bedub1 wrote:So S. Morgenstern wrote The Princess Bride back in 1923 or something? And William Goldmans father read it to william? And william decided to write his own version? And they made a movie out of it? So it's a movie about a book thats about a book?
I just checked out "William Goldman - The Princess Bride" Did I check out the right book? I looked for the one by Morgenstern but couldn't find it.....
SPOILER ALERT - if you have any inclination to read the book and also see the movie, read no further, I'm about to give too much away.
Now you begin to see what's going on.
There
was no S Morgenstern version.
The whole thing is a work about storytelling. Goldman tells us how he finds as a grownup that his favourite ever book is actually pretty dull for the most part. he tells us how he bought a copy for his own son and was astonished that the boy didn't like it. He then discovers that when his grandad read it to him, he edited it, leaving out the dull and complicated parts. Goldman, according to the book, decides to recreat the "good parts" version like his father read to him for our delight.
Then he makes the film, showing the story of the grandfather reading the book to the sick boy, but leaves out almost everything about the "larger story" story - and further leaves out vital parts of the reduced plot in typical Hollywood style. This is why the book is much darker than the film, its all a part of the story about how you tell the same story under different circumstances.
The fact that the original "story" being told, edited, re-edited, rediscovered, etc. doesn't even exist is itself a part of the fantasy.
Stunningly good stuff, and one of teh few true exercises in telling one big story in several parts and in different media.