BOOK REVIEW 'The Princess Bride'

The Princess Bride

By: William Goldman and S. Morganstern

I feel like every person has their one go to movie that they can watch no matter the weather, the mood, or the time. When they have no idea what to watch, it’s just always there. Personally mine is a toss-up between Ghostbusters and The Princess Bride. Honestly the one-liners in Princess Bride get me every time and I’m a sucker for a good fantasy story, though when I say Princess Bride, most people think the movie from the late 1980’s, and not the novel it was based off of. Soon after I first watched the movie about two years ago, I picked up the novel at the library and thoroughly enjoyed it.

For those of you who have never seen the movie before, which I’m going to guess you are in the minority because it’s a bit of a classic, though I don’t always have much room to talk in the way of seeing classics in that I didn’t see Star Wars until a month ago, I’ll go over a quick plot summary. We have Buttercup, who, despite having quite possibly the stupidest name I have ever heard in my life, is often described as being the prettiest girl in the world as if it were some sort of competition. She lives on a farm in Florin with her family farm boy, Westley, and “nothing gave Buttercup more joy then ordering Westley around.” He did whatever her little somewhat tyrannical heart desired and the only reply ever given was “As you wish.” She never thought much of it until one day she realized that “As you wish” was his subtle way of saying “I love you,” and she felt the same way. Westley goes out sailing, trying to make money he can bring back to marry Buttercup, when his ship is captured by Dread Pirate Roberts and he is assumed dead. Buttercup is heartbroken and vows to never love again.

Her beauty soon catches the attention of the Prince of Florin, Humperdink (don’t even get me started on this name either). He is looking for someone to make his queen when he takes the throne and she’s the gal. He forces her into an engagement because he’s the prince and apparently he can do things like that, though she’s still mourning Westley and isn’t happy.

Buttercup is soon captured by a band of thieves in their plot to try and start a war between Florin and their neighbor nation, Guilder. They plan to kill her and pin it on Guilder to enrage the people of Florin until they want to fight. After this point in the story I could go on telling it without ever really stopping so just know that things get mighty interesting from here on out.

The entire story at some points can seem borderline inconceivable. Chalked to the brim with fencing, battles of wits, some of the best one-liners I have ever heard in my life and the type of adventure that you can only truly pull off in a fantasy novel.

The author, William Goldman, wrote the novel from a very strange, but fictional point of view. He gives back story as to how the book you are reading landed in your hands and how the idea for it came about, though the story he is telling never actually happened and is little more than a literary device. The prologue starts off setting the scene with Goldman looking for a copy of a fairytale that used to be read to him when he was younger so that he can pass it on to his son. That fairytale is of course, The Princess Bride written by S. Morgenstern, and he remembered it as this epic, full of romance and adventure and imagination, though when he actually finds the book it is about the furthest thing from that. Turns out it was more about Morgenstern using the material to explain about the political system in his home country of Florin, rather than an adventure novel. Goldman, still disappointed that one of the best parts of his childhood was little more than a figment of his imagination, decides that he will take Morgenstern’s source material and abridge it to meet his expectations. He cuts out anything he considers too serious or boring to the brain of an 8 year old and rewrites to excite the imagination.

You get little sprinklings and reminders of his “changes” throughout in the little cliff-notes he leaves for his readers. He’ll say things about what he changed, why he changed it and what got added in instead to keep up the reality of what you are reading. There are even some points when nearly entire chapters are told in his italics and I love it. It adds a completely new level to the novel you are reading in what very easily could have been a one dimensional romance novel.

This timeless story has everything you have come to expect in fantasy and allowing you to escape the everyday into its pages while still keeping a level of grounding to the Earth. In my opinion it sets the standard for all fantasy works after it and they have got some big shoes to fill.

Pages: 398

Read In: 3 weeks

Rating: 10/10

Four Categories: Romance, Death