The Princess Bride
2 journalers for this copy...
Best book ever!!!
I bought this book second hand for Bookcrossing.
"Westley, handsome farm boy who risks death and much, much worse for the woman he loves; Inigo, the Spanish swordsman who lives only to avenge his father's death; Fezzik, the Turk, the gentlest giant ever to have uprooted a tree with his bare hands; Vizzini, the evil Sicilian, with a mind so keen he's foiled by his own perfect logic; Prince Humperdinck, the eviler ruler of Guilder, who has an equally insatiable thirst for war and the beauteous Buttercup; Count Rugen, the evilest man of all, who thrives on the excruciating pain of others; Miracle Max, the King's ex-Miracle Man, who can raise the dead (kind of); The Dread Pirate Roberts, supreme looter and plunderer of the high seas; and, of course, Buttercup, the princess bride, the most perfect, beautiful woman in the history of the world."
I bought this book second hand for Bookcrossing.
"Westley, handsome farm boy who risks death and much, much worse for the woman he loves; Inigo, the Spanish swordsman who lives only to avenge his father's death; Fezzik, the Turk, the gentlest giant ever to have uprooted a tree with his bare hands; Vizzini, the evil Sicilian, with a mind so keen he's foiled by his own perfect logic; Prince Humperdinck, the eviler ruler of Guilder, who has an equally insatiable thirst for war and the beauteous Buttercup; Count Rugen, the evilest man of all, who thrives on the excruciating pain of others; Miracle Max, the King's ex-Miracle Man, who can raise the dead (kind of); The Dread Pirate Roberts, supreme looter and plunderer of the high seas; and, of course, Buttercup, the princess bride, the most perfect, beautiful woman in the history of the world."
Journal Entry 2 by 
Rochester74
at Camden Court Hotel in Dublin, Co. Dublin Ireland on Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Rochester74 at Camden Court Hotel in Dublin, Co. Dublin Ireland on Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Released 12 yrs ago (4/13/2012 UTC) at Camden Court Hotel in Dublin, Co. Dublin Ireland
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
This book will be travelling to the International BookCrossing Convention in Dublin with me.
I will leave it in the Camden Court Hotel where the convention takes place :-)
I will leave it in the Camden Court Hotel where the convention takes place :-)
During the treasure hunt / release walk at the Dublin Convention, we took a break for lunch at the wonderful Stage Door Café. We were all drinking tea and chatting, when I spotted 'The Princess Bride' next to Gizmopuddy, left as a wild release. Now, I've been longing to read this book ever since I heard about it, so I couldn't resist nabbing it.
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
My Goodreads rating: 4 of 5 stars
I didn't enjoy the Introduction to the 25th Anniversary Edition (which I assume wasn't included in the original, though I may be mistaken, as this is very much a book within a book). In it, Goldman comes across as pompous and full of his own importance, with a distinctly American brashness (sorry, American friends - I know you're not all like that). Of course, if I read it again, I may find I understand what he's talking about as he seems to expect prior knowledge of 'The Princess Bride' as he thinks most people will have seen the film. As I say, this shows a certain level of arrogance as it may have been popular when it was first shown in cinemas, but I had never heard of the book or film until I heard others mentioning it as a good fantasy book for early teens. On the other hand, is the persona Goldman takes on as the teller of this tale his own personality, or that of the narrator, whose father read the book out loud to him when he was ill?
It is from the narrator's father that we learn what the book is about:
"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." (p.8) Sounds like my kind of book!
Buttercup herself is a pretty strong princess, a great role-model.
p.37. "The village boys. The beef-witted featherbrained rattleskulled clod-pated dim-domed noodle-noggined sapheaded lank-knobbed boys."
