Author: William Goldman
Title: The Princess Bride
Narrator: Rob Reiner
Publication Info: Phoenix Books (1999) [Original published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (1973)]
Other books read by the same author: The Silent Gondoliers (as S. Morgenstern)
Summary/Review:
“Life isn’t fair, it’s just fairer than death, that’s all.”
The recent death of William Goldman prompted me to seek out one of my all-time favorite books, The Princess Bride. If you’re familiar with the classic 1987 film adaptation, Goldman’s book is even more funny, more clever, and more sweetly satirical. The book is written with a framing device in which he discovers that a beloved adventure book read to him by his father when he was sick as a child, was actually a long political satire that bored his own son. So Goldman decides to publish an abridged version with only the good parts. All of this framing device is fictional, as Goldman invented both the story of The Princess Bride and a fictional wife and son.
The audio book version I found to listen too is disappointingly an abridged version, ironic since The Princess Bride is already supposed to be an abridged book. Many of the scenes that don’t correspond directly to the movie are left out of the audiobook, including the majority of Goldman’s framing device interrupting the narrative. The audiobook doesn’t even have the Reunion Scene. As a bonus, the book is read by Rob Reiner – director of the film – in his wonderful Bronx accent.
It’s definitely worth putting this on to play to your kids if you’re not up for reading the book out loud yourself.
Recommended books: The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, and The Once and Future King by T. H. White
Rating: ****1/2
Panorama of the Mountains 