YPG’s Viewing of The Princess Bride: A YPG Member’s Write-up of S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman
It was their favorite movie in all the world. Or their favorite book. Most of the YPG members who gathered at Harlequin’s offices on June 27 were not there to experience something new. (Except one person who had somehow managed to live past high school without seeing The Princess Bride.) They wanted to rewatch a classic they’d already seen at least 67 times, or discuss how inferior the book is to the movie, or how inferior the movie is to the book, depending.
Here, the YPG writer goes on for several paragraphs about which YPG members attended, which AAP member publishing houses and literary agencies they work for, who ate which variety of flavored popcorn, and how difficult it was to find the bathroom. I don’t know what the YPG writer was trying to accomplish here, but I think maybe her editor had taken a vacation when she wrote this bit.
“The book is better! Where’s the Zoo of Death in the movie?,” one YPGer cried. “I thought the movie was more earnest and the book more sarcastic,” shouted another. The viewers were altogether impressed by the book’s economy of language and compact nature, but what else would you expect from a group of editors? Some members, never having read the book, were surprised by its story-within-a-story structure, although most managed to make it through the conversation without using the words “metatextual” or “postmodern.” The room didn’t exactly divide into teams and face off in a to-the-pain duel, but there was a clear split between those who’d seen the book first (and so liked the book better), and those who’d seen the movie first, and tended to prefer the movie.
The group was relieved to learn, from a trained fencer, that the fencing in the movie is actually really good.
The meeting did not end with any romantic kisses, majestic white horses, or odd postscript chapters, but everyone left in good spirits and full of flavored popcorn, regardless.
The next Book to Film Club selection is Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding (Penguin). The screening of the 2001 film will take place on Wednesday, August 29, from 7:00-9:30 pm at Penguin (375 Hudson St.). Pick up your copy of this perfect beach read now!
