Saturday, March 20, 2010

Share-A-Book Saturday (24)

This is something I found over on Just Another Book Addict =), and I thought I'd do my own. There are so many great books out there that get overlooked (especially if they've been out for a while)!

Every Saturday, you share (recommend) a book, preferably one that you haven't reviewed yet. It's just a way to get other books out into the blogging world. This is NOT a review.

Today I'm going to recommend The Princess Bride by William Goldman.

William Goldman’s beloved novel has sold over one million copies. A movie, released twenty years ago, perfectly captured the spirit of the book and has introduced new fans to its pages ever since. In 1941 a young boy lies bedridden from pneumonia. His perpetually disheveled and unattractive father, an immigrant from Florin with terribly broken English, shuffles into his bedroom carrying a book. The boy wants to know if it has any sports. His father says, "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. Passions. Miracles." And the little boy, though he doesn’t know it, is about to change forever. As Goldman says, "What happened was just this. I got hooked on the story." And coming generations of readers will, too.

When I first saw the movie back in the 1980s (has it really been that long?), I fell in love with the story. I didn't know then that it was actually based on a book that's just as funny and just as wonderful. When I finally read it years later, I wished I had gotten around to it sooner. Like The Neverending Story, a book that was also made into a fairly decent movie, The Princess Bride is one of those books you just need to read for yourself.

"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. Passions. Miracles."

What's not to like?

4 comments:

  1. I recently picked up a copy of this. I have been meaning to read it for ages. I love the film.

    PS
    Thanks for your feedback. I think I prefer two columns too. :)

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  2. I love The Princess Bride but I've only ever seen the movie. I should defianlty read it!

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  3. Hi, I just thought you'd be interested to know that you were randomly selected from the entrants of my Saturday Steals submissions to win a gift card to Amazon.com. It's only $6 (there were only six entries), so I know it's not much, but I'll send it electronically to you if you send me your email address.

    Hopefully we'll get more submissions next week, and the prize amount will increase! : )

    Thanks,

    Camille

    camille[at]archiveslives[dot]com

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  4. I still haven't read this book. I really need to get on that.

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