Review: The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Hello, everyone! Happy Valentine’s Day! I have another book review today, this one a classic fantasy romance.

Book: The Princess Bride

Author: William Goldman

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

Series? Standalone

Synopsis: “As Florin and Guilder teeter on the verge of war, the reluctant Princess Buttercup is devastated by the loss of her true love, kidnapped by a mercenary and his henchmen, rescued by a pirate, forced to marry Prince Humperdinck, and rescued once again by the very crew who absconded with her in the first place. In the course of this dazzling adventure, she’ll meet Vizzini–the criminal philosopher who’ll do anything for a bag of gold; Fezzik–the gentle giant; Inigo–the Spaniard whose steel thirsts for revenge; and Count Rugen–the evil mastermind behind it all. Foiling all their plans and jumping into their stories is Westley, Princess Buttercup’s one true love and very good friend of a very dangerous pirate.”

I’ve watched The Princess Bride movie about two hundred times, so I was really excited to finally read the book. Luckily, it did not disappoint. At the beginning, I was a little confused with all the S. Morgenstern stuff and how he wrote this really long version, and how Goldman abridged it. But then I was told that it was made up. S. Morgenstern was not a real person and Goldman just decided to add that bit in to give it a twist.

The Princess Bride follows the story of a diverse cast of characters, starting with Buttercup, a simple farm girl. After discovering that she was one of the most beautiful women in the world, Prince Humperdinck, the heir to the throne of Florin City, decides to make her his wife. However, his plans aren’t exactly normal. After getting kidnapped, Buttercup has a wild adventure, traveling from one end of the country to the other.

I really enjoyed reading this. I remember all the parts from the movie, and what I like even better with the book, is that we get to know more about the characters’ backstories. Inigo and Fezzik each have a small section on their childhood, though Vizzini doesn’t. I feel like I got to know the characters better.

This book is hilarious. There’s a lot of very quotable lines in it, said by a variety of characters. Some of my favorites are: “Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line!”, “Never get involved in a land war in Asia”, and “I’m not a witch, I’m your wife!” Of course, those are only some of them.

On a different note, Prince Humperdinck has a serious problem with killing things. His Zoo of Death sounds absolutely terrifying. I would not want to be stuck with spitting cobras and shrieking bats.

I’m also going to talk a little bit about Buttercup’s Baby. I don’t think a lot of people know about it, but Goldman started a sequel to The Princess Bride, but never finished it before he died. So, Buttercup’s Baby, is, as said, about Buttercup’s baby, Waverly. It’s only has one chapter, but there’s still a lot that happens. I think it kind of shifts to different times. It starts with a mysterious man kidnapping Waverly, but then it goes back to before Buttercup is pregnant. Buttercup, Westley, Inigo, and Fezzik are all there. Since it’s only one chapter, we don’t know what happens after Waverly gets rescued by Fezzik and they both fall off a mountain side.

The Princess Bride was a great swashbuckling story, filled with everything you could possibly want: “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.”

My Rating: 4/5 dragons

Have you read The Princess Bride? What did you think of my review?
Chat with me in the comments below!