This book has, as you may know:

Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.

And if you like any of those things, or all of those things, or several of them or none of them, or if you find any of them exciting, or compelling, or curiosity-inducing at all, then you simply have to read it.

This is one of those extraordinarily rare cases when the film adaptation sometimes prompts people to say the uncommon phrase “The movie is better than the book.” Those people are wrong, but less wrong than those who usually say it.

The movie is funny, and exciting, and brilliantly casted, and truer to the book than anyone has any real right to expect (thank you, William Goldman, for adapting your own work).

But here’s a by no means exhaustive list of what it’s missing:
- the full extent of the author’s wit
- character backstories so rich you’ll feel their trials and tribulations intensely
- a fictional history so convincing that I spent most of my childhood (and some of my adolescence) believing that Europe included long-warring countries called Florin and Guilder
- masterful themes on the meaning of storytelling and truth in literature
- the chance to be awestruck by a book over and over and over again

So yes, you should watch the movie. Sure. It’s great.

But more than that, you should read the book.

(I’ll even say it’s okay if you’ve seen the movie already. Your fun won’t be spoiled in the slightest.)

Bottom line: I truly and sincerely pity anyone who has not read and has no intention of reading The Princess Bride.

It’s the best thing in the world, after cough drops.


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this book is a dweam...wiffin a dweam......

(weview to come)

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me, rereading this book? inconceivable