The Princess Bride by William Goldman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Gosh, okay. First thing that needs to be made clear to fans of the movie who have not read the book - NOT THE SAME EXPERIENCE. BY A LONG SHOT. This is not the first time the book did not mirror the movie, and occasionally both do well on their own (for example, The English Patient).

I did not go into the book with this warning. And hence, I feel it's colored my experience of the book terribly. For I loved the movie - loved love loved! It was clever, romantic, funny, adventurous - many reasons it's considered a classic. The book slides into the far end of Clever, to the point of Unending Wittiness into the depths of Dripping Sarcasm That Never Ends. I can appreciate satire and mockery in literature, but I found this book thorough unenjoyable.

But did I give it a fair chance? Well no, because I had rather high expectations going into the book, because of my love for the movie. And I should, with what I know now, return to the book and give it another go, well armed with a shift in expectations. But, well, life's a little short, and with so many other books to read, I won't be returning to it any time soon.

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