So I bet you are ALL wondering why we haven't posted a blurb on the Book A Month Challenge for February. Well I'll tell you why! Because we are lazy. The theme of the month of February was 'Heart'. We chose to read
Princess Bride by William Goldman because it deals with the issues of true love (which have everything to do with the heart--not really but figuratively). Jonesy was not looking forward to reading a 'love book' so we decided on one that a man can enjoy just as much as a woman. So here are our reviews:
Havilah said:
This book is about: "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. Passion. Miracles." For those of you who have seen the movie and never read the book, I must tell you that you are missing out on a lot of the story. There are fun/interesting back stories on each character that make the story come more alive. Prince Humperdinck, for example, has a lot more to him in the book than he has in the movie. Fezzik and Inigo have more adventures together that are funny and exciting. The book is very well-written with many jokes (subtle and not-so-subtle) This is one book that I would recommend for everyone to include in their library. If you feel satisfied by the movie I promise you will feel even more satisfied by reading the book. Read the book!
Jones said:
Well, I thought this was a fun book when I first read it about 8 years ago, and it was nice to revisit it. I had, of course, seen the movie, and it is one of my favorite from my childhood, ('cept that kissing crap) Now, usually, people say the book is better than the film. I am not too sure in this case. While, like Havilah, I thought the back stories on each character were awesome, and I personally think that Humperdink was much better than the films foppy version, the pacing of the book was annoying at times. See, it's supposedly a translation of a classic Florentine text (it's not) and the author interrupts at times to say he's cutting out boring parts, (which he did in a humorous manner, so they worked fine) or to complain about his frigid wife or fat son (which I didn't like) or to explore his thoughts on love (which were o.k., sometimes). I thought it was unnecessary at times, and it kind of put me off. The writing was very good. Many of my favorite one liners actually came from the book, and it was a delight to read them. Plus, there were many more that I think should have been included. The ending, was...unsatisfying. And abrupt. The imagery was good, and overall, it's a good book. I would, however, recommend that you get the 25th anniversary edition of "The Princess Bride", because as I recall, some of the things I didn't like in this version were gone in that one. But I could be wrong. Final say, it was a fun read, but despite the extra stufff, it doesnt quite replace the movie, in my opinion.
Oh and on a final note, the BAMC theme for March is 'craft.' We are having a very difficult time deciding on a book for this one. If any of you know of a book that has ANYTHING to do with 'craft' let us know!
