Reading Journal 2023: The Princess Bride
Author: William Goldman
A pure delight and a classic fairy tale true to all its form. Goldman pens a this memorable tale, filled as it is with the glorious fictional history, through the lens of his own imagined back story. The book he grew up with, the one his father read and reread to him, had proven to be more than the sum of its parts. Understanding what it took for a fairy tale to be good, to be of the type that engages a young person’s imagination and fascination, his father had cut out all the “boring” parts, leaving the swashbuckling and the romance, the grand adventure and the danger. Goldman thus decides to rewrite the fictional story with only the good parts. This is what we, as readers get, with the authors own point of perspective woven into the narrative as it’s own parallel storyline.
It really is wonderful. And exciting. And funny. Given that I was only ever aware of the film, I was surprised at how much this story gains from the backstories Goldman gives each of the main characters. Adds a whole other natural element to the fairy tale, especially when it comes to Buttercup’s fierce and determined persona.
This might not seem a necessary read, and it might feel odd even to consider the beloved film as a literary source, but if you are in any way shape or form a fan of the film, you owe it to yourself to read this at least once in your lifetime.
The Stories of my Life 