The Princess Bride: Of true love and high adventure

I guess most of us have seen the film version of The Princess Bride, it is a timeless classic and a surprisingly good adaptation of the book. The casting is superb and reading the book only underlines this point, as I found it difficult to see the characters as anything other than their film counterparts — they were perfectly chosen. So if you’re worried about losing the film’s charm when you read this book, don’t because it’s all there and more.

William Goldman frames Simon Morgenstern’s classic fairy tale with the story of his father, who came from Florin, and how he read only the good parts of the book to his son during a bout of pneumonia. Now, Goldman has undertaken an abridged version, interspersed with commentary on the parts he left out, why they were dropped, arguments over cuts, the state of Florinese affairs and the occasional insight into the Goldman family itself.

Westley [As you wish] is the handsome farm boy who will face any hardship to be with Buttercup, the woman he loves. He is a talented swordsman and a fearless adventurer, but he is blind to all women other than his beautiful Buttercup.

Buttercup is a simple farmer’s daughter who develops into the most beautiful woman in the world. She is also shallow and extraordinarily self centred — something that Westley overlooks during their early years. When she finally comes to her senses and sees Westley as her one true love, he departs to America to seek his fortune. Fortunately for Buttercup, she does gain emotional depth as she grows up, otherwise you’d happily pitch her into the nearest moat. On hearing of her Westley’s death at the hands of the Dread Pirate Roberts, Buttercup realises she will never love again.

Prince Humperdinck is the ruler of Florin, a great barrel of a man with an insatiable desired to hunt. When forced by his father’s ill health to seek a bride and continue the family lineage, Buttercup is brought to his attention by the evil Count Rugen. With Buttercup’s heart still broken by her beloved Westley’s death, they agree to a loveless union.

Buttercup is kidnapped in a plot to launch a war with Florin’s neighbouring Guilder. Her captors are; Vizzini [Inconceivable] the Sicilian, a more cunning and conniving man has never walked the earth, Inigo [Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya; you killed my father; prepare to die] the Spaniard, the greatest swordsman in all the land, who lives to avenge his father’s death at the hands of the six fingered man, and Fezzik the Turk, a giant with the power to uproot trees and a fondness for rhymes. Hot on the heels of this intrepid trio of kidnappers is a mysterious man in black — the Dread Pirate Roberts.

There’s love, loss, death, marriage, almost death, the Cliffs of Insanity, miracles, the fire swamp, madness, kidnapping, intrigue, royalty, the Zoo of Death, plots within plots and whole lot more. Everything you could want in a fairy tale.

Throughout the story are snippets on Goldman’s life, both as a boy and an adult. He goes into much detail about his wife Helen; a brilliant child psychologist, but a flawed and shrewish wife. And his son Jason, a youngster of Sumoesque proportions who is neglected by his mother and alienated from his father. These are elements that are eerily echoed throughout the story.

The 25th anniversary edition includes an introduction by William Goldman about the impact of the book and details of the casting of the movie. It also includes the first chapter of the sequel ‘Buttercup’s Baby’ and an explanation, of sorts, as to how it came about. Goldman explains his legal problems — who knew that the long dead Morgenstern would have an estate — and the threats and litigation he has been involved with since the book’s release. If you ever wrote in to the publishers requesting the missing reunion scene, the letter outlining the book’s legal problems that was sent out instead, is also included here. Apparently the lawyers involved in the case have agreed to drop all charges as they want an abridgement of the sequel released — on the condition that Stephen King writes it due to his Florinese descent. After a near breakdown on King’s doorstep, King agrees to let Goldman have a crack at the first chapter. And the resulting text is a great teaser for another cult story.

If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll love the book. All of the characterisations are far richer than the limited length of film allows and the background details adds to the charm of this well known story. If you’ve got kids, you’d be hard pushed for a better example to follow than Goldman’s father, this is well worth sharing with your children. An awesome read and a book to be treasured.

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If you haven’t read The Princess Bride, be off and grab yourself a copy now. If you have read it, the following probably isn’t going to come as a surprise — but consider yourself warned in any case.

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At face value The Princess Bride is a fun read, but it becomes even more so when you realise that this isn’t an abridgement at all. Simon Morgenstern is William Goldman’s pen name and this original novel is all his work — apparently based on suggestions from his daughters who demanded that princesses and brides must play a part in it.

All of the background, of both the mythical Morgenstern and his country of origin, are part of the story too. If you were wondering, Florin and Guilder are units of currency, not countries — but it is that foreign familiarity that lends itself to lulling the reader into the belief that they are real small warring nations.

The interwoven story of Goldman’s family makes a nice point — while everything may work out in fiction, it doesn’t always have a happy ending in real life. Goldman and his fictional son do reconcile, but his marriage ends in divorce.

Goldman’s comments on cuts and changes are enormous fun, especially in hindsight. But the introduction is a brilliant, with Goldman’s claims of offending the scholars of Florinese history and the success of the movie condemning Florin to a deluge of tourists — all eager to see the landmarks mentioned in the book and film.

This good parts fairy tale is not only fun for children, but the cleverness of its overall construction as well as its mockumentary similarity to another cult classic — This is Spinal Tap — make it a must read book for grown ups too. If all of this has come as a bit of a shock, well it will make the book all the more fun to read a second time around.

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Published Epinions — 06.11.2000
Book available from Amazon and Amazon UK.