The Princess Bride by William Goldman. This should go under the previous post of something i could never get sick of! I have read this book countless times (so much so that i bought a back up book in case my first one ever gets too worn to read).
I have read a lot of books in my life - but never laughed so much and so hard at a novel. In fact i don't usually laugh at TV or books while i'm enjoying them, to be honest. This book changed that.
Even Terry Pratchett fans say that this book is hilarious, and if you know Terry Pratchett books, you know funny.
My love affair started for the Princess Bride when i was about 8 or 9. I was sick (it must have been fate) and home from school. My mom turned on the TV for me and channel surfed until she found what seemed like an interesting movie, then left me on the couch in the living room while she went to another part of the house to do her mom stuff. I was enthralled by this movie (even though the ROUS' scared me and my dad had to convince me after a nightmare that it wasn't *really* Westly's shoulder they were ripping apart and it was ketchup, not blood)! I didn't understand all the humor but i think it was one of the first live-action movies that i watched as a kid that left an imprint on my brain. I wanted to watch it all the time! But alas. I did not know the name of the movie and felt embarrassed to ask (for some strange reason).
Time went by and i thought of the movie every now and then but still didn't know what to search for (we didn't have internet yet, and even if we did, there was no Google). We went to visit friends one day during a road trip weekend when i was 12, and while the adults had their conversation, my dad's friend said i could put on a movie. I looked through all the movies and happened upon one... and immediately recognised the ROUS on the back cover!! "This one!" i exclaimed, and happily watched the movie almost twice in a row. If you know me, you know that THAT was preposterous.
That weekend, in front of the fire pit and bundled from head to toe in warm things (as we camped in Northern Idaho in October! brr!!) i could not put the book down. I finished it in record time (for me), laughing and getting strange looks from my family. Then a few months later, i read it again.
Then i watched the movie and discovered that lines from the book were verbatim in the movie! Delightful! In the book, Fezzik has more rhymes, Vizzini is more dastardly, and Inigo is much more heroic, if that were even possible. Yes, at times when i've had to put my books in storage or leave books behind, this book has come with me. Always. I will always have this book on my shelf.
It means that much to me.
above artwork by Dave McClellan.
