Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

50 reviews

caseyundercovers's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Could be a five-star book, but I found the involvement from the author distracting. I know this story is supposed to be his experience with the story, but it really took me out of an otherwise great experience. Still love it, though. 
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queenneehola's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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sarah_zaffiro's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
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simoneritchey's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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clareagrippina's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

While I enjoyed the prose of the actual book, the framing narrator was insufferable and I can't tell if he was meant to be or not. I definitely think the film is the superior version, but I wish it had a bit more of the humour of the book. 
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rmesquirrel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

 I know the book was written like 50 years ago but, there are so many slurs. This book rambles on and really had no logically sense to why things were written the way they were even if Goldman was trying to make it seem like he was adapting from an original and changing it to fit a narrative that his Dad told him and he is trying to make an even better version for his son. Ehhh... go rent the movie. It is one of the rare occasions it is better. It changed a lot of the book. Besides the language the movie made it so much more concise and made more sense. 
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bearystarry's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

William Goldman is insufferable. At least his fictionalized self is. Horrific fatphobia and sexism and being creepy about young women.

At least when he shuts the hell up the actual story is sometimes thrilling and interesting and romantic. But the sexism especially creeps into the main narrative as well, unfortunately. I definitely think the movie is better in most ways, but mainly in the framing device. Would've been awful to see some weirdo middle-aged man trying to cheat on his wife in LA instead of a child sick in bed listening to his lovely grandfather read him a story. Also was very surprised to read a racial slur. Extremely weird.
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alvolj's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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jayyb's review against another edition

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oldmanrupee's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A wonderful adventure, all the fun of the film and more, except for one thing: my least favourite character is the author.

Goldman has semi-autobiographical, semi-fictional parts inserted into the story throughout, detailing how the story was actually written by the fictional author S. Morgenstern, the book was supposedly read to him as a child by his father, and how Goldman "abridged" the book into what it is now when he found out his father apparently only read the good bits and the "actual" book was full of needless political exposition. 

That's all fine and good in theory, because who doesn't like a bit of meta-text, but the problem is that Goldman himself comes off as an incredibly self-centred, angry, and unlikeable man in these sections, especially when he describes his relationship with his ex-wife and son (trigger warning for fatphobia/body image discussion). Now because it's semi-fictional autobiographical inserts in and around a fantasy story, it's hard to say if it's an intentionally bad self portrayal or not, but either way it was bad enough to make my review drop a star.
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