Friday, April 20, 2007

The Princess Bride


Goldman, William. 1973 (1998). The Princess Bride.

This was my first time to read The Princess Bride. I had seen the movie dozens of times growing up--could anyone be cuter than Westley????--but this was the first time to read the book that boasts to have it all:
Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles. (8).
The story was a familiar one, but that didn’t make it any less entertaining. If anything, it made it more fun to turn the pages. You knew you were almost to this part or that part. You knew the lines that were coming. You knew what to expect. Yes, Princess Bride is an enjoyable and satisfying read.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the movie but have never read the book. It is sitting on my shelf, so I really need to pull it off and enjoy it. Thanks for such a new review!

Emily said...

I have this one on hold at the library. I was going to read it and review it for Clean Reads, but if you want to review it, that's fine too. Does the movie stay very true to the book?

Becky said...

Emily:

If you want to read the book, anyway, I'm fine with you doing the review. This post is about as in-depth as I was going to go with it. I think most people are familiar enough with the movie that they don't need a summary. Just my opinion. So it's not a very traditional book review, I know. That's why I'm fine if you want to take a more traditional approach. To answer your question, the book presents her as "less bright" than in the movie. She's not the smartest girl; pretty but not much deep thought. But the plot essentially stays the same. I think if you love the movie, you'll love the book.

Anonymous said...

I love both movie and book. Great stuff. And you're right, familiarity doesn't detract from the fun of reading it at all.

I'm revisiting this one for the Once Upon a Time challenge.

Carl V. Anderson said...

I loved reading this. In fact, I read it before the movie came out. Love the movie adaptation with the exception that I thought the sword fighting scene in the book was much better than the way they translated it onscreen.

In the end, both are delightful.