Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True Love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.A rare case where the movie was better. The book is bitter, maybe too satiric. But how can I say anything more that isn't praise? It's The Princess Bride after all.
Because, my friend Yeste, you are very famous and very rich, and so you should be, because you make wonderful weapons. But you must also make them for any fool who happens along. I am poor, and no one knows me in all the world except you and Inigo, but I do not have to suffer fools.
You are an artist, Yeste said.
No. Not yet. A craftsman only. But I dream to be an artist. I pray that someday, if I work with enough care, if I am very very lucky, I will make a weapon that is a work of art. Call me an artist then, and I will answer.
And that's when she put her book down. And looked at me. And said it: Life isn't fair, Bill. We tell our children that it is, but it's a terrible thing to do. It's not only a lie, it's a cruel lie. Life is not fair, and it never has been, and it's never going to be.
These are bits and pieces of the mystery, not given that we should understand and thereby dissolve it, but that with each new speck its depth might be expanded and we humbled.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
The Princess Bride
William Goldman
I very much agree!
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