Given all the times 'they had that then' is referred to, it is rather peculiar that Goldman made the mistake of writing about turkeys being given away at Christmas in a country which seems to be somewhere in Europe, as there were no turkeys in Europe until they were found in their native USA. (p.77)
Buttercup, introduced to the nation, insists on walking amongst the crowd, bringing back memories of Diana, Princess of Wales, even though this book predates her. Just as Humperdink's response would have done Prince Charles proud: "We do not walk among the commoners unless its unavoidable." As we know, the most loved of princesses are often commoners themselves: Diana, Princess Grace of Monaco, Kate Middleton (although I have recently learned that Princess Diana was descended from Charles II from 4 different ancestors, according to QI). In any case, the public loves the dream of a commoner who marries a prince.
Humour:
"I don't like killing a girl," the Spaniard said... 'God does it all the time; if it doesn't bother him, don't let it worry you.' " (who?) (p.90)
Strangely, Buttercup's friends have sleeping times which exactly mirror each other. Inigo sleeps for 20 hours, whereas Westley has trained himself to sleep only 4.
I loved the beginning of the book, but I felt it lost its momentum later on. Nevertheless, it's full of humour, entertainment and cliffhangers - some of them literal. Even the recommendations at the front of the book are fake. I can't bear to pass this book on yet because I feel compelled to read it again at some point and share it with my daughter, and I suspect it's the sort of book which improves on multiple reading. I have discovered that we have the DVD of the film, so I shall have to watch it very soon.
View all my Goodreads reviews
My Goodreads rating: 4 of 5 stars
I didn't enjoy the Introduction to the 25th Anniversary Edition (which I assume wasn't included in the original, though I may be mistaken, as this is very much a book within a book). In it, Goldman comes across as pompous and full of his own importance, with a distinctly American brashness (sorry, American friends - I know you're not all like that). Of course, if I read it again, I may find I understand what he's talking about as he seems to expect prior knowledge of 'The Princess Bride' as he thinks most people will have seen the film. As I say, this shows a certain level of arrogance as it may have been popular when it was first shown in cinemas, but I had never heard of the book or film until I heard others mentioning it as a good fantasy book for early teens. On the other hand, is the persona Goldman takes on as the teller of this tale his own personality, or that of the narrator, whose father read the book out loud to him when he was ill?
It is from the narrator's father that we learn what the book is about:
"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." (p.8) Sounds like my kind of book!
Buttercup herself is a pretty strong princess, a great role-model.
p.37. "The village boys. The beef-witted featherbrained rattleskulled clod-pated dim-domed noodle-noggined sapheaded lank-knobbed boys."
Given all the times 'they had that then' is referred to, it is rather peculiar that Goldman made the mistake of writing about turkeys being given away at Christmas in a country which seems to be somewhere in Europe, as there were no turkeys in Europe until they were found in their native USA. (p.77)
Buttercup, introduced to the nation, insists on walking amongst the crowd, bringing back memories of Diana, Princess of Wales, even though this book predates her. Just as Humperdink's response would have done Prince Charles proud: "We do not walk among the commoners unless its unavoidable." As we know, the most loved of princesses are often commoners themselves: Diana, Princess Grace of Monaco, Kate Middleton (although I have recently learned that Princess Diana was descended from Charles II from 4 different ancestors, according to QI). In any case, the public loves the dream of a commoner who marries a prince.
Humour:
"I don't like killing a girl," the Spaniard said... 'God does it all the time; if it doesn't bother him, don't let it worry you.' " (who?) (p.90)
Strangely, Buttercup's friends have sleeping times which exactly mirror each other. Inigo sleeps for 20 hours, whereas Westley has trained himself to sleep only 4.
I loved the beginning of the book, but I felt it lost its momentum later on. Nevertheless, it's full of humour, entertainment and cliffhangers - some of them literal. Even the recommendations at the front of the book are fake. I can't bear to pass this book on yet because I feel compelled to read it again at some point and share it with my daughter, and I suspect it's the sort of book which improves on multiple reading. I have discovered that we have the DVD of the film, so I shall have to watch it very soon.
View all my Goodreads reviews
