Reading The Princess Bride was a delightful experience for many reasons, but my absolute favorite part was the introductions of Inigo and Fezzik. Because, in the book, the kidnappers are not introduced as: Inigo, Fezzik, and Vizzini. They are instead called: the Spaniard, the Turk, and the Sicilian.
You don’t learn the Spaniard’s name, to my memory, until the Sicilian leaves him at the top of the cliffs to fight the man in black. While the Spaniard, whose name is Inigo, is waiting, the novel suddenly pauses to tell you the entire backstory of this Spaniard named Inigo Montoya.
You learn about a swordmaker named Yeste and another swordmaker named Domingo, who were good friends. Yeste lived in the city and was a fine enough swordmaker, but every once and a while he would get a job he couldn’t do, and so he’d ride out and enlist the help of the more temperamental and talented Domingo, Inigo’s father. And you learn about the six-fingered man who came one day for a sword beyond all others, and how this ended in the six-fingered man killing Domingo, and how the orphaned Inigo disappeared on Yeste and went to travel the world to learn sword-fighting. And you learn about how Yeste accidentally became a very famous swordmaker, and how he kept on raising prices and increasing the wait time in the hopes of getting all these kings and princes to go away, because he was getting old and fat and too rich. And then Inigo comes back and they reunite. And then you learn about how, despite becoming a great swordsman, Inigo falls into despair and starts drinking simply because he can’t find the six-fingered man he’s sworn to kill. And how the Sicilian came along and hired him.
And then suddenly, the novel goes back to the cliff, and the Spaniard is supposed to duel the man in black. Only, the Spaniard is now known to be Inigo Montoya, with a tragic backstory and a very important quest! And you’re kinda like, “Oh, man, is Inigo going to die now?!”
And then, just a little later, the giant Turk is left behind by the Sicilian, to fight the man in black where Inigo failed to stop him. The reader is now told that the giant’s name is Fezzik. And, while the giant Turk named Fezzik has to wait around for the man in black to show up, the novel pauses again to tell you the entire backstory of this Turk named Fezzik.
You learn about Fezzik being born large and strong, and how this made his life very difficult, because people would make assumptions. And you learn about how Fezzik’s parents tried to help him stand up for himself a bit more. In the book, it’s Fezzik’s mother who declares, “Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something.” And you learn a lot about Fezzik’s pro-wrestling/fighting career and various tragedies, and so on and so forth, everything that led Fezzik to this one moment.
So, by the end of this, you’re back in the countryside and you know all about Fezzik, who’s had a rather difficult life. And you’re a lot more invested in the outcome of the fight between Fezzik and the man in black.
I think the movies absolutely made the right choice in removing these extended backstories, because they would have taken up too much time and they’re really not necessary in such elaborate detail. The point of these backstories, as I see them, is to get you to be invested in Inigo and Fezzik, who are both so much more than the Spaniard and the Turk, for when they come back later. The movie accomplishes this very efficiently through the charisma of the actors and through the dialogue during these two fight scenes, which actually simultaneously helps improve Inigo and Fezzik’s respective relationships to this man in black, and makes it easier to believe Inigo and Fezzik and the man in black would trust each other later in the movie. In the movie, you’re given just enough of Inigo’s backstory to set up his conflict with Count Rugen, and the actors’ performances sell the history there just fine!
But still, reading those backstories and getting swept away in Inigo and Fezzik’s pasts, only to dumped back just in time for a life-or-death fight was delightful. It’s definitely not a style that can be pulled off in every novel.
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