The Princess Bride in Baltimore County Public Library Summer Reading BCPL SRC

May 03, 2013 Jaina Rose rated it really liked it

William Goldman is a liar. Don't believe one single word that he writes. What he tells us (in two introductions as of the 25th edition, as well as in the actual book itself) is that he grew up hating reading. One time he was sick for months, and his father (a native Florinesian) reads him the Princess Bride. He falls head over heels and learns to love reading. Then, as an adult, when he tried to get his son to read it he realizes that it is extremely boring and goes on and on about wardrobes, et William Goldman is a liar. Don't believe one single word that he writes. What he tells us (in two introductions as of the 25th edition, as well as in the actual book itself) is that he grew up hating reading. One time he was sick for months, and his father (a native Florinesian) reads him the Princess Bride. He falls head over heels and learns to love reading. Then, as an adult, when he tried to get his son to read it he realizes that it is extremely boring and goes on and on about wardrobes, etiquette, who serves what food at what parties, etc. He decided to cut out all the boring parts and abridge it to only include the "good parts."

The catch? S. Morgentsein doesn't exist. There is no original (and extremely boring) satirical 1000 page novel called "the Princess Bride." William Goldman's version is the only version, and he very cleverly creates this entire double plot, with of course the classic Buttercup, Wesley, Fezzik, etc. But this is also the story of the fictionalized author and his childhood inspiration, his loveless marriage and his relationship with his son and grandson. All of it false. But the killer is that he puts in some real facts about books he's written (like about the process of making the movie), so you never know what to believe when he's talking.

I think everyone on the planet knows the story of The Princess Bride, and if you don't then you really, really need to see the movie. Or read the book I suppose, but for me the movie is just so wonderful you have to watch it. Preferably multiple times. This is a review of the book, though, so I'll focus on that.

Buttercup is a gorgeous young woman (with not much going on upstairs) who falls in love with her farm hand, a very handsome and very smart young man. I'm not going to summarize it, because this story is so wonderful and so long, I'd have a hard time trying. All I can say is that I literally heard the voices of the actors in the movie throughout most of the novel, and I feel like it would have been so much flatter without my having seen the movie before hand. There's so much intonation, so much humor that you only get after seeing the movie. This is probably one of the only stories that I'd suggest seeing the movie first before reading the book - just to help you add that other layer. I'm not saying the book is bad, and the movie and book are not synonymous, but everything that is in the movie is in the book, and so seeing the movie and then reading the book just adds layers to the plot in a way that would be impossible if you read the book first - you'd just focus on everything that was taken out, instead of loving the story itself in the movie.

And truthfully, everything is almost exactly the same between the two, with only minor differences. I might almost have been bored because I knew everything that was going on, but the author's funny inserts about things he "cut out," etc really helped make it very enjoyable to read.
There are a few things different from the movie that make it slightly more inappropriate, and I found it extremely annoying and a bit disturbing:

(SPOILERS)
Buttercup actually does marry Humperdink in the book, it's the same funny scene but Wesley never informs her that it's not a legal marriage. In fact, they actually refer to Humperdink at the end of the book as "Buttercup's husband." That makes it rather hard for me to absolutely love Wesley and Buttercup's triumph.
Also, in the chapter of Buttercup's Baby (which is actually like four small chapters smooshed together) there is a scene where two characters talk about how they haven't done "more than kissing," and there is a humorous scene where one (two guesses who) has no idea what that something is, but pretends she knows what she's talking about. They decide to "experiment" (fade to black) and next thing you know Buttercup's expecting a baby. It's not very graphic, but I found it rather a hard pill to swallow, especially because 1. They're not married and 2. Buttercup IS married - to Humperdink. And even if they were, I don't really want to see the beginning of . . . that.
One more thing, in the beginning there is a scene in the modern day where the author meets a very slinky lady and almost makes a fool out of himself - but circumstances fix that.

Okay, I actually found the book hilarious and really good, but I wanted to give parents the honest lowdown, about what's really in this book from the scenes to (oh yeah, forgot to mention) the slight cursing. For your younger children, just give them the movie. But if your kid abolutely loves the movie and wants to read the book, then maybe fourteen and up would be okay. It depends on the kid. ...more

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