The Prestige by Christopher Priest Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Prestige
Book Review: A Grippingly Gothic, Clever, and Cold-Hearted Tale!
Summary: 5 Stars
I found Glen David Gold's CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL (about rival magicians in San Francisco during the 1920s) one of my most memorable reads of the last decade. I mention this both to establish that I have a fondness both for tales of stage magicians from yesteryear and for excellent writing, and CARTER was an exceptional example of both.
THE PRESTIGE is generally similar to Gold's book in that it deals with a magicians' rivalry (this time in Victorian-era England), but there the analogy wears thin. Priest's book is both more complex and colder than Gold's; there is no warm sentimentalism, and precious little humor to be found here. Instead, Priest has crafted a plot weaving together the narratives of four characters (two contemporary and two deceased) in a tale that crosses borders from thriller, to mystery, to (ultimately) the macabre.
And it's an impressive ride. If I may presume, let me encourage the reader to hang in there in the early going. Frankly, this is an unexceptional story until page 130 or so. It was at that point that I was willing to forgive Priest his tiresome detailing of various stage tricks, as his story hurdled from the merely interesting to the grippingly Gothic. Well done, sir!
SIDELIGHT: The careful reader will profit from carefully tracking the various narrators' voices (though even then, one will periodically have to flip the pages backwards, usually resulting in an admiring "Clever devil!") That said, it seems there's an outrageous editing error in chapter five of Kate Angiers' narrative. This is the only section of the book told in third-person... for no apparent reason!
Book Review: A book and a movie.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm writing two reviews at once, since I watched the movie and read the book. I think it's fair to compare and contrast the two.
They are both valuable and highly entertaining. The book has the benefit of really working with the setting successfully. What it does is take the reader to Victorian England epistle style, through the diaries of two men, Alfred Borden and Rupert "Robbie" Angier who started a feud of magical rivals on the basis of harmful clashes to their reputations when they were both younger. It's a long journey through careers as they each improve in skill and daring, as they perfect their respective signature tricks, the effect of which are called Prestige.
The character building is masterful and like a great magic trick, the secret is right in front of the reader the entire time. Both secrets I should say.
What the book lacks is what the movie has a major strength and that's adventure and obsession. These magicians are living their illusions, consumed by them and defined by them and the movie does that better than the book because the movie concentrates on the surrounding characters and what their reactions to the magicians are and what each of these two men are giving up. It could have been told well in the book, but only through auxiliary letters or accounts because these narcissists are consumed by themselves and each other that they can't notice the effects . . . that's one of the things lacking in the book. The other is the sense of adventure. In the book, they each have a lifetime and that lifetime is dedicated to their work and besting their rival, but the movie solves that problem by turning the story into a murder mystery that fits well with the central themes and tricks.
It's this second reason that makes the movie my preference between the two and why the movie gets a higher rating. Not that they aren't both worthy of your time.
- CV Rick
Book Review: A bright failure
Summary: 2 Stars
"The Prestige" starts off brilliantly enough--some of the ideas on the nature of illusion gave me shivers (particularly the story of another magician feigning an illness for his entire life in order to conceal the secret behind his greatest trick.) I really thought I was onto something having discovered this book; the first two sections hinted at a deeply intertwined plot and more brilliance to come.The third section slows considerably, though, and crawls through lengthy explanations of the "secrets" behind implausible stage effects. In the end, the plot stumbles and limps its way to a contrived and predictable thud at the end. (Actually a bit of a surprise: that a novel that started so well would end so poorly--but that's not a welcome surprise.)
I thought that perhaps the printer had left out the final chapter, the one that would tie the two time frames of the narrative together, or explain the deeper meaning behind the story. Sadly, that was all there was to it: A big disappointment.
