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The Princess Bride
by William Goldman - I assume that almost everyone has seen the movie The Princess Bride by now; and if you haven't, what is wrong with you and what rock have you been living under? It's a classic and it's my favorite movie. But I hadn't read the book, and decided I needed to remedy that recently. I read this hardcover version with illustrations by Michael Manomivibul, and it delivered on all the true love and high adventure as promised.
It opens with an Introduction by William Goldman for the 30th anniversary of the movie, and it's actually hilarious. He tells the story of how his father read him "S. Morgenstern's classic" when he was a kid recovering from pneumonia and how much he loved it. It's full of tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating humor, and sets up his print version of "just the good bits". Most of the story is very similar to the movie, with some extra background on the characters, and some extra scenes. Throughout the narrative, Goldman jumps in to interrupt with an anecdote or an explanation of what he's cut out of the original and why. The characters are slightly different too. Buttercup has far fewer brains in the book than in the movie, and Humperdinck is much more devious and evil. He is portrayed as a hunter of unparalleled skill in the book, while the movie character fancies himself a hunter but also is more obviously cowardly and a bit of a bumbler, and doesn't seem to know exactly what is going on in the Zoo of Death.
There is also an epilogue, Buttercup's Baby, which is also accompanied by Goldman's introduction and commentary on "S. Morgenstern". Much of it is just as funny and entertaining, but overall I felt like I wouldn't have missed much if I hadn't read it.
Lots of laughs and action, but don't freak out that it's not the exact same as the screenplay!
The Princess Bride
by William Goldman - I assume that almost everyone has seen the movie The Princess Bride by now; and if you haven't, what is wrong with you and what rock have you been living under? It's a classic and it's my favorite movie. But I hadn't read the book, and decided I needed to remedy that recently. I read this hardcover version with illustrations by Michael Manomivibul, and it delivered on all the true love and high adventure as promised.It opens with an Introduction by William Goldman for the 30th anniversary of the movie, and it's actually hilarious. He tells the story of how his father read him "S. Morgenstern's classic" when he was a kid recovering from pneumonia and how much he loved it. It's full of tongue-in-cheek, self-deprecating humor, and sets up his print version of "just the good bits". Most of the story is very similar to the movie, with some extra background on the characters, and some extra scenes. Throughout the narrative, Goldman jumps in to interrupt with an anecdote or an explanation of what he's cut out of the original and why. The characters are slightly different too. Buttercup has far fewer brains in the book than in the movie, and Humperdinck is much more devious and evil. He is portrayed as a hunter of unparalleled skill in the book, while the movie character fancies himself a hunter but also is more obviously cowardly and a bit of a bumbler, and doesn't seem to know exactly what is going on in the Zoo of Death.
There is also an epilogue, Buttercup's Baby, which is also accompanied by Goldman's introduction and commentary on "S. Morgenstern". Much of it is just as funny and entertaining, but overall I felt like I wouldn't have missed much if I hadn't read it.
Lots of laughs and action, but don't freak out that it's not the exact same as the screenplay!
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