The Princess Bride

This was a many times reread for me, this time for book club. The best bits are the frame story parts (and the interruptions). While I love the movie to *bits* (and will always think the book is a very nice piece of kind of friendly postmodernism), the actual story (as opposed to the framing of it) is just shy of compelling enough for me to be fully interested on a third (fourth?) read. ~December 2021

I remember reading this back in high school and being almost--almost--convinced that Goldman was actually abridging a book by a guy named Morgenstern from Florin. I described the book as "the friendliest postmodern novel ever" to my TA and it's quite possibly the only book I've read that employs things like erasure and disruption of reader show more expectation that I love. (Normally that sort of thing just makes me cranky.) Perhaps because I saw the movie (about a thousand times) long before I ever read the book and therefore know "what happens next," I never get frustrated with Goldman when he stops the action just before a climax to wax about something else for eighteen or so pages.

I've also noticed, having just read Born to Kvetch, how very Jewish it is both in mind-set and semantics. Even as a middle-schooler who had nightmares about R.O.U.S.es and The Machine after seeing the movie, I knew that Miracle Max was about as culturally Jewish as you could get, but I had forgotten since my last reading that Goldman-as-abridger/character tells us that his editor, Hiram, thought that the "Miracle Max section was too Jewish in sound, too contemporary." About which "Goldman" says "if Max and Valerie sound Jewish, why shouldn't they? You think a guy named Simon Morgenstern was Irish Catholic?" "Hiram" maybe was sleeping through the rest of novel, yes? When Inigo thinks he's failed at avenging his father's death, he hears his father speaking to him: "'I don't want your 'sorry'! My name is Domingo Montoya and I died for that sword and you can keep your 'sorry.' If you were going to to fail, why didn't you die years ago and let me rest in peace?'" Earlier dialogue from Domingo goes like this: "Why? My fat friend asks why? He sits there on his world-class ass and has the nerve to ask me why? Yeste. Come to me sometime with a challenge." The whole thing is about as Irish Catholic as Morgenstern. That Goldman draws attention to it adds a whole other layer (and a lot more winking) to a book already busting with both. show less

Is it a satire, is it an homage, or is it just good fun? The Princess Bride by William Goldman has been on my shelves for a good while but although I have seen and enjoyed the film, I hadn’t gotten around to reading it. I picked it up this month and was immediately drawn into this strange and sharp-edged fairy tale.

I won’t get into plot details as much is already known about this book but be ready for an edge-of-your-seat adventure read that has truly evil villains, sword fights, poisoning, kidnapping, torture, some giant man-eating rats, and a Zoo of Death! This is a warped fairy tale of love, hate, revenge and humour.

The Princess Bride is a fantasy that is delivered in a playful style and it is packed with plenty of action and show more adventure. I am happy that I have finally read the book and can now recommend both the film and the book as excellent entertainment. show less

This is a mostly omniscient narrative of the fairy tale sort, laced with zany humor, and framed and interspersed with first person asides by the author. His conceit is that the novel is an abridgment of a story read to him by his father when he was a boy. And this isn't just any first person voice, but one purporting to be Goldman himself, screenwriter of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

It took some getting used to. Just as it took a while to warm to Buttercup, who at first came across to me as insipid--but then what do I expect of a send up of tales of rescues of princesses? One that, while filled with pirates, a giant, miracles and fencing somehow manages to be utterly unique? It's filled with unforgettable lines and characters: show more Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!

The subtitle declares it to be a "tale of true love and high adventure." It has a rather sharp satiric edge towards both. show less

An excellent example of meta-fiction. The story itself is of course funny and heartfelt and amazing, but despite what many reviewers below seem to think, the asides and introduction and notes are an important part of the overall story. The Princess Bride is both the adventure story of Westley and Buttercup as well as William Goldman's metafiction about Florin being a real place, this being a real book he's abridging, his stories about his memories of his father and his interactions with other people in the hollywood industry and with his family. It's hard to tell what's reality and what's fiction, but how he felt about it is genuine.

Feels like the author put all of himself into this story as well as the story, in other words.

