Rating: 
Summary: A perfect story
Review: "The Silent Gondoliers" is every bit the the equal to Goldman's "Princess Bride". Though the story is shorter and far less complex, it none the less shines from first word to last. It should be required reading for everyone who has ever been in love, had children, or had a hero.
Rating: 
Summary: Not quite Princess Bride...
Review: A long time fan of the Princess Bride movie and then, enamoured by Goldman's origianl rendering via the novel...(not to mention a long hunt for this out-of-print book), left me a little disappointed after actually reading this second Morgensternian tale. While the line drawings were a nice touch...and the inner-story digressions predictably amuzing and ever-so Goldmanesque, the storyline leaves unexplained the very point where and why the Gondoliers actually become "silent". A bit frustrating and a bit of a let down...after waiting so long. I expected more.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful journey into a fantastic dream
Review: As an opera singer and having visited Venice for the first time this past year, this was a perfect book. I loved this novel--as a diversion from an otherwise boring Sunday afternoon, as a jaunt into the life of someone special, and even as a complete story worthy of never being compared to it's predecessor "The Princess Bride." My main point in this review is to state that there IS no comparison between this and "The Princess Bride." The only simularity is the fact that Willian Goldman wrote both under the pseudonymn "S. Morgenstern." In all actuality... and this is a big thing for a dedicated romantic, like myself, to state... I think I liked this book better than "The Princess Bride." It was concise, to the point, short, and all the while it lost no magic that was intended and even drew me in more because of it's clear-cut nature. It is a fable that should be read over and over... I believe the moral is there for anyone to see, however, one must choose for himself or herself what the message is for him/her as an individual. Don't read this for a message though... read it to become wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of Venice, to become enamoured of the romantic nature of Luigi, and mostly...to become lost in the dreams and the discovery that those dreams can come true.
I particularly liked the part - chapter XIV - where "S. Morgenstern" breaks in with a statement about famous swimmers.... I know this makes no sense if you haven't read the book. Just read it; when you do you'll understand the brilliance of Goldman's intervention. This is amazingly perceived and brilliantly written. It touched me and I do believe that I will always consider the Luigi character a personal hero.
Rating:
Summary: A delightful journey into a fantastic dream
Review: As an opera singer and having visited Venice for the first time this past year, this was a perfect book. I loved this novel--as a diversion from an otherwise boring Sunday afternoon, as a jaunt into the life of someone special, and even as a complete story worthy of never being compared to it's predecessor "The Princess Bride." My main point in this review is to state that there IS no comparison between this and "The Princess Bride." The only simularity is the fact that Willian Goldman wrote both under the pseudonymn "S. Morgenstern." In all actuality... and this is a big thing for a dedicated romantic, like myself, to state... I think I liked this book better than "The Princess Bride." It was concise, to the point, short, and all the while it lost no magic that was intended and even drew me in more because of it's clear-cut nature. It is a fable that should be read over and over... I believe the moral is there for anyone to see, however, one must choose for himself or herself what the message is for him/her as an individual. Don't read this for a message though... read it to become wrapped up in the glitz and glamour of Venice, to become enamoured of the romantic nature of Luigi, and mostly...to become lost in the dreams and the discovery that those dreams can come true.
I particularly liked the part - chapter XIV - where "S. Morgenstern" breaks in with a statement about famous swimmers.... I know this makes no sense if you haven't read the book. Just read it; when you do you'll understand the brilliance of Goldman's intervention. This is amazingly perceived and brilliantly written. It touched me and I do believe that I will always consider the Luigi character a personal hero.
Rating:
Summary: S. Morgenstern Comes Out Of The Closet
Review: Goldman writes fiction using many different styles ("Marathon Man," "Magic," "Boys And Girls Together," for example). This story was originally published under the name S. Morgenstern. Readers of "The Princess Bride" will know why. It was written in the same style - a very entertaining style, by the way - but didn't hold this reader as spellbound or as long. Still, Goldman's fiction is never boring, never actually bad.
