The Princess Bride by William Goldman

        This week I read The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman. Going into this book I had a sense of trepidation because I (gasp) didn’t really get what the big deal was about TPB when I saw the movie several years ago. I guess I was taking myself a bit too seriously when I watched it, because I thought it was silly, melodramatic, and a bit saccharine. However, now that I’ve read the book, I get it; TPB is a satirical fantasy that makes mock of classic fairy tales, and none of it is meant to be taken seriously! With that understanding, I found the book funny, inventive, witty, and intelligent.

        I was immediately drawn in to the first chapter, which is from the perspective of the author, William Goldman. He describes how he went from being an unpromising student who refused to read to a still-not-very-promising student who couldn’t get enough of books after he was bedridden for a month with pneumonia. During that month, Goldman’s immigrant father read to him from The Princess Bride, a book written by fellow Florinese immigrant S. Morgenstern. Goldman’s father tells him that The Princess Bride is a tale of “Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True Love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest Ladies. Snakes. Spiders... Pain. Death. Brave men. Cowardly men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.”—not to mention Rodents Of Unusual Size! and the story lives up to this description.

        For his son’s tenth birthday, Goldman hunts down a copy of The Princess Bride for him to read. His kid hates it, and Goldman can’t comprehend why until he opens the book and discovers that his father had elided over all of the boring stuff. Goldman, an author himself, takes it upon himself to create an abridged version of the novel. This is obviously a fictive narrative device; Goldman authored The Princess Bride in full. However, by framing the narrative as an abridgement of another author’s novel, Goldman is able to insert his own voice into the italicized abridgement notes within the text. These sections allow Goldman to share his own (also fictional) reactions to the story’s content from when he was a child first hearing it. They are funny and often serve to create suspense within the story as the reader waits to hear what happens next.

Things I liked:

• The Princess Bride is situated in time based on inventions; the story takes place before Europe but after stew, blue jeans, and glamour. This very tongue-in-cheek way of situating the story took it out of the dimensions of the real and into the fantastic.
• The characters are all lovable and unique, even the villains. The most efficient criminal organization in the world, the Sicilian Crowd, is comprised of three of the story’s most amusing characters: Inigo Montoya, a Spaniard whose fencing skills are unmatched and is on a mission of revenge; Fezzik, a giant whose strength is his greatest skill, but who secretly hates violence and loves rhyming; and Vizzini, the hunchback leader of the crew whose mental capabilities verge on the inconceivable!
• Almost all events and places in the novel are worthy of capitalization: the Zoo of Death, the Cliffs of Insanity, the Rodents Of Unusual Size, etc. This is because, plainly said, they are epic.
• I really liked the narrative devices used, including the abridgement commentary and the use of frame tales (wherein stories are told within stories, as is the case with the Sicilian Crowd, the Dread Pirate Roberts, etc.). The frame tales allow the reader to know and feel sympathy for the nominal villains, which is why they are so easily adopted as heroes later.
• The book satirizes numerous genres very effectively, including romance, history, and fantasy. For example, Goldman satirizes the romance genre humorously when he has Humperdinck woo Buttercup:

        “‘I must court her now,’ said the Prince. ‘Leave us alone for a minute.’ He rode the white [horse] expertly down the hill.

        “Buttercup had never seen such a giant beast. Or such a rider.

        “‘I am your Prince and you will marry me,’ Humperdinck said.

        “Buttercup whispered, ‘I am your servant and I refuse.’

        “‘I am your prince and you cannot refuse.’

        “‘I am your loyal servant and I just did.’

        “‘Refusal means death.’

        “‘Kill me then.’

        “‘I am your Prince and I’m not that bad—how could you rather be dead than married to me?’

        “‘Because,’ Buttercup said, ‘marriage involves love, and that is not a pastime at which I excel. I tried once, and it went badly, and I am sworn never to love another.’

        “‘Love?’ said Prince Humperdinck. ‘Who mentioned love? Not me, I can tell you…’” (90).

        This is an example of how Goldman humorously defies so many of the conventions set out in both romance and fantasy literature.

Something I didn’t like:

• All of the women in the novel are portrayed as either inconstant/flighty, nags, or passive bystanders. Buttercup, the novel’s main heroine, sometimes steps out of these boundaries, but I was left with the impression at the end of the novel that Buttercup was unworthy of her true love, Westley—but maybe that is part of Goldman’s message throughout the novel, that life isn’t fair—either way, I felt that there could have been more gender parity throughout the book. I was especially turned off when the narrator (Morgenstern) glibly mentions that “every girl” contemplates suicide at some point in her life.

        Overall, though, I really enjoyed reading The Princess Bride, so much so that I intend to re-watch the movie and give it another chance.