The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Princess Bride by William Goldman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book. I guess that I expected to experience a bigger and better version of the movie that we all know and love. It is one of my favorite movies of all time, and last year I read Cary Elwes book, As You Wish, about the making of the movie, and I loved it. Since most books are better than the movie, I expected an engaging, deeper plot that I would really love.

I didn't get what I expected. What I got was a near word-for-word retelling of the movie. The only material difference was the Pit of Despair, which was replaced by the Zoo of Death in the book. In some ways, this is what I always want from a movie based on a book. I want to hear and see the book I envision in my head on the screen. That is exactly what this was, so in that regard it was perfect. The downside is that it was in reverse, with the movie coming first, so when I opened the book I expected more, and it wasn't there.

If you love the movie like I do, this is a must-read. But don't expect something new. Expect the same dialogue, often word-for-word.

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love The Princess Bride movie. I've been watching that movie since it came out in the 80's, seeing it for the first time at a friend's house on VHS. I knew that I liked the movie, so when I saw this audio book I was mildly interested.

What I learned is that I know and like this movie even better than I thought I did. As they talked about certain scenes, I could picture every one of them. The movie was actually on TV the other night and I found that I knew more of the dialogue than I thought, and I already thought I knew it pretty well. And now I have stories to go along with many of the scenes, which I will admit has ruined the movie just a bit for me, since it is hard to not pull out of the story and think of the filming now that I know the backstage tidbits.

One unexpected fact I learned was that it was a box office dud when it came out. I had no idea! Our family didn't go to movies so I figured I had just missed out. This movie is a classic and hearing the details of its making was way more interesting than I expected. If you like the movie, and are willing to risk knowing the behind-the-scenes stories that may ruin future viewings, I'd suggest reading this. It was fun. And just for fun, I dare you to not finish these lines:

No more rhyming, I mean it! _____ ____ __ ______?
Have fun _________ the castle!
Your friend here is only _____ ______, not all dead.
Gently! _____!
I have something to tell you. I'm not ____-_______ either!