Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Rereading The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The year that Buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world was a French scullery maid named Annette. 

Yes. That's right. "By William Goldman." I'm 99.9% sure that there was never an S. Morgenstern who wrote the original. In other words, the whole introduction is a lie. And I'm not sure if I like that. It makes me kind of uneasy that Goldman is so blatantly lying to the reader. Many people from reading it, would assume that there was an S. Morgenstern, when it was really Goldman.

Most of you are probably familiar with the story from either having seen the movie or read the book, but The Princess Pride is a tale of: 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. 

I really like the story; it has humorous parts, and, lying aside, Goldman's asides (ha ha) can be funny. I love all of the many and varied characters, and the setting, and the plot. What more can I say? If you loved the movie, this is an excellent book, and it was just as good the second time around. One thing however, is that I really don't like how dumb Buttercup is. Even the name. Buttercup. She's an empty-headed, beautiful blonde, and being one of the only female characters, that was kind of annoying. I mean, she has some intelligence, but not much. But still. I love the story.

Read The Princess Bride:
  • if you liked the movie
  • if you like fantasy
317 pages. 
 
Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!

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