The Princess Bride

By: William Goldman

Narrated by: Rob Reiner

Length: 2 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

This adventure story has everything you could want: the good guy, some bad guys, the girl, sword fighting, revenge, romance, of course a happy ending, and rodents of unusual size. Join Westley the plucky farm boy, Buttercup the beautiful young maiden, Inigo Montoya the driven, embittered swordsman, and many other strange and unusual characters in this swashbuckling tale of good-natured silliness. It is read by Rob Reiner, who directed the motion picture based on this classic tale.

©1987 William Goldman (P)1987 Dove Audio, Inc.

Reservedly recommended

I'm a big fan of the book and film, which I've read at least twice and seen countless times. The audiobook released here is deeply flawed in that it's massively abridged (the Fire Swamp segment, for instance, only includes the ROUS) and in that the volume level is very low (okay to listen to at home but almost impossible in a car). But it's the Princess Bride! Read by Rob Reiner (he does a good job)! For the price, I'd recommend it with reservations. Don't use a credit on it. Buy it individually.

Really disappointed about the abridgement.

As much as it is my own fault for not reading the description, I was really disappointed to find out about the abridgement *after* purchasing, and *after* gifting it to a friend.This abridgment basically (with a few exceptions) just turns the book back into the movie, and what's the point of that? Would love to find an unabridged reading, it's such a great book.

Way Too Abridged

I didn't realize when I bought it that this version was abridged.
It is the only copy I found on Audible.

So much of the story has been cut that it lacks the feel of the original book. The story behind the book is that it is an adaptation of the "S. Morgenstern classic". Part of what is so enjoyable in reading the book is how the author/adapter intersperses his comments about the original text.
In the unabridged book Goldman begins by giving a wandering backstory about his introduction to the S. Morgenstern classic. This audiobook almost entirely skips the book's intro and it seems almost unnecessary to mention it later on.
The book not only refers to the bits of the "classic" that were "eliminated", the story itself meanders in funny ways around the main story, talking of Buttercup's beauty, the prince's failed engagement to a princess with many hats, etc.
This audiobook has been cut (dare I say mutilated) so far that much of the humor is gone.
Even an early exchange between Buttercup and her parents about hygiene has been cut so short as to be almost terse and straightforward rather than pointing out how dimwitted and dirty is our heroine and eliciting a few laughs.
I guess the audiobook is a similar length to the movie, but it does not have the benefit of Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin (and visual effects). The reader would have done a fine job with this audiobook had he been given enough of it to read. Without the meat and flesh of the story, it is more like an oddly rushed reading of the movie script.

Oh Audible, give me an unabridged version, please!

This Rendition needs Updating

The Book is Great - the recording however is old sounding and muffled - bad quality. This version needs updating & remastering.

Don't buy it

I love the book & the movie and was quite excited about listening to it as an audio book as well as sharing it with my son. Unfortunately the quality of the recording is so bad it's painful to listen to: You're limited to only very low quality downloads which are distorted, low level, and very harsh. I can only hope that eventually a better sound quality version (3 or 4) is going to be made available.

Abridged version is lacking

Love this story. However, the abridged version loses so much of the humor you get from the unabridged version. It is not worth listening to the without all the build up and background details of the characters.

Poor Audio quality

This is a wonderful story, if you could hear it. The audio quality is dreadful.

I'm so sorry

I am an English teacher. I bought this audio version in order to avoid having to record the entire book for my eighth graders to read along with (in order to keep the class on the same page throughout). I was so disappointed that it has so much taken out of the original text. As for sound quality....dreadful! My husband is a recording engineer.... omg! We really could have done better recording it ourselves.

Abridged = buy the whole book instead

I really do love this book more than any other, but this audio verson is very much abridged and takes out a good portion of the book. Still enjoyable, but I would recommend reading the book in its entirety first.

Amazing story, audio quality quite shoddy

The title says it. This reading from '87, really wish it was a clearer copy... worth getting if you just love the story, but keep in mind you'll have to EQ it before you can even really hear it well....

A poor adaption of my favourite book

What would have made The Princess Bride better?

A second narrator to do William's comments so they could be included in the story and have the full unabridged version.

What was most disappointing about William Goldman’s story?

It has been cut way too much. The first part about his childhood, trying to get a copy for his son and his decision to rewrite it didn't make you believe the book exists and meant so much to him as it was cut down to a couple of paragraphs. The whole point of the book is lost and all that remains is a story that feels like it was written by some one that has seen the film.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Very disappointing

Any additional comments?

The Princess bride is my favourite book. Whenever I travel I take it with me. I have read it dozens of times and owned several copies through the years. This version has had the life taken out of it. It has been abridged to a point where the story doesn't flow, the humour has gone and some of the best bits have been left out. I haven't been able to listen to it all as I would rather read it or watch the film to get a quick fix. The price is too high for the version you get. This was my first audio book and will probably be my last if it is anything to go by. Read the book it is so entertaining. I have even purchased it on Play books and have the book read out by an electronic voice. It sounds bad but it is the full version and cost the same so I can actually read it if I get fed up with the voice.

love it

I really love this film, and I thought that I would give a go at listening to the book. It was really good! very funny and easy to listen to :)

Excellent

An excellent story full of fun and laugter and adventure. Good guys and bad guys love and magic, pirates and giants. Everything for kids and adults

very funny

loved listening to this! was a super quick listen and very funny. definitely recommend if you are looking for a quick and fun listen.

The movie was too faithful

The only problem with this story is that the movie was so faithful that this book reads more like a screenplay. The plot, the dialogue, the characters, everything is nearly identical so much so that having seen the film I got little out of the book. That's not really the book's fault but as a fair warning to others who hope to read this after having watched the film.

The only real difference during the story is negligible and the ending is slightly different. I think, in fact, that the ending of the film is better. The narration was good but I felt it a touch slow and had to speed it up slightly.

A classic tale of love and adventure!

Rob Reiner is wonderful at reading this tale. if you liked the movie you'll love the book!
it is missing the author notes from the book itself that gives it a uniqueness, but as an audio book I didn't mind.

a fun companion to a classic movie

really enjoy this. Reiner is passionate about the story and it is ear he is having fun reading it to us.

delightfully narrated.

full of whimsical adventure all ages will fall in true love with this madcap book.

same brilliant story that it has always been

well read, great story, brings back memories. The details are great, and even though the start confused me a little, it's just setting up for the telling.

This is my favorite book. I love it so much.

This book is so good, so much better than the film. And the reader is so excited about what he is reading you can't mistake it. I highly recommend