Description:
Beautiful,
flaxen-haired Buttercup has fallen for Westley, the farm boy, and when he
departs to make his fortune, she vows never to love another. So when she hears
that his ship has been captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts (no survivors) her
heart is broken. But her charms draw the attention of the relentless Prince
Humperdinck who wants a wife and will go to any lengths to have Buttercup. So
starts a fairy tale like no other, of fencing, poison, true love, hate,
revenge, giants, bad men, good men, snakes, spiders, chases, escapes, lies,
truths, passion and miracles, and ... a damn fine story.
Rating:
8.5
Review:
The Princess Bride,
by William Goldman, is a thrilling, romantic, and hilarious tale of risk and
high-adventure. The characters are each unique to themselves, and each one of
them engaging for a different set of reasons. While the cut-ins do tend to get
a little irritating, they expand the scope of the story further than just the
tale itself, giving it a personal touch.
I
enjoyed reading The Princess Bride,
just as I had enjoyed watching the film (in fact, for the longest time, I never
even knew there was a real book, and so I bought a copy the second I found
one). There are a lot of extra features in the novel that weren’t included in
the film, or changed implicitly, as happens with most book-to-film adaptations.
Let’s
discuss, for a moment, the key aspects of this story.
Characters
The characters, as I have mentioned before, are all rather
unique within this tale. A pirate who was once a farm-boy; a beautiful princess
who has lost all hope of love; a team consisting of a Spaniard, a Giant, and a Sicilian;
A spoiled Prince and his second in command, the six-fingered man; and, of
course, the narrator himself.
That is
not to say there are not more colourful characters weaved throughout this
story; there are, indeed, many more. And that’s just the thing! The story is so
full of life, and character, that the flaws of one character are made up for by
another.
Take
Princess Buttercup, for instance. To me, Buttercup seemed naïve and incredibly
dense. She did not seem to redeem herself at any point throughout the novel. At
first, I thought her character to be irritating, but her lover, Westley, made
up for her vapid personality with his own.
Westley’s
character was lively and exciting, but he held a certain level of deadpan and
morosity that showed him to be just as flawed as his lover. They complement one
another; Buttercup being full of life, but dim-witted, and Westley being
clever, but sarcastic.
The
same can be said of the rest of the characters, each complementing their
partner/s where they prove inadequate.
Theme
Now, obviously, love and romance is a main theme introduced
early into the story, but there is one theme that I’m concerned about. Some
might say it is the moral of the story, and I don’t think those people are
wrong. I just think of it differently.
I learnt recently that the theme
is more than just a moral: the theme of a story tells of the human condition or
history. So, rather than romance or adventure or who-done-it, the theme for
this story is something reiterated throughout the novel: Life isn’t fair.
And it is a true enough
sentiment, because life isn’t fair, under
any circumstances. None of the characters featured in this story have any sort
of fairness in their lives, just as no human being lives a life of fairness.
I personally adore this theme. It
seems morbid in its pessimism, but it is a hard truth of life, and this makes
it relatable. It doesn’t placate, it doesn’t offer useless praise or try to
undermine authority. It simply is. A statement of fact that nobody, nowhere,
can dispute.
End Note
While it did take me some time to finish, this book is
definitely one of my favourites. There are places where I wanted to cringe, or
cuss at the interruptions of the author, but those moments, I know now, are
what spurned me to finish reading. Nothing written the way The Princess Bride was written is written without a purpose in
mind.
I
enjoyed reading it, and I would definitely read it again in the future.
Quote
“…I also have to say,
for the umpty-umpth time, that life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death,
that’s all.” (p. 317)
Edition
Goldman,
W 2008, The Princess Bride,
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London
