Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

16 reviews

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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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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kristinebennett's review against another edition

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

3.25


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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

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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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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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sadiaa's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional

4.0


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snazzysie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny inspiring lighthearted tense fast-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

4.75

I've loved the movie "The Princess Bride" ever since I was little, but the book has been on my shelf for a while. I suppose I was almost scared to read it as I had such high hopes considering the influence the movie had on my childhood. I can say it certainly lived up to my expectations for it. The fast paced, action, romance, and even humour-filled pages made for an enjoyable and nostalgically comforting read. Although I was at first a little confused by the narration choice, the satirical 'abridgement' was soon not lost on me. 
The couple we were supposed to be rooting for was more insufferable in text than I had expected, their conversations and Buttercup's inner monologs often leaving me cringing. However, the entertaining plot points and the storylines of and friendship between Inigo and Fezzik kept me invested. This is a cleverly written book and it has all the ingredients to make for a perfect classic story.

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belladonnashrike's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

the story itself: 5 stars, no question. I adore the story and I love that the film followed it so closely (the dialogue is practically verbatim with a few exceptions. I loved actually hearing the characters). I liked reading more about inigo (my favorite character!) and fezzik’s backgrounds, but I wish there were similar backstories for buttercup and westley. 

I like fourth-wall breaks and humor in books but what I can’t stand is arrogance. I understand the whole joke and everything but goldman comes off extremely arrogant (whether or not it’s a joke, it’s so annoying. it’s not a trait I enjoy even comedically) and it was so distracting. I was literally rolling my eyes every time.

aside from that I really liked the book… but I prefer the movie 🫣 the movie is just perfect and improved upon the text - I know there’s obvious bias there, since it’s been my favorite movie since childhood, but I really think not having as many interruptions so that the author can stroke his dick makes it objectively better. 

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tak_everlasting's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.75


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