User:Prehending/sandbox

Original:

In Goldman's "footnotes," he describes how his father used to read S. Morgenstern's The Princess Bride aloud to him; thus the book became Goldman's favorite without him ever actually reading the text. As a father, Goldman looked forward to sharing the story with his own son, going to great lengths to locate a copy for his son's birthday, only to be crushed when his son stops reading after the first chapter. When Goldman revisits the book himself, he discovers that what he believed was a straightforward adventure novel was in fact a bitter satire of politics in Morgenstern's native Florin, and that his father had been skipping all the political commentary and leaving in only "the good parts." This moves Goldman to abridge the book to a version resembling the one his father had read to him, while adding notes to summarize material he had "removed."

In fact, the book is entirely Goldman's work. Morgenstern and the "original version" are fictitious and used as a literary device; the nations of Guilder and Florin are likewise pure fiction. Goldman's personal life, as described in the introduction and commentary in the novel, is also fictional: in The Princess Bride, Goldman claimed to have one son with his wife, Helen, a psychiatrist. In reality, Goldman had two daughters, and his wife, Ilene, was not a psychiatrist. Goldman's commentary contains references to his real-life Hollywood career (including the observation that the famous cliff scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was likely inspired by the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride), but it is unclear if these references have any basis in truth. The commentary is extensive, continuing through the text until the end.

Edited:

This novel includes several narrative techniques or literary devices including a fictional frame story about how Goldman came to know about and decided to adapt S. Morgentstern's The Princess Bride. In Goldman's "footnotes," he describes how his father used to read S. Morgenstern's The Princess Bride aloud to him; thus the book became Goldman's favorite without him ever actually reading the text. As a father, Goldman looked forward to sharing the story with his own son, going to great lengths to locate a copy for his son's birthday, only to be crushed when his son stops reading after the first chapter. When Goldman revisits the book himself, he discovers that what he believed was a straightforward adventure novel was in fact a bitter satire of politics in Morgenstern's native Florin, and that his father had been skipping all the political commentary and leaving in only "the good parts." This moves Goldman to abridge the book to a version resembling the one his father had read to him, while adding notes to summarize material he had "removed." In fact, the book is entirely Goldman's work, and Morgenstern and the "original version" are fictitious and used as a literary device to comment on the literary nature of adaptation and to draw a contrast between the love and adventure of the main story and the mundane aspects of everyday life. The nations of Guilder and Florin are likewise pure fiction.

The narrator of the The Princess Bride, while named William Goldman, is persona or author surrogate that mixes fictional elements with some biographical details that match the author's life. Goldman's personal life, as described in the introduction and commentary in the novel, is also fictional: in The Princess Bride, Goldman claimed to have one son with his wife, Helen, a psychiatrist. In reality, Goldman married Ilene Jones, a photographer, in 1961. They had two daughters named Jenny and Susanna, and they divorced in 1991. Goldman's commentary contains references to his real-life Hollywood career including the observation that the famous cliff scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was likely inspired by the Cliffs of Insanity from The Princess Bride. While Goldman did write the screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in 1969, it is unclear if all the career references have a basis in truth. The commentary is extensive, continuing through the text until the end.