Goodreads Synopsis:
What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams?
As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears.
Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.
What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.
In short, it's about everything.
Review:
‘The Princess Bride’ has held a very special place in my heart since I first saw the movie as a little girl. It’s just such a witty, fun twist on the classic princess needing rescuing theme. Who has watched it and not fallen in love! Or even better, not found themselves obscurely referencing quotes from the film at one point or another. I believe that the movie has become something of a cult classic but I’m not sure how many people have actually read the book as well. And I only recently found out that it was a book! If you have seen the movie the book will not disappoint. The two follow each other so closely that the reader will not be upset by any discrepancies. But with that said, the movie does follow the book so closely it can feel at times like you’re just reading the movie.
However, the book is not just the movie, or the movie not just the book. The book is more like two stories in one. The story of Buttercup and Westley is the one you know and love so well but there is another story in the book, the story of the young boy (Billy) whose grandfather read him the book when he was ill. The book actually starts when that young boy is a man and he rediscovers ‘The Princess Bride’. He takes you back in time to why he fell in love with the story in the first place and how when he rediscovers the story its not quite what he thought it was. I won’t say too much because it’s fun to find out on your own. I also really liked the short inserts about Florin history that isn’t portrayed in the movie. The whole book is darling and I’m so happy that I discovered it wasn’t only a movie.