Journal Entry #8

When reading The Princess Bride, one of the most interesting things about the novel is
that the author William Goldman presents it as if it is an abridged version of an already existing
novel by an author from the country of Florin named Simon Morgenstern. Of course,
Morgenstern and Florin are completely fictional. However, that is not the extent to which the
facts are fabricated in this novel. A more in depth description goes something like this. William
Goldman is a successful novelist and screenwriter, and he has just finished his work of adapting
a novel called The Stepford Wives into a movie. As a child, he came down with pneumonia and
was bedridden for a few days, during which his father, a barely literate immigrant from the
country of Florin that has a strained relationship with his son, read him a book called The
Princess Bride, which became Goldmans favorite book and inspired a love of reading in him
that led him to his current occupation. He resolves to buy this same book to give to his son, a
pudgy ten year old that is spoiled by his psychiatrist mother, for his tenth birthday.
Unfortunately, it turns out that the book is currently out of print, and he goes through great
pains to obtain a copy. He comes to find, however, that his son becomes bored of the book in
the second chapter. Goldman, initially confused, finds that his father never read him the book
in its entirety. As it turns out, Simon Morgenstern wrote the book largely as a satire of the
excesses and debauchery of the European monarchy. Understandably, this satire is brilliant to
any Florinese scholar, but it will bore even the most patient of other readers. Thus, Goldmans
father understandably skipped over these portions of the novel when reading it to his son. This
inspires Goldman, after discovering that his publisher has the rights to The Princess Bride, to
create the abridged version with only the good parts, cutting out all of the satire, informing
readers as to what few important details that they missed, and also adding in his own side
comments. So how much of this true? The answer is: very little. In addition to the previously
stated fabrications, Goldmans wife is not a psychiatrist, they have two daughters and no son,
and I can find no evidence of his father being an immigrant from anywhere. However, I do know
for a fact that he was of Jewish descent and did indeed have strained relations with his son due
to his alcoholism that led to his business shutting down and his eventual suicide. I can
understand fabricating details about the history of the book, but why did Goldman do so with
details about his own life? Considering how little of the book Goldmans writing actually takes
up, it can be difficult to make out what his intention was in telling the story in this way.
However, one theory I have found presumes that Goldman is inviting the reader to view the
text as a work that is malleable rather than one that is set in stone. Also, it can be deduced that
by making constant references to his editors and publishers, Goldman is revealing the strict
structure of the literary industry and is creating a tone that is in direct opposition to this
structure. If this is his true intent, Goldman is inviting the reader to create their own world
through a text and to pay no heed to what is real or not. Its very fascinating, and the
implications of taking this message to heart never cease to fascinate me. However, this still
doesnt explain the entirety of Goldmans reasoning. It seems that it will always remain a
mystery to me.