So, after more than a few years, I finally got around to reading William Goldman's The Princess Bride.
Honestly, there isn't much to add here. Most folks have seen the movie by now, and laughed and been enchanted by it. The story in the book is pretty much the same, although instead of getting Columbo reading to Kevin, we instead get a bunch of self depreciation from the writer. (Not that some of it isn't amusing, particularly when he starts discussing Steven King....Note that I was reading the 30th Anniversary edition, which includes chapter 1 of the follow up.)
I checked around, and despite being listed as an abridged version of a bigger foreign work, this all belongs to a self depreciating author, who frankly doesn't come off well when talking about himself.
On the other hand, it's hard not to love Westley and Buttercup, root for Fezzig and Inigo... (The book does go into somewhat greater detail on backstory, which the movie skipped over a bit. We actually find out how Buttercup wound up engaged to Humperdink, for instance, and Miracle Max and his wife have more fleshed out roles, even if it's impossible to read their section without hearing Carol Kane and Billy Crystal speaking.)
And the actual ending is a bit different, which annoyed me. I think he fixed a few things in the screenplay, even as he messed up other things. But hey. It's a charming read, and easy to forgive for minor problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment