William Goldman didn't just write the novel, he wrote the screenplay too, making this one of the rare adaptations shaped entirely by its own author. That makes the comparison a little different from the start.
The Book
The Princess Bride
by William Goldman
The Film
The Princess Bride
Directed by Rob Reiner, 1987
🔀 What Changed
Goldman's novel is framed as an abridgment of a fictional S. Morgenstern manuscript, complete with author intrusions and cut passages that the film mostly drops in favor of a straightforward grandfather-reading-to-grandson frame. The book includes a longer backstory for Buttercup's upbringing and more of Fezzik and Inigo's histories, trimmed for pacing onscreen. The film also softens some of the book's darker, more satirical asides about class and cruelty. Because Goldman wrote the screenplay himself, most structural changes were his own choices rather than a studio's reinterpretation, which makes this pairing unusual among adaptations.
🎙️ What the Author Said
Goldman spoke about the film favorably in multiple interviews over the years, calling it a faithful and satisfying realization of the book's tone, and noted that adapting his own novel gave him control most authors never get. He credited Rob Reiner with preserving the story's blend of romance, comedy, and adventure while trimming the book's more digressive framing devices for the screen.
“Goldman called it the only good film made from any of his books.”
Same story, one author's hand on both versions. Now it's your call.
