The Princess Bride (1973)

I've probably seen the movie a hundred times, but somehow I'd never actually picked up the book before. Not surprisingly, I found it a thoroughly amusing read. ( )

Having adored the movie for many years, I thought I'd go back and read the book it was based on. There's claim it's an abridgement, but not so much...

Overall, I rate this a very good story, very enjoyable. I was surprised that the audio was only 3 and a half hours long. I expected longer. Perhaps I didn't expect a 3 hour book to be distilled down to a 90 minute movie. Could have fit much of it in...

I loved finding out more about the backgrounds of Fezik and Inigo. It adds so much more to the characters.

One difference from the movie but still making it fun: The zoo of death is instead of the pit of despair. ( )

this review may contain spoilers but I'll mostly try to refrain from it - but a bit is necessary. You've been warned.

I'm having a little trouble writing a review about this book. I really enjoyed this book on most levels and on some levels I don't. The story starts with an author of whom we get a little background story and then it is about this book that the author was read to by his father: The princess bride by S. Morgenstern. This S. Morgenstern however does not exist and I've noticed that this confuses a lot of people. There are several people that think that the original the princess bride would be much better than this shortened version. Except there is no original. It's just a way for the author to tell this story.

In the beginning the book can be a bit confusing - I thought for a moment that maybe it was another book entirely - but I urge you to keep reading. The author thinks his son might like this book as well and after spending time tracking it down he gives it to him as a birthday present. His son however hates the story and when the author himself tries to read the book, he understands why. when his father read the book to him he left a lot of the book out. Wanting that book again, he decides to right that version of the book. This is where the story actually starts.

The story is... well, about many things. Namely a princess named buttercup, a farm boy named Wesley, Prince Humperdinck, true love, death, swords, the truth, giants, adventure, castles, torture, fights, poison, kidnap, sadness, great men, murder, creatures and many more. Telling you more of the story would ruin it in my opinion.

But I will say that I really liked this book, laughed out loud several times - which books don't make me do often - I was dying to find out how it would end. The author interrupts the story sometimes, but it's not really annoying. I didn't think I'd like this book, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed compared to the rest of the book. But all in all, a great read that I'd recommend. ( )

Inconceivable! In surprised how close the movie that i love is to the book! ( )

I am very glad I read this book. It is not like anything I can remember reading. Fun, engaging, classical but with quirky humor ( )