The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High…

by William Goldman

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Alliebadger recommends Zorro by Isabel Allende, "Both full of romance and adventure, and both fantastically written. Who doesn't love a daring swashbuckler?"

norabelle414 recommends Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

norabelle414 recommends Stardust by Neil Gaiman

suzanney recommends A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer

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Series (with order)

Canonical Title

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

The Cliffs of Insanity (fictional)

The Fire Swamp (fictional)

The Zoo of Death (fictional)

Florin (fictional)

Important events

Awards and honors

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

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LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Book descriptions

Amazon.com (ISBN 0345348036, Mass Market Paperback)

The Princess Bride is a true fantasy classic. William Goldman describes it as a "good parts version" of "S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure." Morgenstern's original was filled with details of Florinese history, court etiquette, and Mrs. Morgenstern's mostly complimentary views of the text. Much admired by academics, the "Classic Tale" nonetheless obscured what Mr. Goldman feels is a story that has everything: "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."

Goldman frames the fairy tale with an "autobiographical" story: his father, who came from Florin, abridged the book as he read it to his son. Now, Goldman is publishing an abridged version, interspersed with comments on the parts he cut out.

Is The Princess Bride a critique of classics like Ivanhoe and The Three Musketeers, that smother a ripping yarn under elaborate prose? A wry look at the differences between fairy tales and real life? Simply a funny, frenetic adventure? No matter how you read it, you'll put it on your "keeper" shelf. --Nona Vero

(retrieved from Amazon Mon, 25 Aug 2008 01:56:45 -0400)

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