Name: The Princess Bride
ISBN: 9781417795796

William Goldman

Presents the timeless love story between a farm boy named Westley and the beautiful Princess Buttercup.

S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure

The Princess Bride

I have a very complicated relationship with this book. I first read it as a kid and absolutely loved it. I'm sure I watched the movie first before reading it, but I really enjoyed both. And, since I was a kid, I believed every word of this book. No, no, not the fantasy elements like miracle men or 

, but everything William Goldman wrote about his childhood, I fell for. Why shouldn't I? I saw no reason (again, as a child myself) to mistrust anything he was saying about how his father read him this book when he was around my age. I believed there really was an S. Morgenstern and that Goldman did us all a huge favor by abridging the original. And yes, this is embarrassing, but I even believed Florin and Guilder were real countries. It was this bit at the last that finally broke the spell.

As I got older and wanted to reread this book (I must have read it once a year or so for a lot of my childhood) I wanted to know where Florin was located. Poof. The truth laid bare. Goldman had made it up. This left a sour taste in my mouth as innocent trust was, quite frankly, broken. I didn't touch the book again for years.

Now, I love the story. I love the characters, Fezzik and Inigo especially. I just think this book works just as well without Goldman's cheeky "backstory." And I understand the underlying satire running through the story, but I don't want to be cynical. 

Another thing to note is that I grew up reading my mom's 1998 copy, the 25th anniversary edition, which included the first chapter of the "long lost" sequel, Buttercup's Baby. This is the version I just finished rereading but I refused to read the Buttercup's Baby section. Goldman loves to toy with your emotions, and he puts our beloved characters through the ringer, even killing Fezzik, leaving a cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers. But first, of course, he writes about all his difficulties with the Morgenstern estate to even get the rights to abridge the first chapter of the sequel. I skimmed it and it just feels too pompous. Goldman will ruin his own book for no good reason. Keep in mind, he doesn't even give everyone a lasting happy ending at the end of The Princess Bride. The movie does it better! Speaking of the movie, at this point, it's impossible to separate the two. Without the movie, it'd be hard to picture some of the settings of the book, but thanks to it, everything comes beautifully to life in my imagination. 

So much of the book feels soured to me, mainly because of the Buttercup's Baby stuff. I found myself laughing and amused at some of Goldman's "interjections" so I can happily say I'm starting to heal from this book breaking the trust of my younger self.

I still have a deep seeded love of this book and I enjoyed this reread. I don't think I could ever give it 5 stars, but for sheer entertainment value and a wonderful cast of characters, with some humor thrown in for good measure, I will say it deserves 4 stars. 

Amanda

I have a very complicated relationship with this book. I first read it as a kid and absolutely loved it. I'm sure I watched the movie first before reading it, but I really enjoyed both. And, since I was a kid, I believed every word of this book. No, no, not the fantasy elements like miracle men or R.O.U.Ss, but everything William Goldman wrote about his childhood, I fell for. Why shouldn't I? I saw no reason (again, as a child myself) to mistrust anything he was saying about how his father read him this book when he was around my age. I believed there really was an S. Morgenstern and that Goldman did us all a huge favor by abridging the original. And yes, this is embarrassing, but I even believed Florin and Guilder were real countries. It was this bit at the last that finally broke the spell.

As I got older and wanted to reread this book (I must have read it once a year or so for a lot of my childhood) I wanted to know where Florin was located. Poof. The truth laid bare. Goldman had made it up. This left a sour taste in my mouth as innocent trust was, quite frankly, broken. I didn't touch the book again for years.

Now, I love the story. I love the characters, Fezzik and Inigo especially. I just think this book works just as well without Goldman's cheeky "backstory." And I understand the underlying satire running through the story, but I don't want to be cynical. 

Another thing to note is that I grew up reading my mom's 1998 copy, the 25th anniversary edition, which included the first chapter of the "long lost" sequel, Buttercup's Baby. This is the version I just finished rereading but I refused to read the Buttercup's Baby section. Goldman loves to toy with your emotions, and he puts our beloved characters through the ringer, even killing Fezzik, leaving a cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers. But first, of course, he writes about all his difficulties with the Morgenstern estate to even get the rights to abridge the first chapter of the sequel. I skimmed it and it just feels too pompous. Goldman will ruin his own book for no good reason. Keep in mind, he doesn't even give everyone a lasting happy ending at the end of The Princess Bride. The movie does it better! Speaking of the movie, at this point, it's impossible to separate the two. Without the movie, it'd be hard to picture some of the settings of the book, but thanks to it, everything comes beautifully to life in my imagination. 

So much of the book feels soured to me, mainly because of the Buttercup's Baby stuff. I found myself laughing and amused at some of Goldman's "interjections" so I can happily say I'm starting to heal from this book breaking the trust of my younger self.

I still have a deep seeded love of this book and I enjoyed this reread. I don't think I could ever give it 5 stars, but for sheer entertainment value and a wonderful cast of characters, with some humor thrown in for good measure, I will say it deserves 4 stars. 

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

I did not like how demeaning it was towards women, but to be fair, it was written in 1973. I loved the satirical and direct writing style. Tbh the 25th and 30th anniversary additions ruined it for me, but let’s just ignore that. 

Elin Hakvoort

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

I did not like how demeaning it was towards women, but to be fair, it was written in 1973. I loved the satirical and direct writing style. Tbh the 25th and 30th anniversary additions ruined it for me, but let’s just ignore that. 

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

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