Rating: 
Summary: The movie is the 'good parts' version
Review: The book is Ok but has some major problems that the movie
avoids. The biggest problem is the author putting too much
personal information in. Skip both introductions, they do
little but detract from the book. There is a little bit on
pages XI - XIV about the cast for the movie that is interesting
but by all means skip the rest.Many of the author's comments in the book (the italic text) can
also be skipped, though it is not as bad as the introductions.
You can skip the comments on pages 41, 171, 206, 247 and 316.
You may want to read them on pages 65, 73, 83, 195, 197, 281 and
96. The movie is great, the book less so. One day I may edit it
and create my own 'best parts' version. Ken
Rating: 
Summary: Geat story... but the commentaries...
Review: I really liked the story by S. Morgenstern, but the random interruptions by Mr. Goldman really got on my nerves by the end. I actually give this book 3.5 stars, but since that isn't an option, I rounded up. Mr. Goldman did cut out a lot of stuff I would really have liked to read, ie Buttercup's princess training. The parts I did get to read were great, I really loved them, but some day I'd love to get my hands on an unabridged version. Also, the version I had had the first chapter of Buttercup's Baby, the sequal to Princess Bride. Supposedly it was supposed to be written by Steven King, but I've yet to find it, which is really too bad, I'd love to read his version, or any version for that matter.
Rating: 
Summary: "True Love is... the greatest thing... in the world..."
Review: One would have to have been born inside a desk drawer and lived their whole life on paper and pencil shavings to not have seen the classic movie, "The Princess Bride." However, very few of the people on this earth who don't live in desk drawers have read the classic book. And reading this book, even looking at the name on the front cover, clues you into the true genius of this fairy tale. What the move does not fully get across is that there is no actual "S. Morgenstern." (Sure, if you read the credits, you'll figure that out, but you know how many people read the credits? Look in a desk drawer.) Anyway, William Goldman, the true author has not only concocted the great story, but the author, the book, the father reading the book to the child, and even the child. In seamless cutaways, we go from the exciting details of Wesley's latest escape or Buttercup's stunning beauty to the Fred Savage-ish boy sitting in bed talking to his father. And then, there is the story. The verbal cinematic masterpiece that sweeps across the hills of Florin and Guilder, that navigates the choppy sea, that climbs the precarious Cliffs of Insanity, that sinks into the flaming depths of the Fire Swamp, and rises to the highest turrets of Lotharon's Castle. You won't find better character development either; Goldman spends at least 30 pages on each main character, but somehow it never gets the slightest bit boring. Every page is both enrapturing and hilarious. (The childhood of Fezzik the Giant is especially amusing.) Goldman spins the tale perfectly as the father reading only the "good parts" to his son. The plot does far more than just plod, the climax is quite possibly the most climactic piece of writing I've read since the great Finnish climax of 1858, and the denouement is simply existential. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll dance around the room with an umbrella and call it a sword, and in the end, you'll utter the famous line, "Man, the book IS better than the movie." But hey, in another famous line, William Goldman's in fact, "Life isn't fair, it's just fairer than death, that's all."
Rating:
Summary: Top Ten of All Time
Review: This book is one of the top ten books (my list) of all time. I first read it as a child, then in college and many times since then, and now my son will soon fall under its enchantment. Forget the movie, which wasn't too bad, and get a copy of this truly astounding piece of literature and you'll cry tears of anger, of joy and of terror. Everything is here, from the world's most beautiful woman, to the greatest swordsman in the world, to terrible and evil bad guys, funny ones, dead heros and many more pages full of great words that no movie can aptly describe.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful story no personal library should be without
Review: I was introduced to the story, like many, many others via the movie. My husband and I (just dating then) fell in love with it so much that we even have a line engraved in our wedding rings--"As you wish..." For our anniversary one year, I bought the book for him and we really, really enjoyed it. It was probably the most romantic gift I ever gave him. There's something for everyone in this book--fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, true love, you name it. I do not enjoy romance novels, but even someone who indulges in something as trivial as that genre will enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: i had to read this book for my literacy class at school. the teacher read us the first 3 or 4 pages to see if the class would like it or not. i loved it instantly. i usually dislike reading and it takes me ages to read one book, but for the princess bride, i just had to keep on reading! im really glad that i had the chance to read this wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: So Much FUN!
Review: I loved this book. Amazingly funny and just an absolute great read. I haven't loved a book this much since a very long time. I picked it up one day at the library, imagining that it wouldn't be half as funny as the movie. Let me say that I was hooked after the first page and absolutely nothing could deter me from finishing this book! It's one of the sweetest book I've ever read. This is the way a book should make you feel. The only "bad part" to the book is that it had an ending!!! I'm quite upset about this.
Rating:
Summary: Damn!
Review: This book is great. Really, there are no other words. Wonderful, amazing, orgasmic, whatever - when you lay down the facts, it's good. Buttercup, our favorite bimbo heroine is oh-so funny in her stupidity. Dashing Westley makes a loveable hero. The other characters, Inigo, Fezzik, Vizzini, Humperdinck, are so hilarious that they will have you falling off your chair. The only thing keeping you from dropping this book during your laughing spasms is your desire to keep reading. It's has everything you want in a good novel and everyone should read it!
Rating:
Summary: Stop reading my review. Start reading "The Princess Bride".
Review: If you have seen the movie, this book will still come as a total surprise. I can and often do (certanly more than my friends or family would like) quote dialouge from this enormously funny story, but I did not get the half of it. The other half lies in this brillantly written book. Anybody looking for the elusive S. Morgenstern, trying to book a flight to Florin or waiting with baited breath for the sequal "Buttercup's Baby" have really kind of missed the point.
William Goldman has created a fantasy so appealing that he himself has fallen right in. As a reader of many genres I have found that the hardest thing for an author to get out of me is true laughter. Not a smile or knowing smirk, but a good 'ol eye squirting belly laugh. Mr. Goldman had that achieved fairly early on and just kept on rollin'. Read this book for yourself, read it to your children but for cryin out loud READ IT! The story at the end of the Hardcover 25th anniversary edition about Andre The Giant and Arnold Shwartzeneager in Mexico alone is worth the price of admission. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Romance, Adventure, And A Laugh
Review: I actually read this book after seeing the movie, and I felt a little guilty for not reading it, so I signed it out. I was amazed. The only bad part is (and here I consult the paperback book) twenty nine pages about his love for the book. I think W.Goldman may have been an utter nutcase, but his good-parts-version is helpful because Morgenstern has the tendency to babble on. In these places, the extracted part is explained, so you don't miss anything. PS. If Florin is a real country, please tell me in a review. He makes it sound so real!
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