A Hot Fairy Tale

I absolutely LOVED reading this book. And I was pleased as to the accuracy of the movie adaptation as well. I mean, I shouldn't have been surprised - the man who abridged the book is the same man who wrote the screenplay for the movie. :-) Not that some parts weren't changed, mind you, but it was satisfactory.

Goldman took out the "dry" and "boring stuff" that Morgenstern had in his book. Which basically means all the satire on Florin is gone (the stuff that the Florin history buffs love). Of course, now I want to go hunt up his enormous book and read it for myself (which I actually do plan on doing), even though apparently Morgenstern wasn't concerned about the material that makes up the hilarious "good parts" version. The book is just as quotable as the movie. (uh, wait, I already covered that, didn't I). It really is a must read.

Goldman's abridgement style is wonderful. He tells you what he is cutting out and why, and then tells the story in Morgenstern's actual words, instead of just rewriting the whole thing to suit Goldman's fancy (like so many abridgments are so uncreatively typically done).

Read the book, see the movie. Enjoy life. Unlike Westley you probably only have one to live.

(n.b. 2010 - I've been looking for the "original" book ... and I don't think it exists. I think it's just part of Goldman's style to say he edited a book to allow for some of the "lapses" - but that doesn't change the fact that I think this is a great book!)

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