Review: As You Wish by Cary Elwes

As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

Recommended: Yes!!
For fans of The Princess Bride, for insight into a movie set and the process from before-start to twnety-years-after-finish, for the chance to listen to Cary Elwes’ soothing voice for about eight hours

Summary

The Princess Bride has been a family favorite for close to three decades. Ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the top 100 Greatest Love Stories and by the Writers Guild of America as one of the top 100 screenplays of all time, The Princess Bride will continue to resonate with audiences for years to come.

Cary Elwes was inspired to share his memories and give fans an unprecedented look into the creation of the film while participating in the twenty-fifth anniversary cast reunion. In As You Wish he has created an enchanting experience; in addition to never-before seen photos and interviews with his fellow cast mates, there are plenty of set secrets and backstage stories.

With a foreword by Rob Reiner and a limited edition original poster by acclaimed artist Shepard Fairey, As You Wish is a must-have for all fans of this beloved film.

Thoughts

I have listened to, I think, 3 audiobooks in my life besides this one (and one I ended up switching to a printed copy about halfway through to finish). So I have no idea why I decided to grab the audiobook version of this book and start listening. However, I am so glad I did! This is basically exactly what I never knew I’d want in an audiobook. I suppose if I’m going to listen to one that isn’t narrated by Stefan Rudnicki, Cary Elwes is a pretty good follow-up! And in honor of my successful audiobook foray, I voice-to-text wrote this review. 🙂

Cary narrates the majority of the book, as most stories are from his perspective. However, multiple other people who were involved in the movie include stories of their own, and their own perspectives on ones that carry tells. In the audiobook, most of them read their extracts and those who are unable to have a dedicated person to speak for them. This made it really easy to tell when it swapped, though they also said each person’s name before it was their words that came. It was really fun to hear everybody’s voices though, as it felt more like a group conversation and made it really engaging and almost interactive.

The whole vibe overall was that of Good Friends talking about something they absolutely loved. And honestly, that pretty much matches with what they describe the whole experience as. There isn’t much that I find that is truly heartwarming, and wholesome, and a scenario where everybody is happy and kind and loves each other and has fun. Yet somehow, that’s what all the making of this movie as well as the movie itself seemed to be. It was a really lovely thing to read and listen to.

I did get a copy of the e-book as well that happened to come in from the library while I had the audiobook in case I wanted to swap, and I noticed at the end you book had some photos which I’m glad I didn’t miss. there’s also a lengthy index if there’s some topic that you specifically want to read about or reference back to.

I don’t know much about movie making or film industry or acting or really any of that. This went from the initial script reading and trying to get the movie funded and proved to be made, all the way through filming and to a 20-year reunion showing with the cast. It covered a lot of ground, and despite my ignorance about it all, It was easy to follow along and feel like I was there with them through the whole process. And of course, the little pieces of insight behind scenes in the movie were really fun to hear about. I already re-watched it once since I was reading through this book, but now I might need to do it again to see if I can tell which scenes Cary had a broken toe in. 🤭