Nostalgic Friday: The Princess Bride

Welcome back to Nostalgic Friday! Since I love all things historical (culturally, physically, and personally) I do a post on Fridays honoring some awesome book that is a bit older. Many of them are books I enjoyed in my teens and others are books that I discovered as an adult that I think are relevant to YA readers.

The Princess Bride is a timeless tale of love and adventure by William Goldman that was originally published in 1973 and turned into a cult classic film in 1987. Who wouldn't love a story about everything from pirates to miracles? I think this tidbit from Goodreads captures it all.

What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams?

As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the "S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears.

Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere.

What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex.

In short, it's about everything.

Honestly this is one of the best action/adventure love stories I have ever read. Of course I grew up on the movie with Cary Elwes and his endlessly popular line of, "As you wish." After seeing the movie, I decided to read the book and I was surprised by how much more I loved the book. While the movie gave the characters life and depth that I sometimes felt was lacking in the movie, I got a different tone/vibe from the book. It was quite clear that the movie was geared towards children, where I could see the book geared more towards an adult audience.

There is so much to be gleaned from this book that one misses out when only viewing the movie. The back-story that surrounds the book's creation was quite delightful and added some extra connection for the readers. It's a hilarious story that I couldn't put down and I hope that if any of you have seen to movie, then you'll consider reading the book. If you haven't seen the movie, so that first. I promise, you'll love the book even more once you've seen the movie. Good luck!

Nostalgic Friday: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Welcome back to Nostalgic Friday! Since I love all things historical (culturally, physically, and personally) I do a post on Fridays honoring some awesome book that is a bit older. Many of them are books I enjoyed in my teens and others are books that I discovered as an adult that I think are relevant to YA readers.

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi was one of my absolute favorite books in middle school. I loved to peruse my older sister's bookshelf and this book had a well-worn cover from how many times we read it.

Charlotte Doyle is a proper young lady journeying to her new home in America, by herself, after finishing her school year in England. She is to be joining some other families aboard The Seahawk for their travel across the Atlantic. Upon arrival for boarding, none of the other families show up. Even at the insistence of a crew member that she not remain on the ship, Charlotte is determined to make her way to America. This decision makes her the only non-crew member, and the only female, on the ship.

Soon she grows close to the crew, reading them stories, learning about crew life, etc., but it is Captain Jaggery who she finds herself mostly attracted to as he is a "proper gentleman." Little does she realize that the crew thinks otherwise. Charlotte soon finds herself one of the mutinous crew members after the Captain mercifully whips one of her crew member friends until his death. As the voyage continues, the tension-filled situation escalates to the point of boiling over and Charlotte finds herself on trial for the murder of the Captain.

If you know anything about seafarers during this time period, then you know the implications of having a woman, especially a young woman, on board the ship. Many saw them as a curse. I found this little fact very intriguing as I read the book. Just thinking about it made the story much more fascinating.

I really liked Charlotte as a character because she changed as the book moved along. She didn't keep her mindset and manners, she rolled with the punches and adjusted to each individual situation. The other characters are quite boisterous and enjoyable as well. Avi did a great job setting this scene and I believe that it is a story that many can enjoy at many points in their lives. I hope you give it a shot.