More of a theory than a review

Rating: 10/10 (1 January 2017)

I didn't have this theory about "The Princess Bride" for years, until I came close to the age of the grandfather that Peter Falk portrays.
Here's my theory. The grandfather goes to the bedside of his grandson, portrayed by Fred Savage, prepared to do what grandfathers do - read him a story. But no, the grandson protests. Does it have sports in it? This is a silly "yucky" story full of kissing. Skip the kissing parts! So the grandfather decides to teach the grandson a lesson (the beginning of my theory). He takes what was probably a straightforward tale of love lost and found again, of giants and evil princes and rescues and magic spells, and embellishes it with the wisdom that can only come from living sixty years on this planet. Because, let's face it, The Princess Bride as we are told has much wisdom in it.
What are the chances that a story that has been around for a hundred years has lines such as "You fell victim to one of the classic blunders - the most famous of which is "never get involved in a land war in Asia". Only somebody who lived through the Vietnam War era (the grandfather) would come up with this. Too bad Dubya wasn't read this book as a child. Then there is the bit about the Dread Pirate Roberts - an unseen villain who turns out to be a series of villains. He would tuck Wesley into bed each night after he captured him and say "Good night, Westley. Good work. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning." What other sentence so captures the sentiment of working for large corporations these days who will throw you out into the street without a backwards glance? The book hits how people believe something is real or not real based merely on their feelings about it with this zinger as Wesley carries the princess through a dangerous swamp. She cautions him about the ROUS's (Rodents of Unusual Size). Wesley's defense - "I don't think they exist". One immediately attacks.
And finally a great quote about love. An angry Prince Humperdinck after being rejected by Buttercup goes to where Wesley is about to be tortured and states "You truly love each other, and so you might have been truly happy. Not one couple in a century has that chance, no matter what the storybooks say." Only after kissing frogs for decades can I say this is so true. And on it goes.
Thus most of the wisdom of living modern life can be found in this tale within a tale, and I highly recommend it for its humor, its wisdom, and uniqueness. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it.