The Princess Bride

‘If you’re reading this, dollars to donuts you’ve seen the movie.’ So wrote William Goldman in his engrossing introduction to The Princess Bride, the 1973 adult fairy tale he later adapted into the film-borne cult hit. When the beautiful Buttercup learns that her only love Westley’s ship has been captured by the terrible Dread Pirate Roberts, she is devastated. Around the corner, however, is heir to the throne Prince Humperdink, utterly smitten by Buttercup. Before their marriage can be consummated, however, Buttercup is kidnapped by a trio of masked men, pursued by a mysterious masked man in black. Who is this individual, and what may tie him to Buttercup’s heartbreak? What follows is screenwriter William Goldman’s pitch-perfect comic fantasy, brimming with character, invention, and a twist of very sharp satire. Based on the time-honoured form of an abridgement of an existing (but entirely fictional) text by a certain ‘S. Morgenstern’, William Goldman’s The Princess Bride artfully folds high adventure, laughs, pathos and a brilliant meta-narrative into one of the great comic novels of the 20th century.