The Princess Bride

Those of you who know me know how much I like the movie "The Princess Bride." I'll rarely miss an opportunity to quote it when appropriate, and I intend to cosplay the Dread Pirate Roberts when I can. That said, it's surprising it took me that long to read the book, but now that I have, I find it fitting to review the book upon which one of my favorite movies was based.

Now, this is a book from the 70's, so it's probably the oldest one I'll review. It's far too late for this review to really do anything, but I want to share my thoughts nonetheless. This blog is "Whatever I Read," after all, not "Whatever I Read That Came Out Recently," so I should review things regardless of when they came out. That aside, let's start looking at the novel.

"The Princess Bride" is by William Goldman, but it's supposedly written by S. Morgenstern, a Florinese author who wrote it as a satire of high-class society, or something along those lines. Remember how the movie used a framing device of the grandfather reading to his sick grandchild? Well, the novel uses a similar device.

Goldman claims that his father read the story to him as a child, only to find out later in life that he wasn't getting the full story, and instead, his father omitted dozens of pages of boring, irrelevant descriptions to give him just the good parts - the sword fights, the fire swamp, the true love, that sort of thing. In Goldman's "abridging" of the story, we get the good parts as well, with minor asides explaining just how much he cut out from the original version. I found this to be both charming and effective, as it allows for a style of writing that sounds "older," as though it was written ages ago and translated into English, while still keeping us involved and feeling like we're hearing the story for the first time.

It also tends to have some fun with anachronisms, making it impossible to place when exactly this story is meant to take place. For example, Westley is described as wearing jeans in his appearance, as this was after the invention of jeans, but also before the invention of style, and he goes to America to make his fortune, although this is before Europe. As it's the adaptation of a nonexistent original satirical story, Goldman is free to make it as odd and out there as he wishes, while claiming he cut out or kept in certain parts for the sake of the story.

There's not much I can say about the story itself, since it's essentially the same as the movie. Of course, turning a 300+ page book into a two hour movie means some things will be lost, mostly backstory. In the book, we learn how Buttercup came to realize she loved Westley, and how Prince Humperdinck decided upon her as his bride. Best of all, we get much more backstory for Inigo and Fezzik, two of the most memorable characters from the film. Before their fights with "the man in black," we get taken back to their childhoods. Goldman shows us as Inigo's father struggles to create his masterpiece sword, only to be cut down by Count Rugen, and Inigo's quest to become a master swordsman and claim his revenge. We see Fezzik as a child, becoming an expert fighter from his unusual strength alone, and get a greater look into his still childlike mind. With more developed characters, and the more explored backstories, I feel like I have a newfound appreciation for these characters I already adore.

It's quite interesting reading it after seeing the movie, actually. I can spot dialogue that made it into the film, sometimes coming from another character's mouth, and I can see what lines were cut or changed, and what details they skipped over. Even pieces from Goldman's asides made it into the film, thanks to their shared framing devices. It was easy to read the dialogue with the character's voices in mind, even the lines that were cut; I could just hear Chris Sarandon as Prince Humperdinck sigh, "Drat! That means I shall have to get married." Of course, since both the novel and script were written by the same person, it only stands to reason that they'd be similar; it's hard to get a more perfect book-to-film adaptation than this.

There is one major scene that was missing from the movie, and that is the Zoo of Death. Given the vast amount of animals required for it, it's no wonder it wasn't in the adaptation, especially since most of it is used to describe the Prince's character. It does, however, deprive us of an awesome scene where Inigo and Fezzik fight their way through floor upon floor of deadly animals, which has set itself as one of my favorite scenes in the book, right behind the Cliffs of Insanity.

Lastly, I have to bring up the ending, so spoilers ahead. It's left somewhat open-ended, thanks to Goldman's notes; in the movie, they rode off on four white horses, and lived happily ever after. That's the version his father read to him. In the original story, things started going downhill once they made their escape, leaving it more unclear what happened. However, Goldman decides that they have earned a happy ending, even if it doesn't last forever. He ends it with a quote that I find quite meaningful and true: "Life isn't fair. It's just fairer than death, that's all."

So there we have it, "The Princess Bride." Does it compare to the movie? Oh, hell yes. Does the movie compare to the book? Of course. If you like the movie, go out and read the book, it should still be in print in spite of its age. If you've read the book before but haven't seen the movie, go and watch it, you couldn't ask for a better adaptation. The movie has been a favorite of mine ever since I saw it as a child, and the book has now earned the same regards.

Until next time, this has been whatever I read.