The Princess Bride

I read The Princess Bride by William Goldman, recently, and I loved it! I saw the movie before I read the book, and I sorely expected the book to be far less interesting than the movie. I was wrong.

The story takes place in the fantasy land of Floren. Buttercup is by far the most beautiful woman in the world, and thus the conniving Prince Humperdink decides to take her as his wife. Buttercup wishes to decline, saying she has already found her true love, Wesley, that she believes has been killed by pirates. In the end, she agrees, and was about to marry him when...

Overall, the actual plot is rather dull. But the quirks and characters are so vibrant and lively and...different that the book is now one of my favorites.

One of the quirks of the book is that the author, William Goldman, tells the tale as he had supposedly heard it when he was a little boy. So while he's giving the story, he'll also come in and out giving his commentary on what was happening, what he "cut out" of the story, and his hilarious experiences when apparently reading the story as a child. It's kind of hard to explain, but the story wouldn't be the same without it. Goldman has such a hilarious sense of humor that I was laughing out loud the entire time I was reading it.

You have to watch out for some bad language while reading it, and in the first chapter or so a rather innappropriate theme is brought in, but it goes away quickly. Those are about the only drawback I can think of at the moment.

Hilarious, alive, and imaginative all acurrately describe the book (and the movie is equally interesting), and I highly recommend it for 10 and up.