As You Wish

I had been wanting to read As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales From The Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes for quite some time.  Finally I stumbled upon it at my public library.

Get a library card, folks.  It's good for ya.

So I couldn't not read the book.  I'm a huge fan of the movie, as I'm sure you are too.  Show me someone who doesn't like The Princess Bride.  I actually know one person who watched it for the first time as an adult and they just didn't seem to get it.  They really didn't like it.  I don't speak to them anymore.

If you're a lifelong Princess Bride fan, then you'll enjoy this book.  If you're a casual fan, maybe not so much.  Elwes does recap the story of The Princess Bride for you, but really, unless you're a fan of the movie or Andre The Giant you probably wouldn't put this book in your hands.

I liked it.

I think the book was a bit long, and at times often seemed like a love letter to William Goldman and Rob Reiner, and the cast of the movie.  About halfway through the book I considered not finishing it.  It just seemed a bit too gushy for me.  It was like you couldn't turn a page until you had read the words, "...because of Rob's brilliant directing..." or "...we knew Goldman's words were just perfect..." or "what a great actor ____________ was and they were truly the only actor for the part of Buttercup/Inigo/Viccini/Count Rugen."  At the halfway point when I set the book down to get ready for bed I actually said out loud, "Okay, I get it.  You loved being a part of this movie."

Then it dawned on me.  This wasn't like other Hollywood memoirs.

There wasn't any dishing happening.

There were no behind-the-scenes stories to make anyone else look bad.  If anything, Cary Elwes talks himself down as an idiot who broke his toe trying to impress Andre The Giant.  There were no stories of lust for Robin Wright.  Just genuine love for her and working with her.  This was a very different kind of Hollywood memoir.

When I returned to the book the next morning, it felt more like I was sitting in a room with the cast of one of my very favorite movies and they were all just recalling some fun times they had.  Much like getting back together with your buddies from college.  You haven't seen each other in ten years, but have a beer or two and you're right back into the old jokes, routines, and antics that made you such good friends in the first place.

There was something very comforting about Elwes' words.  Especially if you could hear the voice of Westley narrating it in your head as I could.  And then before I knew it, the book was done.  And I wanted more.  So much so that the next night I put the movie on for me and my daughter to watch.

So if you love the movie, check out the book, and have fun storming the castle.

Thanks for reading!
- ryan