I believe that most of the people, if not all (if Zach watched it), that will be reading this post have seen the movie created from this book. Therefore I do not feel a quick recap is necessary. I guess this post will be shorter and sweeter than most.
I have always loved the movie. It is perhaps my most watched movie unless you count the innumerable snippets of Beauty and the Beast I saw the year my sister watched the cartoon daily. In high school the highlight of my chemistry class was when the student teacher said, “Let me explain,” then under her breath she added, “No, there is too much. Let me sum up.” Awesome. Unfortunately that line doesn’t appear in the book. Neither is the scene where Inigo is in the forest outside the town and calls upon his father’s spirit to lead him the the Man in Black. Those are two of my favorite parts of the movie, so for me the movie will always be treasured.
However, there is so much more in the book that can’t be put on the screen. As many don’t know, or at least I didn’t when I first picked up the book, part of the book’s title states it is an abridgement of the original by S. Morgenstern. This is not the case but gives Goldman a method to which he can insert the parts of the story which in the movie correlate to the grandpa reading the story to the sick boy. I feel some of the best of humor in the book comes from the parts where the author interjects notes of his “abridgement.” For example, seventy pages that list the hats that the princess of Guilder packs to hide that she is, in fact, bald. Something that Prince Humperdink simply cannot live with and thus begins his journey to discover a suitable woman to be his future bride and leads him to discover Buttercup. The book also goes into much more detail about the relationship between Wesley and Buttercup, which greatly adds the their story.
The last big difference to touch on between the book and the movie is the ending. The film closes with the legend of the four best kisses of all time. That kiss happens at a very different time in the book and the ending is much more interesting. I guess you’ll just have to read the book and tell me if you think it’s as interesting as I did.