Did I show more mention this book is hilarious? It is. There's a reason the movie turned out so well (other than Goldman being primarily a screenwriter). show less

Growing up The Princess Bride was one of my favorite movies. It still is easily in my top 10 favorites, maybe top 5. Even to this day I'll sometimes say movie quotes in conversation (usually "have fun storming the castle" to someone about to tackle a difficult task.) I remember trying to read the book as a kid and failing miserably to get past the introduction. I was too young to appreciate or understand the satire and ended up returning the book to the library choosing instead to stick with the movie. I really don't know why it took me so long to read this book as an adult.

For anyone who has no idea what this book is about, here it is described in it's own words:


"Has it got any sports in it?"

"Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True show more 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."

"Sounds okay," I said...


The framing of the book, a story within a story, is absolutely brilliant and the writing hilarious. The satirical tone reminds me of Pratchett at times. It plays on a lot of common tropes that were less common back when the book was written in 1973. At some point in the middle of the story the tone shifts, many of Morgenstern's asides that I was loving go away and the humor darkens. It's still enjoyable, just be ready.

I read the deluxe hardback version of the 30th Anniversary edition. The book is absolutely gorgeous. It's printed on parchment looking paper and illustrated. It also has an extra addition to the story at the end titled Buttercup's Baby. I'm not sure when this was added to the book but it's fun for fans to see what happens after everyone rides off into the sunset.

In the end I prefer the movie over the book. You can't beat nostalgia. show less

I have always been a bit of a "literal Libby," and subtle (or not-so-subtle) irony and satire has a tendency to fly right over my head... So it is that when I first read Goldman's introduction to The Princess Bride, in which he discusses the difficulties he encountered in procuring and then revising a copy of S. Morgenstern's "old" classic, I believed him implicitly.

The nascent textual scholar in me was agog, and I simply longed to read the "boring" version, complete with all the details of Florin diplomacy, and the catalog of Buttercup's trousseau. I can still recall my sense of disappointment, betrayal even, at discovering that there was no "original" version of this to be had...

Despite the frustration of that childhood fantasy, The show more Princess Bride has always ranked as one of my favorite stories, and I reread the book (and watch the movie) with some regularity. Who wouldn't be charmed by this tongue-in-cheek tale of true love? With pirates, princes, and revenge-obsessed Spaniards, it's hard not to fall under Goldman's spell. I love Westley and Inigo so much, I can even forgive the author for making Buttercup something of a dimwit - and given my somewhat prickly feelings about the portrayal of women in popular culture, that's saying something!

In short: wonderful, marvelous, superb! It is simply inconceivable that there is anyone out there who has not yet enjoyed the delights of this rollicking tale... show less

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... It's all there, in S. Morgenstern's classic novel, The Princess Bride.

As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that his dad left the boring parts out, and only the "good parts" reached his ears. So he decides to bring that joy to a new generation of readers, and abridge Morgenstern's work, leaving only the good parts.

Charming and enjoyable, of course, particularly the famous extended show more sequence where the masked man in black fights Inigo Montoya, Fezzik and Vizzini one after the other. Those scenes are truly a highlight of swashbuckling adventure, even if it's a parody. But it's a very fond parody, as the best parodies usually are.

I was surprised by the framing device, with the author's digressions about S. Morgenstern, the book he was adapting, his fictional family and the writing business. They were funny, original and interesting, but also surprisingly bitter at times, in a tone that is not that suited for child readers. His loveless family, for example (although I suppose most of it would go over the head of child readers).

If you have 30th anniversary edition my advice is to skip the 30th and 25th anniversary introductions, and the Buttercup's Baby teaser chapter. Take into account they are not part of the ori9ginal book. While they are funny extras, I think when considered as part of the book they are a bit too much William Goldman talking, and tip the balance away from the adventure. The book works better if you think of those as optional extra content, like the extras in a DVD, and not as part of the main experience. Read them later of you want (read first the 25th anniversary introduction and then the 30th anniversary introduction). And if you completely skip Buttercup's Baby you don't lose much. show less