First published in 1973, The Princess Bride is a cult book which later became a cult film. It tells the story of Buttercup, the most beautiful girl in the world. And of fencing, fighting, torture, poison, true love, hate, revenge, giants, hunters, bad men, good men, beautiful ladies, snakes spiders, beasts, chases, escapes, lies, truths, passion and miracles.

Ahhh, I finally have a copy of The Princess Bride!

I first saw the movie when it was first released on video, way way back when. I loved it, and when I found out that it was based on a book I knew I had to read it. And now I finally will!

This book was voted as the book of the month for the very first month of my newly created reading/discussion list. What a good start!

7th October 2003
The End

Due to being sick I've not written about this book once since I got it. Ooops. First let me say that it was a fabulous read, and I really enjoyed it. In fact I liked it more than I thought I would, as I was expecting it to be disappointing compared to the movie. My adoration of the film is well known, and if you're in any doubt check out my film section, it's in the top ten. The book couldn't possibly live up to my love of the film, and I didn't expect it to. What I wasn't ready for was for the book to add more to the movie I loved, subtly and without spoiling the feel.

I really enjoyed the author's introductions and 'abridgement comments'. It was up to halfway before I realised that Morgenstern was a creation of Goldman every bit as much as Westley and Buttercup. Around chapter five I wrote to the book group expressing my love of the mythical author's writing style and cynical sense of humor (not to mention his use of parentheses) but felt strongly that Goldman was wrong to credit himself as the author when he'd only abridged the work. Ok, I admit I'm gullible, but that feeling of outrage on Morgenstern's behalf really added to my enjoyment of the book.

So the story revolves around Buttercup, the most beautiful woman in the world, and Westley, the farm hand who fell in love with her, and their quest for true love. Along the way they encounter Vizzini, a Sicillian con man who's job is to start a war between the countries of Guilder and Floren, by stealing Buttercup (now fiancée to Prince Humperdink, Floren's regent after Westley was murdered by the Dread Pirate Roberts) and killing her on the Guildarian border in order to spark the war. The whole plot, of course, is masterminded by the evil Humperdink. Vizzini's is accompanied by two henchmen, Inigo a master swordsman looking for revenge on his father's killer, and Fezzic, an insecure giant who despite his strength is scared of being left alone.

It is a fabulous story, with action and adventure aplenty. What's more it's wonderfully written in a lovely flowing narrative style. That doesn't mean the book is perfect and there were things about the book I wasn't keen on, but in general terms it was a really wonderful read. I loved getting more background on Inigo and Fezzic, and learning more about their personalities. Where the movie concentrated primarily on the good guys, the book delved more into Humperdink's character...at the expense of Westley. I really didn't feel I got any sense of the hero of the piece from the book. No clues about his motivation, other than love of Buttercup, and no real explanation about how he came to be a farm boy. With Inigo and Fezzic fleshed out so well I would have liked more of Westley...maybe a passage about his time as a pirate.

Buttercup bothered me. Her character perpetuated all the worst stereotypes of women being nothing more than objects. All she does is be beautiful, right up to the final scene and that bugged me, especially when the menfolk were swashing so much buckle.

My big problem with the book was the way it ended. There was no real end, and that made me feel cheated. I mean, I've got to know these wonderful characters and watched them go through so much, I at the very least want a 'they lived happily ever after' even if it wasn't true. Instead there was a wishy washy end where they were still being pursued by Humperdink. Grrrr!

To add insult to injury the edition I have of the book has an additional chapter, the first part of a sequel. Called Buttercup's Baby it seemed to me to betray the whole feel and magic the book built. Goldman's use of the Morgenstern ghost writer was clever in the first book, but here went totally over the top and became self indulgent and egotistical. His introduction of Stephen King and their butting heads was crass, and wasn't much fun to read.

The worst part about the extra bit was introducing a rather tacky sex scene to the mix. Buttercup pretty much begs Westley to screw her, and the result is the baby Waverly. The whole segment (which includes Fezzic dying, Buttercup going through a messy labour and a whole host of other non-fairy tale junk) was too much of a departure from the already established style. If you're going to write a fairy tale, however modern and satirical, at least have the decency to honour the genre. Unfortunately Goldman didn't and he ended by spoiling a wonderful book in the process. It saddened me that his crude self indulgence spoiled an otherwise wonderful book, even if it didn't have a good end.

Despite everything the book was great, and I had such fun with it. I'll always love the movie more, but now I have a little more background to play with in my mind and the characters are more alive. I'm so glad I got to read it.