DYING! Prepare to do it

Written a month ago, but never posted...

I'm sitting here musing over my novel, which isn't as funny as I'd like it to be. So before I keep writing, I'm having some Thinks.

I was thinking about narration, because I might have some sort of clearly outside narrator, like The Brief Wondrous History of Oscar Wao. And then I remembered the greatest Omniscient Narrator in humor: The Princess Bride.

The first people I know who read the book were Swiss Girl, myself, and my brother. I think it was before the movie came out, but Swiss Girl might remember better. We all admitted that in the beginning we were taken in, thinking there really was an S Morgenstern whose book Goldman was abridging. But as you read the narrator speaking so disparagingly about his wife and son (I always remember "my son rolled into the room") you realize it's a joke. The narrator is a fictitious version of Goldman, and there's no S Morgenstern.

Years later friend Gilby and I used to hang at an all-night deli and regularly had a waitress whose favorite book was The Princess Bride. When she found out we worked for a book store she brought up the problem she'd been having of trying to get her hands on the original unabridged Princess Bride.

It fell to me to dash her dreams. From that time on we called her Buttercup, to make up for it.

Just now I was reading through the reviews on amazon and sure enough there are lots of people who hate the book because (a) all the narration bits are boring and ruin this beautiful tale and they wish they could find the original unabridged version; or (b) they're angry because they've discovered there's no unabridged version; or (c) they're angry at how misogynistic and mean spirited it is.

It's possibly one of the greatest literary hoaxes since the War of the Worlds radio broadcasts. And a good reminder of the comedic possibilities of narration. Maybe it's time for a re-read.

Also... the expression "The good parts version" is one of my absolute faves.