| The Princess Bride |
Article Index for The Princess |
Articles about The Princess Bride |
Website Links For Princess Bride |
Information AboutThe Princess Bride |
|
''The Princess Bride'' is a 1973 Novel written by William Goldman and originally published in the USA by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich . It combines elements of Comedy , Adventure , Romance and Fairy Tale Trope s. It was made into a feature film in 1987 by Rob Reiner . CONTEXT The book affects to be an abridgement of an older version by " S. Morgenstern ", which was originally a satire of the excesses of European royalty. Goldman "remembered" the book as it was narrated to him by his father as an exciting adventure tale, without the complex political overtones. His work is a recreation of the abridgement of his father. The book, in fact, is entirely Goldman's work, and Morgenstern and his "original version" never existed. Nor is Goldman's family accurately described in the book. He has two daughters, not a son, and his wife is not a psychologist. The countries Florin and Guilder do not exist and never have, although both were units of currency – the same unit of currency, in fact – from The Netherlands and a common term for a 2 Shilling Piece in pre-decimal Britain (pre Euro ). They remain legal currency in the Netherlands Antilles to this day. Goldman carried the joke further by publishing another book called '' The Silent Gondoliers '' (about why the Gondoliers of Venice no longer sing to their passengers) under S. Morgenstern's byline. The Vizzini family from ''The Princess Bride'' also makes an appearance in this book. The device of claiming that a book is a pre-existing work that the author merely discovered and edited is an old one, which continues to be used by authors as widely separated as Spanish Writer Cervantes , Italian literary novelist Umberto Eco , British Fantasy writer Mary Gentle , and American Detective Fiction author Laurie R. King . Another prime example is J.R.R. Tolkien 's '' The Lord Of The Rings '', which purports to be a translation of an ancient text called the '' Red Book Of Westmarch ''. (See also False Document , Frame Tale .) REUNION SCENE In addition to the "original Morgenstern" passages that Goldman says he cut, he also claims in the book to have written a new scene: a loving reunion between Buttercup and Westley after they have been apart for many years. In the novel, the Goldman character says that there was an objection to his adding text that was not written by Morgenstern to the book (Goldman was only allowed to excise text) but any reader who wants to read the Reunion Scene may write to the publisher (formerly , while the 25th Anniversary Edition publishes the letter with an addendum about Kermit's lawyer granddaughter Carly. ''BUTTERCUP'S BABY'' The epilogue to some later editions of the novel mentions a sequel, ''Buttercup's Baby'', that was having trouble getting published because of legal difficulties with S. Morgenstern's estate. This sequel seems to be just as fictional as S. Morgenstern's unabridged edition, though later editions actually reprint Goldman's "sample chapter" of this book. The most recent, 30th anniversary edition of the book, included hints to the sequel's plot, and a promise to have the full version completed before a 35th anniversary edition (2009). SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|