Yesterday I finished rereading The Princess Bride. I've been meaning to for a while, and it was definitely fun to read again. I always get confused about how much of the life he mentions is real so I looked it up on Wikipedia last night - the definitely answer is - none of it. He has two daughters, not a son, his wife is not a psychologist, he never wrote a reunion scene, and I very much doubt he has pneumonia as kid... I wonder if he had a teacher in fifth grade who encouraged him... probably not either.
It's funny, I guess I'm pretty gullible (I *know* I'm pretty gullible) because the first time I read it I thought the whole thing was real - I thought S. Morgenstern was real, and I must have thought Florin was real too - though I don't know how I thought that was possible because I'm not that ignorant. But anyway, it was funny when I figured it all out. It's definitely a great device (don't I sound literary? :) - he uses that word a lot) for writing... kind of clues you in that the whole thing is a satire. Which is something I did not get the first time I watched the movie, but in my defense, I think I was pretty young at the time - I just thought it was a really cheesy, low budget movie.
But but to my actual opinion of the book - well I obviously like this book, I've read it more than once (this is probably my third time) but... I have to say I found his tone a little more annoying than in previous times. I mean you can just *tell* he's getting kick out of the multiple layers and pretending to be respectful and at the same time slightly bemused by "Morgenstern" - I get a kick out of it too, but I can just feel him smirking... don't know if I'm being clear, I just felt he was being a little self-satisfied, or self-promoting or something self-oriented. That being said, it was still fun to read and very funny... and if he is proud of himself, so what, it was a great idea! Multiple layers of tongue in cheek are fun! and the idea that he made up this outrageous family (thinking here of his fat son Jason and their relationship...) you just gotta shake your head and smile at that one...
so verdict is (should I start doing verdicts? maybe... maybe I need a cute measure like 5... I don't know 5...something other than stars... well I'll think of something...) for now 4/5 stars - a really funny book! and I'm sure I'll go back to it again a few years
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