It turns out that I am more gullible than you might suspect.
If you’ve read The Princess Bride by William Golden, you will see that he tells you he adapted it from a book by S. Morgenstern, a Florinese author that his father shared with him during an illness.
He also elaborates on a family and research frame, and gives us many, many notes about the text, and uncomfortable details about his personal life.
AND it is all a lie.
Who knew?
***
The story of Westley and Buttercup is a story within a story, and the entire text is a rich nesting doll of detail, layers of fiction like a gateau. I found the fictional life and research intriguing. Some of our group found it annoying. When I found out it was fiction, I found the story to be a different kind of intriguing.
Morgenstern’s alleged book is fairly good. But who are we kidding? The story you should be devouring with glee is Inigo Montoya’s. Well, we swashbuckling fans would advocate for that. Second favorite character is Fezzig.
If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll find it mirrors the book well. It should. Golden wrote the screenplay. My chief complaint about the book is how stupid Buttercup is noted to be. She doesn’t seem that dumb in the movie. Actually, Golden’s portrayal of women, including those in his fictional life is on the misogynistic side.
The plus in the book is that Humperdink is conceived of very differently. In the movie, he’s just this guy with white teeth. In the book, he is this bulky monster who has to ride 4 horses back and forth because he would exhaust one.
Overall, I’m recommending the book. Don’t get sucked in by the Morgenstern lie, like I did. I still like the book, but my gullibility makes me feel ill-used, slightly foolish, and cheated.
Catherine
