okay, we've all seen the Princess Bride right? Pretend that the scenes with Grandpa reading to boy was actually Goldman's childhood, he told you in the introduction and forwards and author's notes. So you can believe the wonderful, funny, almost heart wrenching stories he tells you of his life and the real author, Morgenstern, and the abridgment right? Wrong! It's all lies! Even the forwards and AUTHOR'S NOTES! I will never trust an author again! Ok, maybe it wasn't that dramatic but I was duped. I hate abridgements so I spent a good half hour pulling my hair out trying to get a hold of an original and eventually looked it up on Wikipedia and found to my chagrin that the author was just playing around and being a troll. Once I got passed that I fumed at nearly every piece of his fictional life that he interwove into the story and how he blamed the fictional Morgenstern for scenes he didn't want to write* or for making a chapter ridiculously short, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it! I'll admit it was corny and some of the romantic descriptions, especially of Westley's perfection, made me near ill (despite being a girl I would much rather a rousing adventure with dragons or high seas than anything romantic), but it was still fun. It reads like a lighter version of Lemony Snicket's books and while I didn't feel like I got much from the characters themselves I still giggled and had fun in the wild, crazy, nonsensical adventure. If your looking for a different or more serious version of the Princess Bride, I wouldn't suggest this. I also don't suggest this for those easily tricked like me or those who (if you read the special in the end called Buttercup's Baby) don't like the possible suggestion of characters dying and have a hard time dealing with denial (I've denied too many fictional instances to not be somewhere near an expert). But if you want a few more scenes, points or view or a little more laughs with the characters from the film, I highly suggest this book!
(*He did go back and rewrite the reunion scene at least and he claims he'll email to anyone who submits their email Here, I haven't tried it yet so I can't vouch for it, plus I just don't trust him anymore!)
Content: Well, we all know there's language but B* twice (once from Inigo who may have had a right and one purely from the author who didn't really) was the worst, then there was the occasional D* every now and again and a bit of profanity. Then there was Buttercup going on and on about Westley without a shirt somewhere in the first chapter. Over all there wasn't too much unless you read the special, Buttercup's Baby and well...before the baby there's a scene that all but leads up to the baby. It would probably go over a kid's head but adults will get it. I was pretty shocked since I hadn't encountered anything like that in the rest of the book and while I knew where babies came from I hadn't expected Goldman to go there! Aside from that there wasn't really anything else and it made a fairly clean read...more or less!
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