The Long Road

10/14/2006 Archived Entry: "The Princess Bride"

is a fantasy novel told from the point of the author who relates how this story changed his life. It’s about how he’s reworking the original story to be more interesting and better paced. Along the way we meet his family, learn about his domestic problems and his struggles with becoming a writer; a lot of everyday concerns that we “normal” people can relate to interspersed with segments of high adventure.

The writer through his own story becomes very likeable and it’s fascinating to see how one story has affected his entire life. And you know what? It’s all a lie! There is no “real” version of The Princess Bride, no real S. Mortgenstern, and no real Cliffs of Insanity. I was extremely disappointed to discover that a Princess Bride’s framing device to be nothing more than a framing device. That Goldman’s haughty and brilliant wife was nothing but a figment of his imagination. Most of all, it was sad to see yet another fantasy story requiring an “in” to the unfamiliar.

Replies: 2 comments

there there. i too felt rather betrayed when i found out it was all a lie. what was all that crap about stephen king stealing the rights to write the sequel? and then writing a pretend first chapter to the sequel and then there's nothing after that? that's such a horrible tease!

Posted by melpie @ 10/14/2006 02:43 PM EST

heh..
I couldn't stand the author part of that novel. Love the PB story itself, but I wish the author had kept himself out of it.

Posted by Arshwana @ 10/20/2006 09:34 AM EST