Rating: 
Summary: FYI: Morgenstern is not a real guy
Review: Hey People,I am big fan of Goldman, but in reveiw after review you people seem to think Goldman really researched Morgenstern. Not So!!!!!! Morgenstern is a fictitious. Take a look at The Pricess Bride. The countries are Florin, and Guilder. Never have these countries existed. They are forms of currency. Looks like Goldman truly spins a great story, because you were fooled!! Read you History!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: FYI: Morgenstern is not a real guy
Review: Hey People, I am big fan of Goldman, but in reveiw after review you people seem to think Goldman really researched Morgenstern. Not So!!!!!! Morgenstern is a fictitious. Take a look at The Pricess Bride. The countries are Florin, and Guilder. Never have these countries existed. They are forms of currency. Looks like Goldman truly spins a great story, because you were fooled!! Read you History!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Cute
Review: I am one of the handful of people who haven't yet read "The Princess Bride," so I can't comment on how this compares to that book. However, this was an entertaining little tale and a cute fable. Everyone once knew that the gondoliers of Venice were the best singers in the world -- so amazing, in fact, that the great Enrico Caruso was overwhelmed when he heard them singing. One talented young gondolier with a "goony" smile, Luigi, is incredibly skilled as a gondolier and wins the heart of the girl he adores. But when he tries to sing, chaos reigns. People pelt him with vegetables and dead fish, even when he isn't singing. Out of necessity, poor Luigi is drummed out of the gondoliers. His girlfriend dumps him, and he ends up washing dishes in a tavern with only his dreams to sustain him. Can Luigi overcome his terrible singing voice and realize his dreams? This is a cute little story, though "fable" might be the wrong description for it because there is no firmly-defined lesson in it. Is it the special-rubbing-off line? Never give up on your dreams? Be an insane optimist? I never really figured it out. The outlines of it are rather uneven, especially the entire chapter devoted to the history of surfing. This might work in a book three or four times "Gondoliers"'s length, but in a story this short it merely feels awkward. And for the record, the translation of "pizza" is not "pizza," but "pie." Nevertheless, Luigi is a sweetie, with his goony smile and obsessions with being a gondolier. The reader really does want him to succeed, and boos enthusiastically at the unsympathetic The Great and the aptly named "John the Bastard." The line drawings add a nice touch, very pretty in most cases. And the author manages to make Venice sound like one of the loveliest places in the world. A nice little book, good for passing twenty minutes on a rainy day.
Rating:
Summary: S. Morgenstern is alive and well!
Review: I became a devoted fan of master storyteller, S. Morgenstern, after reading "The Princess Bride" for the first time last year. Imagine my surprise and delight upon discovering that he and William Goldman had also collaborated on another novel, a wonderful fable about the gondoliers of Venice.
According to legend, or at least to S. Morgenstern, the gondoliers of Venice used to be known as the greatest singers in the world, even once putting the legendary Enrico Caruso to shame ( to such an extent that the poor man left Venice in disgrace and never returned.) Well that was then and this is now. The Venetian gondoliers no longer sing and the reason they no longer sing is because of Luigi, the most famous and skilled gondolier to ever traverse the Grand Canal. This is his story.
This small novel is a highly imaginative and creative story told with much the same style of tongue-in-cheek humor as "The Princess Bride." If you enjoyed that book, you will love this one, too. It is a charming fable you won't soon forget!
Rating:
Summary: Not the Princess Bride--but it doesn't need to be.
Review: I just now, this moment, have set down the book, "The Silent Gondoliers." It is the story of the Gondoliers of Venice, and why they no longer sing as they row. It was written by Morgensern late in life, the result of years of study. It seems as a child, he heard the beautiful voices of the Gondoliers, and began years of study and research to see why they no longer sang. The culmination of that is "The Silent Gondoliers," a very short book--only 110 pages, that bears absolutely no resemblence to "The Princess Bride." I am grateful for this. If the whole thing had just been a rehash of the Princess Bride, it would have made Morgensten a panderer. It is not nearly as funny--I figure this is likely because Morgenstern was basing it on "Real Live Events." But, and this is an important but, it is as entertaining. It is an easy read, and if you decide you hate it you will by no means have wasted much of your time. If, however, you find the story rings absolutely true with what you believe about the world, then I think you will enjoy the story of Luigi, the greatest Gondolier who ever lived, who, due to circumstance, was stuck washing glasses at the Tavern.
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