“You seem a decent fellow,”
Inigo said. “I hate to kill you.”
“You seem a decent fellow,” answered
the man in black. “I hate to die.”
Full title: The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic
Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The "Good Parts" Version
Abridged by William Goldman
The full title is confusing. There
is no such work by S. Morgenstern, in fact, there is no S. Morgenstern; he is
fiction. The actual author, Goldman, pretends to have abridged an imaginary
work by Morgenstern. The imaginary book is a scholarly, but mostly dull history
of Florin. Goldman, still pretending, has fond memories of his father reading
it to him, never realizing his father omitted most of the history and only read
the exciting adventure passages. Goldman wants to continue the tradition and excitedly
buys an edition for his own son, but is disappointed when the boy doesn’t like
it. Goldman is incredulous, until he reads it himself, only to realize his
false perception of the book. Consequently, Goldman writes the “Good Parts”
version for his son and posterity. But again, this is all fiction.
It’s sort of metafiction, but
not precisely. Perhaps experimental fiction? Indeed, after I wrote that, I
found one description calling it “experimental metafiction” (feeling smug now).
It is definitely a fantasy romance. Is a synopsis necessary? Isn’t everyone, in
the Western Hemisphere at least, familiar with the film, and ergo familiar with
the story?
Just in case: it is set in
Florin, a fictional mid-19th Century European country. The hero, Westley is a simple
farmhand in love with the farmer’s daughter Buttercup. Yes Buttercup! She is
rather simple, insensitive, and blossoming into a legendary beauty. It is only
when Buttercup notices another woman noticing Westley, that she truly notices
Westley, and discovers she loves him. He sets off to make his fortune, with the
promise of returning for Buttercup.
And then things get
complicated. There are pirates, a giant, an evil prince, a six-fingered sadist,
an evil genius, master sword makers, master swordsmen, a miracle man and
R.O.U.S.es (rodents of unusual size). There are swordfights, contests of strength,
battles of wits…to the death, kidnapping, torture, conspiracy revenge, and a
deceptive dream sequence.
Goldman, in his role as the
abridger of Morgenstern’s work, interjects commentary throughout: why he
included this section, why he omitted another, two-sentence summaries of
excised portions, etc. These fictional commentaries are often as entertaining
as the story itself. Such as…
But from a narrative point of
view, in 105 pages nothing happens. Except this: “What with one thing and
another, three years passed.”
He includes many references to
his own, genuine career as a writer. His works include several Academy Award
winning screenplays. This mixture of truth and fiction can leave the reader
confused as to what is genuine and what is fiction. I loved that, but it was
indeed confusing. In one commentary, he refers to a reunion scene
between Westley and Buttercup, which is conspicuous by its absence. Goldman
says he wrote the reunion scene, but the publisher removed it since it was not
part of Morgenstern’s original. The publisher agreed to provide it to any reader
who requested it. Goldman even gives the address to write to, which at one time
was the legitimate address of the publisher, though that publisher no longer
exists. As I understand it, had you written when it was valid you would have received
a letter from the author explaining the legal difficulties that prevent
releasing the scene. This is again, just part of the experimental metafiction.
Brilliant! (a copy of the letter is available HERE)
After the primary conclusion
of the story, there are several excerpts for a sequel. These are, yet again,
experimental metafiction, though it is unclear if Goldman intended to one day,
actually write the sequel.
Still in his fictional
abridger role, he concludes the whole thing with…
And you know what? I like
these four. Buttercup and Westley, Fezzik and Inigo. They’ve all suffered, been
punished, no silver spoons for this bunch. And I can just feel these terrible
forces gathering against them. I just know it’s going to get worse for them
than it’s ever been. Will they all live? Death of the Heart the subtitle says.
Whose death? And even more important maybe, whose heart? Morgenstern has never given
them an easy shot at happiness.
This time I sure hope he lets
them get there…
This is the first time I’ve
read The Princess Bride or Goldman, though I was familiar with the story for
the film. Like the film, the book is a fantastic lark. I highly recommend both.
If you are familiar with the film, read the book. If you have not seen the
film, read the book and then watch the film. If you have read the book, but not
watched the film…nah, I can’t believe such a person exists.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This novel satisfies the
What’s in a Name 2022 challenge category of a title that is: A person’s name,
and their description.
And, drumroll please, this is
novel #200, of the 200 Greatest Novels of All Time. I will post a wrap-up of
novels 101 – 200 in a few days.
Other excerpts:
…and as the boat drew close
the Turk reached out a giant arm and then she was back in the safety of her
murderers…
“Never go in against a
Sicilian when death is on the line.”
Inigo looked down at him. The
Count’s frozen face was petrified and ashen and the blood still poured down the
parallel cuts. His eyes bulged wide, full of horror and pain. It was glorious.
If you like that kind of thing.
.
