The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure

by William Goldman

Book Overview

William Goldman's beloved story of Buttercup, Westley, and their fellow adventurers.

This tale of true love, high adventure, pirates, princesses, giants, miracles, fencing, and a frightening assortment of wild beasts was unforgettably depicted in the 1987 film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Fred Savage, Robin Wright, and others. But, rich in character and satire, the novel boasts even more layers of ingenious storytelling...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156035219
• ISBN13: 9780156035217
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 4.1" x 6.8"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

1 star for the cover, not the story

I ordered this book for a specific cover and received a completely different one.

Cover Art Was Not What I Ordered

The actual story is great, no issues there. However, I did NOT want the cover art to have the ugly 'Now A Major Motion Picture' cover. The book I ordered had beautiful cover art, but when the package arrived I instead got the movie poster as the cover. Personally, I avoid books with movie promotional covers. I'm just disappointed I didn't get the book I wanted.

Scammers

I bought what was labeled as a first edition princess bride in good condition and what was sent to me for 150$ was a non first addition paperback in terrible condition with sharpie covering the numbers to try and pass it off as a first edition, also someone wrote in the back of the book! DO NOT BUY FROM THESE SCAMMERS

Great book just issue with the product itself, not the cover I expected.

Great book just issue with the product itself, not the cover I expected.

Not "very good condition"

The story is classic, epic, comfortable. But I am sooo disappointed in the copy I got being considered "very good condition." The pages are yellow, the front cover is stained, the back is torn. I was expecting a used copy, but not a 40 year old damaged copy, when I paid close to the cost of a brand new copy because of the stated condition. I've never before received a book from here that didn't match the description.

Not the edition in the description.

Love this story. But the version of the book I ordered is not what was delivered. Not the same cover, or publishing date. Very disappointed

What a lovely copy

Can’t wait to dig into it, the cover is pretty and it fits right on my shelf next to LOTR perfectly.

Wrong Cover Art

Not a criticism of the story, just the physical book. Completely different cover art from what I had ordered. What you see in the listing picture is not necessarily what you get. Even though I had been watching for a specific listing with a specific cover / publishing date to come in stock, and I excitedly bought it the second I got the notification, I didn't get what I wanted. I love the content of the book, it's a great book, and I was looking for great cover art because of that. I really disliked the copy I was sent and there was a sticker applied to the book declaring it in "Good Condition" which I couldn't remove cleanly.

Possibly the best book I have ever read

Readers of any age will be absorbed by the modern classic containing all the makeup of a legendary story: romance, comedy, action, tension, excitement, love, and rhyming (?). In other words, I highly recommend. ESPECIALLY, if you are ten years of age.

Hilarious

I know I'm not the first person to say that I grew up on the movie, and perhaps it's because I'm more familiar with the movie that I love it more than I did the book, but the book was still hilarious and it was nice to see the book that inspired the classic movie.

Even better than the movie

If you're a fan of the Princess Bride movie, definitely read this book, it's even better. I'm thrilled to add this classic to my library.

Slightly interesing

It's an okay book, Iiked it until I got to Indigo and Fezzik's backstories and then I became uninterested.I feel like these backstories were unnecessarily long.

INCONCEIVABLE!!

