When William Goldman was
10 years old and in bed with
pneumonia, so he tells us in The
Princess Bride, his father
read him S.
Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of
True Love and High Adventure,
and he “got hooked on the
story.” When he grew up he discovered that Dad had done him
the
favor of leaving out the boring parts, so Goldman decides to do the
same in a new edition.
As his father answered when the young Goldman asked what the book was
about, there’s everything a fantasy reader desires: "Fencing.
Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters.
Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all
natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest
men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles."
The
Princess Bride is the tale
of the beautiful Buttercup and Westley, the farm boy with whom she
falls in love. He sets off to seek their fortune, Buttercup receives
the misinformation that he has died, and she is forced to become
engaged to the odious Prince Humperdinck of Florin. Westley returns to
rescue Buttercup, putting in motion a series of adventures involving a
good-hearted giant, a revenge-seeking master swordsman, an inventor of
a torture
machine, Prince Humperdinck and his Zoo of Death, and more.
Weaving through the fantasy adventure is Goldman’s witty
commentary about Morgenstern’s original book and about
Goldman’s own life with an overbearing psychiatrist wife. So
persuasive is Goldman’s writing that some readers actually
believe there is an S. Morgenstern and a Helen Goldman.
Whether you read The Princess Bridge
as an adventure story, fairy tale, homage to old-fashioned romances, or
spoof, it’s a lot of fun.
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