by William Goldman
ISBN: 9-780747-590583
First published 1973
317 pages
Cover illustration: Gino D’Achille
Cover design: John Fordham
Publisher: Bloomsbury
4/5 Stars
The book of the film, or rather, the book that the film was made from.
William Goldman also wrote the screenplay for his own novel. The film follows the book very closely. The only difference is that the author himself narrates the ‘abridged’ version of the book. In the film the narrator is played by Peter Falk as the boy’s Granddad, reading him a story as he recovers from an illness.
The prologue is not in the film, and is unexpected. It is a very good commentary on modern life, modern marriage, modern child-rearing and the expectations children, and adults, have to contend with. it is worth reading the book just for this rich insight.
We love the characters Goldman has created, Inigo Montoya. We learn his back story, the father that he loved and adored. We learn Fezzick’s back-story – the giant that was teased and couldn’t ever obtain a fair-fight.
It is also a clever mechanism in having an ‘abridged’ version, Goldman claiming to have to shorten the original version by S. Morgenstern somewhat. It becomes almost a tale within a tale, (though not quite).
The Eclectic Book Review 