The Princess Bride

The full title of this novel is The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure; The “Good Parts” Version Abridged by William Goldman. The author presents the novel as a rerelease of an older “Florinese” novel. The author does not specify its publication year, but it was well established in the fictional Goldman’s childhood, approximately 30 years before this book was published in 1973. When (supposedly) discussing it with his publisher, Goldman states that its release was “just after World War I” (25). Goldman says he carried his childhood experience of the book with him until he wanted to share it with his own son, at which point he discovered that the original novel was a heavily overwritten satire of Florinese history. He then arranged to release a heavily abridged edition with his own comments about certain editorial changes.

In reality, both S. Morgenstern and the country of Florin are entirely fictional, as is the “original” novel on which Goldman ostensibly based his own. In 1973, however, Goldman fooled a generation of readers into believing there was a rare out-of-print edition of a hefty novel by a bitter Florinese writer. In Chapter 5, Goldman interjects a story about his attempt to write an additional scene that he felt was missing from the novel but, for legal reasons, could not include in the published book. He encourages readers to write to his publisher, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, to request that the publisher mail the missing scene to them. After the publication of The Princess Bride, thousands of fans did write to the publisher, and the publisher wrote back with a letter from Goldman stating that lawyers for the Morgenstern estate had yet again blocked him from sharing his scene. This was yet another dimension to an entirely fictional narrative, as neither the lawyers nor the Morgenstern estate ever existed. This enhanced the metafiction experience and made the deception surrounding The Princess Bride even more effective.

Later editions of the novel, beginning in 1998, include as an addendum the first abridged chapter of an “unearthed” sequel, Buttercup’s Baby. Amidst the Morgenstern narrative of Westley and Buttercup’s life together, Goldman interjects his story of trying to secure the rights to reproduce the second installment. He claims that the Morgenstern estate has already entrusted the adaptation rights to Stephen King, an author of Florinese descent; Goldman says he met with King in person and discussed the Morgenstern legacy, including the success of the film version of The Princess Bride. The real William Goldman publicly said that he did in fact plan on writing a sequel to the novel. However, Goldman passed away before he could complete it, and apart from this installment, none of the work has ever been released.

The layers of framing narrative surrounding this novel contribute to its enduring mystique and continue to mislead readers: People who wanted the original text and were disappointed to receive an “abridged” version have peppered Amazon with one-star reviews. The complex framework of The Princess Bride, the fictional Goldman’s personal journey, and the narratives surrounding S. Morgenstern, his estate, and the sociopolitical examination of Florin give the novel a unique place in contemporary literature.