A Blast from the Past is a weekly meme where I intend to review book that I read in the past that has had some form of impact upon me, whether it be good or bad.I purchased The Princess Bride on a whim from a local book shop because I loved the movie so much. Has anyone not seen the movie? It is amazing, so when I saw the book, I couldn't help myself.
The story is hilarious; a tongue-in-cheek fairytale involving the handsome hero Wesley, the beautiful Princess Buttercup forced to marry the evil King, the Spanish drunk sword fighter ("My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die" - that is the best line in any movie ever!), the giant Fezzik who likes making up rhymes, along with a whole host of other characters and mythical beings. The Pit of Despair is one of my favourite creations of the story. Each character has their own goals, whether it be to avenge their father's death, start a war between two countries or save their love from the clutches of the evil king.
The author claims to have abridged a lengthier version by Florinese write S Mortenson, making The Princess Bride a clever work of metafiction. The whole book is very special, so funny and cleverly put together, including notes from the author whenever he claims to have removed some of the more boring content the original author included.
This book is lots of fun and I highly recommend it to all. It's a fairytale for adults and a real page turner. I will be the first admit I still slightly prefer the movie to the book (shock intake of breath here) but I think it's because of my childhood associations with the movie.
Please give it a try if you are looking for something fun to read.
Originally posted 21 February 2010 Page Turners
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