Question 1

Is William Goldman's The Princess Bride actually an abridgment of a real book?

Accepted Answer

No. The Princess Bride presents itself as Goldman's abridgment of a fictional classic by the fictional Florinese author S. Morgenstern, but the conceit is entirely invented — Goldman wrote the whole novel himself. The metafictional framing (Goldman as editor, his wife who hated it, his son who loved it, the fictional passages he supposedly cut) is part of the novel's comic structure. Readers sometimes search for the 'original' Morgenstern edition; it does not exist.

Question 2

How does the novel compare to the 1987 film?

Accepted Answer

The 1987 Rob Reiner film — screenplay by Goldman — is remarkably faithful to the novel's plot while streamlining the metafictional frame considerably. The film omits Goldman's extended commentary, the publishing-world jokes, and some backstory for the Dread Pirate Roberts. The Inigo Montoya and Fezzik characters are essentially the same; Buttercup is slightly more passive in the film. Most fans of the film find the novel equally enjoyable; it is one of the few cases where a film adaptation preserves the spirit of a comic novel almost entirely.

Question 3

Is there a sequel to The Princess Bride?

Accepted Answer

Goldman repeatedly announced a sequel called Buttercup's Baby and published a short excerpt in the 25th anniversary edition (1998). The full novel was never completed or published before Goldman's death in 2018. The excerpt is collected in the anniversary editions of The Princess Bride and gives some indication of where the story might have gone.

The Princess Bride Reading Order

Complete The Princess Bride Book List