Book Review: A curious book - possibly great, but presumably not
Summary: 4 Stars
Other reviewers have already mentioned what the story is about (at face value, at least): the rivalry of two Victorian stage magicians - Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier. They have also mentioned how Priest approaches his subject material: after a short introduction, centered on two modern-day descendants of Borden and Angier, the reader is presented with Borden's journal (and hence his version of the feud). After briefly returning to the present day, it's Angier's turn: the lengthiest part of the book deals with his take on events, as set out in his diary. Finally, it's back to the present for a short and sharp conclusion - with horrific overtones (think "Turn Of The Screw" here, not "Night Of The Living Dead").What other reviewers have not really pointed out yet, however, is the following: the story doesn't make sense. Most importantly, there seems to be no real reason for the magician's feud. Okay, there're reasons it started - good ones, in fact - but no explanation is given as to why it continued (and, indeed, got quite out of hand). In fact, in their respective accounts, both magicians repeatedly mention wishing it to end.
So why didn't it?
Well, there would seem to be two explanations. Firstly, Priest may have purposefully left out essential ingredients in the two magicians' tales, leaving us to figure out their real motives for ourselves. If so, it might well be that "The Prestige" is not just a stylised (if somewhat stilted) exercise in pseudo Victorian romance, but also a well thought-out and intelligent story. In that case, though, I have to admit Priest has set me a challenge I could not meet. Simply put, I read a book I didn't understand.
The alternative is this: Priest, so taken up with the style and outline of his tale, has simply forgotten that his characters should not only act, but act believably. He's forgotten that every story, first and foremost, needs a credible plot (unless you're Virginia Woolf, of course, but that's another matter entirely). But if that is true, "The Prestige", for all its stylistic merits, is very fundamentally flawed indeed. It is, ultimately, a whallop of Victorian cream without a strawberry in sight.
I understand that this may seem to be a slightly abstract review. But think of it this way: to what extent are you prepared to be tricked by an author? Say you're reading a detective story, and at the end there's this great and unexpected denouement (no, she couldn't possibly be the murderer - oh, wait - yes of course! How clever!). And then, suddenly, the realisation that things don't add up at all (that's just stupid!). So: was it, after all, a good book or bad?
In the end, the question "The Prestige" raises goes to the heart of storytelling. Which is why it may be a great book - but probably isn't. And which is why, perhaps strangely, I'm giving it four stars. After all, it gets you thinking. And that can't be bad, surely...
Book Review: AbracaPocus! PocusCadabra! Walla walla washington!
Summary: 5 Stars
...As you can see, my hands are empty...Have you noticed that people either loved this book or they hated it? And I mean, they either LUUUUVED it or they H-A-T-E-D it. (Not a lot of middle of the roaders.) So, the $100 question is "Are YOU going to love or hate reading this book?" Well, it depends.
...Nothing up my sleeve...
The back of the book synopsizes the story with this quote, "In 1878, two young stage magicians clash in the dark during the source of a fraudulent séance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and revelation as they vie to outwit and expose one another."
...Now watch closely...
The Prestige is about magic, and in today's world, magic has become a dirty word. Movie special effects and technology rationalize just about any act of illusion for us and Three Card Monte is a shame, nothing more than an effort to rob you of your hard-earned money. When did we get such a bug up our preverbal butts about something as simple as slight of hand, misdirection or science used to entertain? Everyone MUST know how IT is really done.
...PRESTO...
Will you like this book? It all comes down to this: Do you need a definitive answer from your books and movies? If you hated The Blair Witch Project and other stories that left the answers "out there" or up to your imagination then you are not going to like this book. There were a few people who said, "This book ended too early." I'm guessing what they really meant to say was, "he didn't show us how he did it."
...(Stunned silence)...
The Prestige is an excellent book, but not for everyone. The characters are complicated and rich. I enjoyed the distinct narrative voices and Priest's research into the world of magic. It's a book about misdirection and The Rabbit That Comes Out of the Magician's Hat. But if you want a book that spells it out, a book that tells you who is right and who is wrong then the Prestige is not the next book for you.
...(Applause)...