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The Princess Bride

Gryphon

Gryphon

New Member
This is one instance where I thought the movie was better than the book.

Anybody agree? Disagree?
 
okay, ignore my question in your welcome thread :)

I thought the book was much better. The book gives you so much more than the film, such as the training ground of Prince Humperdinck, and where Fezzik got the cape from before storming the castle - it just told you much more of the story.

What are your thoughts on Morgenstern being real?

I have no doubt in my mind that Morgenstern is a creation of Goldman.

Mxx
 
Hey murph! I just saw your reply in the Intro thread.

What are your thoughts on Morgenstern being real?
Click to expand...
I'm reasonably certain in my own mind that the whole Morgenstern thing is a clever device that Goldman uses to tell his story. Some of the most entertaining bits are the 'asides.'

I think you asked in the other thread something about a sequel chapter at the end of the book. I had to go look at the one I'm reading and there is no apparent sequel. It ends with the honeymoon. So tell me what the sequel bit is all about ... and why is it missing in my book? :confused:
 
Also wanted to ask if anybody has ever written to the editor (at the author's behest) to request a copy of the unpublished 'reunion scene'.?
 
I can't remember too much about the opening chapter, as it was a while ago when I read it and the book is currently out on loan (and has been for about a year) so I can't check.
It basically just gives a teaser of what may be to come if a second is written. It's starts off with a lot of action, and doesn't actually sound too promising, but worth the read if you can get hold of a copy.

I have not written to the publishers, although it is something that I would do - so don't know why I haven't. Anyhoo, I am pretty sure they have moved to the following address...
1540 Broadway NY, NY 10036 (they were located on 201 East 50th St )

Mxx
 
The address that Goldman gives in the book is:

Hiram Haydn
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
757 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10017

I know the book was published a good many years ago (1973) and Hiram Haydn may not be alive (after all, it has been thirty years and there is no telling how old Mr. Haydn was when the book was originally published). In fact, Hiram Haydn may not even truly exist -- Goldman's editor may be an invention, just like I'm sure Morgenstern is, but I think I'll write anyway, just to see what happens. If I get a reply of any kind, I'll let you know. :D
 
Fabulous, if I ever get my copy of the book back I'll check the address in it (it was quite a recently published edition).

Cheers

Mxx
 
I havnt seen the film for years but i read the book a year ago and i thought it was wonderful - the version i read had the extra chapter from the 'second' book - but i dont think Goldman ever did a sequal - ive read his books on Hollywood scriptwriting as well and they are also very good, i like his style of anecdotes.

Edit: The 'sequel' that the chapter came from was called Buttercups' Baby, from what i remember it was about them escaping from the Evil Prince and recovering from their adventures on a desert island, where the two leads 'get it on' so to speak (not explicitly, i should mention :D )
 
Note to murphyz and anyone else who is interested: my letter to Hiram Haydn at Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (see above) was returned as "undeliverable." I can only assume that Hiram Haydn is a ficticious character (as is Morganstern) or he is no longer with the publishing house (died, retired, etc.).
 
I still haven't got my book back to check, but am sure it was a different address now. It looks like this may be a quest to find out if it's real and what the address is :)

Mxx
 
Hiram Haydn was a real and prestigious editor - however this is from a biography of William Goldman at FilmMakers.com -

"After the death of long time friend and editor Hiram Haydn (which occurred just after he edited The Princess Bride), Goldman decided he would really like to write a thriller"

So i guess the address is no longer valid - you'd probably have to try and get in touch with Goldman himself, although i doubt it would be easy :confused:

Morganstern on the other hand is definately a creation of Goldman's - he came up with the whole story for his kids :)
 
Thanks, Phil, for the info.

I wonder if it would be possible to get the reunion scene from Goldman himself? I'm sure he must get mail -- probably forwarded by his publisher. Couldn't hurt to try.

Will share the joy if I get a response. :D ;)
 
Brilliant!! :)

Phil, you're a STAR!! :)

Note to all: I did request a copy of the reunion scene. LOLOLOLOL I"m in creases here. :D But I won't post any spoilers. If anyone wants to read it, click on the link Phil provided and follow the instructions. They will respond immediately. Hehehehe :D
 
Both the movie and the book were excellent in my opinion. The movie seemed to follow the book quite well and I think they made a good choice with their 'buttercup and Westley' for the movie as well as the other characters in the story..the music was good too. ^_^
 
Both the book and the film were excellent. I'd say that the book was a little better. The best thing about the film is probably Mandy Patinkin as Montoya. At some point while reading the book, I realized that Goldman was pulling my leg with the whole bit about a previous work by Morganstern, and I thought the way he did it was brilliant. I read "Magic" by him a long time ago, and, although it was primarily a horror story, it had similar elements of humor in the narration.
 
S. Morgenstern, the reunion scene and more...

I found this thread while searching for information on the reunion scene. I just finished reading the book for a book discussion to take place at my local library. The discussion leader gave us a bio on Goldman to read prior to the discussion. Thankfully I read it after I finished the book.

S. Morgenstern is an pseudonym of his. Goldman's wife's name is Irene and he has daughters, no son. There never was a "full-length" version of the book.

For fun, I decided to see what I could find on the internet about the reunion scene. If you go to the following site, you'll find a link to The Reunion Scene. There it tells you that you can get a copy e-mailed to you. Put in your e-mail address and you will get a response almost immediately.

randomhouse.com/delray/promo/princessbride/introduction1a.html
 
A friend of mine had the book. She wrote to the author and got back and long and very funny letter ( which she read out to me ).

:)
 
I thought the book was almost terrible. The movie has been one of my favorites since I saw it when I was young, and when I heard there was a book I wanted it right away. I had seen the movie about 30 or so times before I read the book and found the story follows the movie quite accurately. The history of Florin and other details described in the book are interesting and worth the read.

What I didn't like, and found out of place, were the regular references to Goldman's family life, his complaints about his overweight kid and the Hollywood spiel he thought necessary to include. These portions of the book kept spoiling it for me. They kept pulling me out of the funny, romantic fantasy and plopping me into some depressingly boring story that I would never read had it not been forced on me. This is the reason I didn't bother to look into Buttercup's Baby etc.
 
I have never read the book but have seen, and own, the movie about a million billion times. As you can guess I LOVE this movie!!! I have, myself, avoided the book. If I see a movie I find that I can't read the book becaue the images of the movie keep intruding on me and I want my own images :)

Anyway, really great movie!!!

As you please! :)
 
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