The Princess Bride, By William Goldman
(Reviewed by Dom)

Okay, let me first burst your bubble. Although “The Princess Bride” is allegedly an adapted and abridged version of an earlier work by someone named “S. Morgenstern,” the truth is…there is no S. Morgenstern. He’s the fictional writer dreamed up by William Goldman as a tool to tell this story.

And no, there’s really no country of Florin. And no, even though you might be outraged by the first few dozen pages where it seems that Goldman is ripping his wife and young son, don’t be upset. It’s all fiction. Goldman doesn’t HAVE a son; he has two daughters, and his wife is nothing like the one at the beginning of this book.

Whew, so now that we have THAT out of the way, you can simply dive into this classic tale. But be prepared: This is NOT the movie, so don’t expect it to be the same. Hey, that’s why we read books, right? If we only wanted the movie…

It IS, however, a tale of pirates and love and revenge and chases and poison and giants and Rodents of Unusual Size and more and more and more. You’ll see lots of the elements from the film version, but you’ll also be thrown off by lots and lots of interruptions. … (more…)