People don't remember me. Really. It's not a paranoid thing; I just have this habit of slipping through memories. It doesn't bother me all that much, except I guess that's a lie; it does. For some reason, I test very high on forgettability.”

The Princess Bride by William Goldman Plot Summary - LitCharts

Goldman said he was particularly moved writing the scene in which Westley dies. [11] Reunion scene [ edit ] The Princess Bride begins with William Goldman's discussion of his life, his family, the book itself (written, he assures us, by S. Morgenstern), and its relation to his own childhood and adulthood. He proclaims that it is his favorite book and that he has edited out the "good parts," the action stories that his father read to him when he was ten and in bed with pneumonia. Having marinated in the film for so long, reading the book-version of The Princess Bride felt a bit academic. I did not read with any sense of wonder at what might come; I knew exactly – for the most part – what lay ahead. Instead, I read it mostly to see what got left out, what got changed, and how well Goldman made the transition from words to moving pictures. While bearing this in mind, you must remember that Goldman is making all of this up. There is no Morgenstern, no original PB. The project in itself is quite interesting and it had me excited at reading a book that really messed with the reader's perception of narrator, of what's real and what isn't. Goldman often includes long parenthesis in which he bitches about his frigid wife or his snotty son, or over some of the stunted romantic liaisons that he failed at. All in all, I must say, that the actual narrator of PB comes off as an ego maniacal and pathetic loser who happens to have been the screenwriter for some awesome movies (think "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Misery." (One interesting aside is the confrontation between Goldman and Stephen King over supposedly abridging the sequel to PB, called Buttercup's Baby, a conversation in which they discuss Kathy Bates' performance in "Misery.")

Goldman grew up in a Jewish family in Highland Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and obtained a BA degree at Oberlin College in 1952 and an MA degree at Columbia University in 1956.His brother was the late James Goldman, author and playwright. The book also contains a whole chapter on Fezzik and shows his childhood and early years. This was excellent and I really liked learning about his trouble in adapting to deal with his enormous size. What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams? I've been saying it so long to you, you just wouldn't listen. Every time you said 'Farm Boy do this' you thought I was answering 'As you wish' but that's only because you were hearing wrong. 'I love you' was what it was, but you never heard.” Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.”

The Princess Bride Book Summary, by William Goldman The Princess Bride Book Summary, by William Goldman

Secondly, i am a horribly sarcastic person in real life. So for me (one of) the strength of this book lies in the narration from Goldman himself. The way he pokes fun, his satire, his commentary ... throughout the book it's hilarious. From the very beginning, the reader is introduced to the story through the witty voice of Goldman. For me this outside narration feels like an entirely different story in itself. Story: I’ve always loved fairy tales, and this story is a good one. The Princess Bride wasn’t as fairytale-like this time around like it was the first time I read it as a younger reader. It’s very similar to the movie but much more descriptive. It’s exciting, comical at times, and full of action. This time around, I wasn’t feeling the ‘true love’ between Buttercup and Westley, and I also forgot how adventurous and comical it is. The film seems to do a much better job on the love story than the book–among other things. The cliffhanger ending had my jaw on the floor—no joke. I’m still not sure how to feel about it because there are multiple possibilities of what could’ve happened, and it niggles me. It’s interesting how what you expect to happen in the story isn’t what happens at all. This is a fantasy, and you must suspend disbelief at times. But there are also constant reminders that life isn’t perfect, and things aren’t always going to be okay.First of all, the book is as much fun as the movie and the tone of the writing is unique, playful and very funny. Despite knowing the plot of the book intimately, I found the reading experience to be fresh and new.