I love this book. I feel like William Goldman has really hit the nail on the head about something, but I just can’t put my finger on it.
The movie, which I also love, lacks the cynical, jaded, pathetic narrator, which adds a completely different level and tone to the story.
So, fellow dopers, what do you think about the novel The Princess Bride?
What do you think the “point” is? The last words in the book, given by the narrator, are:
Is this it? Is this what the book is about?
What does the sub-plot about the narrator’s trials and tribulations(although I really feel like the rest of the book takes second-fiddle to this plotline as far as significance goes) mean? Is it as simple as “life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death”?
Also, do you feel that the point of the movie is different than that of the novel?
It’s been forever since I read the book, but I remember it being so much like the movie, the tone and everything, except for the ending which I found haunting. No happily ever after in the book. It seemed to me at the time he was saying that life is a continual struggle. You’ve got good times and successes, but then the struggles come back. Love does not conquer all, but it helps. Like I said, it’s been a long time since I’ve read it.
I had loved the book, and the first few times I saw the movie, I just couldn’t stand it (I must have been the only 13 year old girl that felt this way; all my friends loved it). The tone is really different. Over time, I’ve been able to accept TPB movie as something very different from the source material, but still good.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen or read TPB, but to my best recollection, I recall the themes as being somewhat different. In the movie, the message seemed to be ‘Ultimately, love conquers all.’ while the message of the booked seemed to be ‘Love conquers anything, but it’s going to have to do it again and again and again for different things each time.’
I saw the movie first and then decided to read the book. I spent WEEKS searching for an unabridged edition. Whooooosh. Love the book. Love the movie. (See my name.)
I agree with jacquilynne’s contrast–love appears to conquer at the end of the movie, while the book doesn’t end, it just stops, and it’s clear “love” will continue to be faced with trials. Also, the bittersweet undercurrent of the author’s homelife is lost in the movie.
Fortunately for me, long ago I decided simply to enjoy books and movies that have the same name without expecting them to be anything like each other.
I hate the book. Hate it, hate it, hate it. It’s a bitter, unpleasent work by a bitter, unpleasent man, and reading it made me realise how talented a director Rob Reiner is.
I love the book. Hate the movie. The red print is especially lovely. It’s poignant where the movie is gross, clever where the movie is facile. Love the novel.
Alessan, you do know that William Goldman wrote the screenplay for the movie too, don’t you?
On a related note though, do you or does anyone else know how much of Goldman’s portrayal of “his” life is actually true? One thing I find fascenating is the obvious meshing of truth and fiction as far as the William Goldman character in the novel.
Yes. I’m always amazed at how willing people are to slander William Goldman based on the “authorial” bits of TPB. It’s all a fabrication, including Goldman’s pretense of an unhappy home life. Why would he put such unrelated gobbledygook in the book, if it were true? On the other hand, if you contrast Goldman’s characterization of his marriage with his characterization of S. Morgenstern’s characterization of Westley and Buttercup, you come out with a much stronger book. Nothing wrong with the movie, but the book (the whole book) is beter.
I read the book long before the movie was made and I loved it. I especially liked the character of Iago, his virtuoso swordsmanship and his quest to avenge his father. I thought the movie was well cast and directed but it just didn’t have the same sense of meloncholy as the book. I agree with the OP that the book is much better.
I saw the movie as a young girl when it first came out, and loved it (still love it, actually). I only read the book last year and quite enjoyed it. I’m about to re-read it, and have only just noticed the quotes from reviews on the back cover (25th anniversary edition). I hadn’t read them until now, because I’ve never yet read a review quote that’s changed my mind about whether to purchase a book or not. But one of them is puzzling me. It’s by/from Uncut, and it says in part:
" …an anti-establishment satire disguised as a love story…"
Did I miss something when reading the book, and if so can someone explain to me what is so anti-establishment about it? Or was the reviewer talking outta their butt, as reviewers often do?
I saw the movie first, and read the book a few years later. I even managed to track down an old copy at a used book store, where Goldman’s asides are in red print instead of italics. (prr, you give yourself away as an old timer.) There’s also an address to write to for a copy of Goldman’s reunion scene that’s different in the older editions.
The book and the movie are both great, and both draw inspiration from fairy tales. They are both respectful, and even loving of their source. But the essential difference between them is that the book is a satire and the movie is a parody.
The message of the book is that love does not conquer all, but it’s still worth everything you have to do to get it.
I saw the movie first. However I loved the book the second I read it. Better than the movie by far. Not that I disliked the movie. I was one of those sad fellows who memorized every line of dialogue.
I think the messages of the book are, as many have stated, love doesn’t conquer all and that life isn’t fair. Those themes struck me deeply and I could really agree with them. However one message of the book that I didn’t see anyone mention is that things are rarely as they seem. Most of the characters are deceptive in some way, through either their appearance or words.
Definately showing my age here. I read the book when it first came out and it was my favorite for years. I have probably read it a dozen times. I read it to my kids before I let them see the movie.
If you go in the “way back machine” to when it was originally published it was quite different that other works available. There was essentially no fantasy published at that time except JRR T stuff which was not at all mainstream. And it was told soooo tongue in cheek.
You might want to check out some of the William Goldman’s other works. Including Soldier in the Rain and Marathon Man. After reading Marathon Man I didn’t want to go to the dentist for at least a year.
You might also me interested to know that he wrote the screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (again an oldtimers thing) and a bunch of other movies. I think his screenplay work is why he has such a good ear for dialog.
The whole life is no fair thing is something that most people my age believe in. Unfortunately some of my contemporaries have been sheltering their children from this obvious fact of life. There is no fairness meter in the universe or at least on this planet. You have only to look south of the border or to Bangledesh to see this. Yikes, way harsh here.
Diogenes, I believe the characters name is Inigo (Montoya).
I love both the book and the movie. William Goldman is (was?) one of the most prolific screenplay writers in Hollywood. He’s written some really great books. He’s also written some that are not so good.
What I like about his writing is how he doesn’t waste any words. The dialog in The Princess Bride is brilliant. I would have a difficult time picking the best movie based on dialog between The Princess Bride, and Pulp Fiction.
I thought the book was only ok. I just read it last week and I really couldn’t stand a lot of the interjections by Goldman, for me it really interupted the flow of the book and didn’t add anything. It wasn’t a bad book but it wasn’t as great as I thought it would be.
Actually, I was aware of that fact. I also noted that nearly every line in the movie - besides Billy Crystal’s schtick - comes directly from the book. It’s the other lines in the book, also written by Goldman, which I can’t stand, and which led me to believe that it was Reiner the director who sifted out the gold from the dross (or whatever), and thus responsible for making the movie such a classic. It’s not that Goldman can’t write; it’s just that he writes too much.
Perhaps it’s because I see the Pricess Bride as one of the all-time greatest fantasy films and screen romances, and it got that way by actually believing in itself and in its own convictions. The book, on the other hand, is written as though Goldman was trying to tell us, Kurt Vonnegut-like, that of course we shouldn’t take all this seriously, an important writer like him would never write nonsense like this unless it was allegorical or something. The book, in my opinion, is suffused with contempt for the characters and story; worse, it does its best to destroy suspension of disbelief.
Hmmm…now I’ve got to go read the copy that’s been lying around the apartment for a while. I’m not familiar with anything else he’s written, though I’ve seen a few of the other flicks - is The Princess Bride a great departure in theme or style for Goldman?
