The Princess BrideBy S. Morgenstern
As Florin and Guilder teeter on the verge of war, the reluctant Princess Buttercup is devastated by the loss of her true love, kidnapped by a mercenary and his henchmen, rescued by a pirate, forced to marry Prince Humperdinck, and rescued once again by the very crew who absconded with her in the first place. In the course of this dazzling adventure, she'll meet Vizzini,-the criminal philosopher who'll do anything for a bag of gold; Fezzik- the gentle giant; Inigo- the Spaniard whose steel thirst for revenge; and Count Rugen- the evil mastermind behind it all. Foiling all their plans and jumping is Westley, Buttercup's true love and a very good friend of a very dangerous pirate.
I really try to read books before I watch the movie adaptations, because it really gives everything away when you do it the other way around. And honestly, I wish that I had been exposed to this book long before the movie, because then I would have appreciated every little detail more.
The Princess Bride was so fun, (despite basically growing up on the movie, so I know the story and lines by heart!) and I chuckled, winced, and thoroughly enjoyed reading my way through this story. I read the abridged version by Goldman, (not realizing until I started reading that that was what I was reading, although I have since heard that Goldman wrote the book, and just says that he abridged it... weirdo.) and I'm not really sure that I will get around to reading the unabridged version (although I am interested, if one does, in fact, exist). Morgenstern's (or Goldman's... :) writing style is extremely interesting. It's choppy, and extremely abrupt, (with the use of a LOT of parentheses!!) but it is intriguing at the same time, perhaps the wonderful story-line and witty dialog has a lot to do with that, but nevertheless, The Princess Bride is easy to read.
I was, however, extremely disappointed by Goldman's performance. I can't complain about the actual work of abridging, because I haven't read the original. But I found him to be very unprofessional and downright annoying in pretty much every word he wrote in this work. Honestly, Introductions and notes in classic books are NOT places to whine about your wife and various family problems. I don't really care if your wife doesn't love you, and your son is a little plump, etc. etc. etc. If you're going to whine like a fourteen-year-old on Facebook, PLEASE leave it out of epic stories!!
Sorry. He just really got up my back every few pages. :)
I will be recommending The Princess Bride to everyone in future, because I thoroughly enjoyed it. However I shall be forced to always utter a most important warning: "When Goldman begins to talk, just skip it. His writings aren't worth wasting your time on!" (unless of course he actually wrote the book, then just read the story, and skip everything else! :)
my rating: * * * * * * * * {eight of ten}
Great review! I really want to read this. I have only watched the movie once, when I was about 4 or 3...and I still remember some of it, haha. :)
ReplyDeleteTane ♥
There isn't exactly an "original" in the sense that you mean it. The book that you read IS the original. All of the stuff about abridging it is an elaborate joke by William Goldman, and is actually meant as part of the story. For example, all of the parts about his wife and son are made up. Goldman does not, in fact, have any sons.He has two daughters. To see more about this, look at the "Autobiographical fiction" section of his Wikipedia page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Goldman
ReplyDeletemy bestie and I discovered this after we both read it earlier this year. I think it is rather strange. ;) Thanks for your comment.
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