Almost everyone knows the movie. The book has some very nice surprises:
(1) It is heavy. I mean physically heavy. This 2013 30th Anniversary hardback edition with lovely illustrations is made of very thick and glossy paper. Because they loved and thought this book was important. I really liked the illustrations. More books should be illustrated, I think.
(2) William Goldman did not actually write this book. He did an abridgement of an Italian story, called The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure. Goldman is however a scriptwriter with a lot of street cred, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
(3) This is a story about true love, but not necessarily about Wesley and Buttercup. It is the story of Goldman's love for his father (who read him the original abridged version when he was ill), Goldman's love for this beloved story of his childhood and for the characters who dearly love each other: Inigo, Fezzik, Wesley, and of course, Buttercup.
(4) And, just as this is an abridged story by a different author, the story continues (sort of) after what both Goldman and later audiences thought were the real ending.
It is a very sweet and entertaining read -- and I wish I had been in a better mood this last month, reading it. I do think it is as important and dear as the author and publishers think it was. But life is perilous at times. I also found it amusing that I picked up this story the week Janet Yellin ascended to the top of the Federal Reserve and that Prince Humperdink's Chief of All Enforcement (including the Brute Squad) was also named Yellin.
Lessons for Writers: There are not just stories that authors love, but there are stories that form and inform their entire lives. As an author, you may be called to fight for that story. Fight for it.
(1) It is heavy. I mean physically heavy. This 2013 30th Anniversary hardback edition with lovely illustrations is made of very thick and glossy paper. Because they loved and thought this book was important. I really liked the illustrations. More books should be illustrated, I think.
(2) William Goldman did not actually write this book. He did an abridgement of an Italian story, called The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure. Goldman is however a scriptwriter with a lot of street cred, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
(3) This is a story about true love, but not necessarily about Wesley and Buttercup. It is the story of Goldman's love for his father (who read him the original abridged version when he was ill), Goldman's love for this beloved story of his childhood and for the characters who dearly love each other: Inigo, Fezzik, Wesley, and of course, Buttercup.
(4) And, just as this is an abridged story by a different author, the story continues (sort of) after what both Goldman and later audiences thought were the real ending.
It is a very sweet and entertaining read -- and I wish I had been in a better mood this last month, reading it. I do think it is as important and dear as the author and publishers think it was. But life is perilous at times. I also found it amusing that I picked up this story the week Janet Yellin ascended to the top of the Federal Reserve and that Prince Humperdink's Chief of All Enforcement (including the Brute Squad) was also named Yellin.
Lessons for Writers: There are not just stories that authors love, but there are stories that form and inform their entire lives. As an author, you may be called to fight for that story. Fight for it.
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