As You Wish...

William Goldman's tale The Princess Bride is a whirlwind of fantastic adventure with a dash of romance and a whole lot of laughs! The film version of the story has been a childhood classic amongst my generation, though I didn't see it until later in my young adult life.

I was intrigued by the discovery that many of my guy friends include this film as part of their favorites list. How could a story titled "Princess Bride" attract the male gender? It must have been Robin Wright Penn's radiant beauty as Buttercup that captured their young hearts. Of course, I was swept away by Cary Elwes' dashing and charismatic portrayal of Westley, the masked hero dressed in black. The title is misleading because this story follows the classic hero journey of overcoming the evil villains by way of dueling and death to free the damsel in distress. It's just what boys like to see.

Recently I picked up the book version to pass the time during my long train commutes to and from downtown. I've been meaning to rewatch the film, but haven't got around to visiting my neighborhood video rental store. It just so happened my sister had a copy of the book lying around. I can only read light and engaging material on the train, otherwise I get lulled to sleep by drawn out exposition paired with the rocking of the El.

The Princess Bride is a very quick read and most definitely entertaining. Goldman keeps the generic plot interesting with quirky characters like Fezzik, the slow-witted "enemy" giant who secretly loves to rhyme, and Vizzini, the hunchback Sicilian who has every intention of becoming "the most effective criminal organization in the civilized world." The characters are crafted in a storybook manner, meaning they are simple and honest compared to the complexity that is demanded of characters today. That isn't to say that they are not interesting. The characters' backstories provide the foundation for the long-lasting relationship with the reader. Fezzik seems like a bumbling oaf who only knows of physical strength. We find out that he was forced into sport fighting at the tender age of nine! Goldman builds compassion and sympathy even for the villians of the story.

The dialogue is also a diamond in the rough. Words exchanged between characters are short and to the point, but they are crafted with the utmost care for the element of humor. When being questioned about his intelligence, the evil hunchback responds, "...but I, Vezzini the Sicilian, am, speaking with pure candor and modesty, the slickest, sleekest, sliest and wiliest fellow who has yet come down the pike."

The narration, done by Goldman, gives us witty insight into every element of the story. He incorporates sidenotes here and there about the history of things that don't necessarily further the plot or help the reader to understand any more of the story. It's included just to be funny. For the most part, the comments are clever and evoke a chuckle or two. For example, Goldman leads the reader to believe that Buttercup is about to be devoured by a swarm of blood-thirsty sharks. He interrupts the plot as the voice of his own father saying, "She does not get eaten by sharks at this time," because he felt young Goldman was getting too worked up by the excitement and danger. This method of storytelling works successfully the film version as well.

There are several occasions, however, where Goldman just doesn't know when enough is enough. Halfway through the introduction chapter, in which Goldman explains how he came to write the "Good Parts" version of the fictitious S. Morgenstern's classic tale, I lost interest. I wanted to get right into the fairy tale, so I skipped ahead. Also, he goes on for several paragraphs here and there about why he edited out the parts that described the excessiveness of the people of Florin and Guilder and other historical facts. I found myself skimming through those moments as well. He made it easy to gloss over by distinguishing the commentary in italics or parentheses.

For anyone who fell in love with the film version, I highly recommend reading the book. Its 300 some pages goes by fast, almost too fast. You'll fall in love with the characters all over again! Then watch the film again so you can swoon over Elwes or Penn, or even Andre the Giant.