The greatness of this book is truly, in the word's of Vizzini "INCONCEIVABLE!" What's this book about? Fencing, fighting, true love, strong hate, harsh revenge, a few giants, lots of bad men, lots of good men, pain, death, brave men, coward men, escapes, lies, truth, passion, miracles. It's hilarious, heart breaking, and terrifying all at the same time. If none of that sounds good to you, or if you've seen the movie and didn't like it, don't read the book. If you liked the movie, the book is twice as good! Who's the genius behind this incredible book? The answer is simple, William Goldman (which is another whole story in its self). If you look at the book you'll read: "S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure. The "good parts version" abriged by William Goldman." In Goldman's introduction he explains how when he was a ten years old and was home sick with pneumonia, his father read him the book. (Sound farmiliar? If you're remembering the scene between the grandfather and the boy in the book you're right.) His father was a poor, English struggling immigrant from Florin, the setting of the Princess Bride. His father explains how Morgenstern was a great writer in his country and that there it is a very famous book. Goldman obviously loves the book. As a man, Goldman decides to give the book to his son, Jason for his tenth birthday. After putting in an enormous amount of time and money to track down the book, to his shock the son hates it. In turn, he decides to re-read the book for himself. What he discovers is that his father didn't actually read him the whole book, he only read him the good parts. The book in fact was not even really focussing on the story he heard, it's actually all about the history of Florin. Goldman decides to abridge the book with only the "good parts." Everything I have just told you is a lie and it will drive you crazy the whole book! William Goldman did not in fact "abridge" the book he wrote the book. He invents Florin, he invents Jason, he invents everything! Why such a brilliant writer would completely give all the credit to another writer who never existed I will never understand. The book is filled with clever and hilarious "abridgement notes" from Goldman. Not only are they funny to read, they keep you on top of things so you never are confused or find yourself searching back for explanations. If you don't like this sort of thing, don't worry they're written in a way that can be easily skipped. You can read about all of the plot in any other review, but in a couple of sentences: Buttercup falls in love with the gorgeous Farm Boy. He goes off to America to seek their fortune. Buttercup learns that he dies. She is forced to marry the awful Prince even though she vows never to love again. Buttercup gets kidnapped... this is just the beginning! If I go any farther I'll give it away! If this sounds like a stupid fairy tale to you TRUST ME its not! Sure, it's about love, but in between revenge,

Loverley book and this is not an abridgement

I have loved this book for years (I think it may be my favorite) William Goldman is a talented author especially with dialogue. This is a wonderful spoof/homage to old fashioned swashbuckling romance.I noticed that a lot of people believe this book is an abridged version of the "original" S. Morgenstern book. Actually, Morgenstern does not exist, just try looking him up on the library of congress. He was just made up as part of the joke. Think about it, isn't a bit ironic that Morgenstern and William Goldman write EXACTLY the same way. This is supposed to be abridged, not rewritten. Plus, if Morgenstern existed, then Florin must too. Actually, Florin and Guilder were coins, the names were just borrowed. You'll never find the countries in your history book.This is the Spinal Tap thing, the joke is done with a totally straight face so that there are always people who aren't exactly sure if it's the real deal. That was the reason Rob Reiner was chosen to direct the movie version.Read this book, enjoy it, it is one of the best you will ever experience. The diaglogue is unforgetable (every sylabub!)

Delightful and Charming

"Wait a minute, wait a minute....Is this a kissing book?" Well, yes and no...you'll just have to read it to find out for yourself.William Goldman is a legend in the world of screenwriting, known for his clever, crisp dialogue and engrossing narrative, so why should his novels be any different? Utterly charming, 'The Princess Bride' combines action, adventure, plenty of swordplay, and yes, some kissing....Those of you who only saw the movie (also writen by Goldman -- see my DVD review) are missing out on many of the delights of the book, notably on the developed backstory of the characters and the clean, wry prose. Here's a bit of trivia: First, there is NO S. Morgenstern -- he is made up, fictitious, a red herring...accept it and move on. Second, Mr. Goldman will send you a lost section if you write to his address and request it (the one of mentions in the book)! When I first read that 10 years ago, I wrote to the company mentioned in the book and was delighted to receive my bonus section! (Hey, Mr Goldman if you are reading this, I lost my copy 3 years ago when I moved to LA! Could you please send me another one? ) :)Cherish this book and keep it to share with your children.

Oh, man...

OK, I really liked this book. There's really nothing I can say that hasn't been mentioned already, but having scrolled through the one- and two-star reviews, I'd like to throw my 2 cents in:A) There IS NO original PRINCESS BRIDE. There is no "pre-Goldman" version. Goldman made the whole shebang up. B) Therefore, there is no S. Morgenstern. Did you think it was coincedence that their writing styles were exactly the same?C) There is no Florin & Guilder--that's what makes it a fantasy novel. Didn't you notice that the historical quips all contradicted each other?D) For those of you who were upset by the first 30 pages where Goldman rips his family--they too are made up. The author has no overweight son; I believe he has two daughters. He has a wife, but I assume (for Goldman's sake) that she isn't as bad as the novel suggests.Naysayers--read this novel for all its different levels...The fairy tale...And the larger theme of a Romantic coming to terms with a world where happy endings don't always happen.