The Princess Bride

The film version of The Princess Bride feels like a huge cultural institution to me, despite the fact that I've only seen it about one and a half times. Everybody knows, "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Somehow the book is a bit less of an institution. Possibly this is because, at least for me, the movie is more satisfying.

The book operates on an oddly contrived pretense, that William Goldman is abridging a much longer work by a fellow named Simon Morgenstern, who comes from the country of Florin, in which the book is set, which of course does not exist. This has me thinking back to all my experimental theatre last fall, when I spent a lot of time considering the layers involved in stories. The movie, of course, opens with a sick kid in bed whose grandfather reads him the story, and once in a while they show up again when the kid objects to some part of the story. In the book, this sick kid in bed is in the past, being William Goldman, first introduced to the story in this way, and coming back years later to do the abridgment. His asides are often about the dull parts of the novel he has supposedly cut out, and he's created an entire story about his wife Helen and his son Jason, and trying to get Jason to read the book, and about legal troubles with S. Morgenstern's estate. It's an unusual storytelling device, and somewhat distracting, but it's often entertaining. It also allows Goldman to blame plot difficulties and unpleasant moments on S. Morgenstern. The ending of the book is a little sudden, and not very conclusive, and Goldman blames that on Morgenstern.

I've had the book for years, for unknown reasons, and I sort of wish I'd read it sooner. I did try, I just thought Buttercup was the stupidest name for a heroine ever, and couldn't get past that. I had very strong opinions about names and words in my younger days, I guess. I sort of still do; Buttercup just stopped bothering me. Anyway, it's a book thoroughly worth reading, since it is a "classic tale of true love and high adventure", and everyone can use more of that in their life.

Summer reading

I have a lot of plans for the summer. It's been a while since I've been able to make enough time to read as much as I'd like to, so that's definitely something I'll have to do. After reading dense political theory treatises and articles about education all quarter I'm reading for some fun, easy reading. The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane put me into a bit of a fantasy kick, so now I'm reading The Princess Bride, and after that I'll have to find something similarly fun and fictional. It may be a while before I read anything very serious.

I do have some serious reading plans for the summer in general, though. I have over three months without school, but there's still some education I want to do. I did like reading political theory, however dense, and I'd like to read some more philosophical and theoretical books. Possibly other works by some of the people I read for that class (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, J.S. Mill, Marx, and Peter Singer). If anybody knows of a good into to philosophy type book that isn't too textbookish, please do recommend it.

I've also got a lot of nonfiction lying around that I'd like to read. I started Virginia Woolf's letters ages and ages ago, and I'd like to get back to that; I also have Charlotte Bronte's letters. I want to finish Victorian Visitors, read the chapters we skipped over in class of a couple of books, and finish The Odyssey (that's not nonfiction, but it's going in the same class of not being a relaxing lazy book). I've probably got loads of other nonfiction to read as well.

Apart from all that, I want to make art. I want to sew, I want to bake, I want to write, I want to do craft projects. I am thoroughly excited for summer.

Now I just have to get through two finals and a paper.