Anyone who lived through the 1980s may find it impossible—inconceivable, even—to equate The Princess Bride with anything other than the sweet, celluloid romance of Westley and Buttercup, but the film is only a fraction of the ingenious storytelling you’ll find in these pages. Rich in character and satire, the novel is set in 1941 and framed cleverly as an “abridged” retelling of a centuries-old … centuries-old tale set in the fabled country of Florin that’s home to “Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passions.”
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Sure, the movie is a cult classic and has two levels to the story-telling (the grandfather reading the tale and the tale itself). But the book has two additional levels: the tale of the original (fictional) author writing the unabridged version and the fictionalized tale of the actual (non-fictional) author of the “Good Parts Version” and how he …
By far my favorite book. It is such a good read and I absolutely love it.
Movie is actually better than the book.
A classic for a reason.
Inconceivably wonderful
Standard stuff. I found it ultimately boring – maybe works for young teens
If you enjoy the movie as much as I do, you will enjoy reading the book.
I am a huge fan of the movie, so when I finally read the book I was already familiar with all the characters and story-line. Loved the witty and sarcastic humor throughout the story.
This is a classic. Loved the book and loved the movie.
Even if you saw the film you will still enjoy the book.
I love this movie. So when I found out there was a book, I got really excited. The book is as amazing as the movie. Almost everything is the same, including quotes and interruptions that the author makes while retelling the story. Mostly I think that is because William Goldman also wrote the adaptation for the movie of his book. His writing in …
Much better than the movie.
I’ve this once and seen the movie several times – the biggest thing I remember about the book is that it tells you why the prince hates and wants to war against Gilda. Other than that I can’t recall any differences (in the actions of the characters) between the movie and the book. The book is narrated by a man who is retelling the story after a …
This is one of the few books that benefits from having seen the movie first. Read everything: the preface, the dedication, the footnotes; the fun is in the snarky asides.
I definitely vote for the alternate ending.
A classic and all time favorite!
There are whole sections that get far more political and dry than the movie -be prepared. But on the whole I found it to be entertaining.
Wonderful story for all ages.
Growing up basically knowing the movie version by heart, I actually found this book rather disappointing. In the book, the main character spends the majority of the time complaining how he can’t find an ‘original’ copy of the story to read to his grandson, and that he’ll do his best but the version HE remembers is so much better. So you basically …
If you’ve read the Overworld Chronicles, you know I’m fond of the Princess Bride. If you haven’t read it, do it! If you have read it, read it again!
I love this book and movie. I just wish he would write the sequel finally, he’s actually slower than GRRM.