The Prestige by Christopher Priest Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Prestige
Book Review: How did I miss this???
Summary: 5 Stars
When I saw previews of the movie this book is based on, I bought the book. And I can honestly say that if the movie is half as good as the book, it wil be a wild ride!
I think the illusionists, magicians have always caught our imaginations. Look now - we have David Blaine, David Copperfield, Criss Angel. You look at some of their tricks and you see the impossible.
That is the premise of this book - 2 wonderfully talented magicians at the end of the 19th century becoming huge stars, and the misunderstanding that made then rivals. Each feat one performs must be better than the other's - and that's saying a lot.
Told mostly in a journal form of each magician's diary, we see the reason the ill will happened and the mis-attempts to reconcile.
There were a few things toward the end of the book that were very interesting - and would I like to discuss it with others who also enjoyed the book.
The use of technology that was just emerging is amazing.
The action is amazing.
The writing is amazing.
And in its own right the ending is amazing.
Will compare the movie to this book - think that both will have their winning points -
Could not put this one down.
Book Review: I haven't seen the movie (yet), but the book is excellent.
Summary: 5 Stars
Frequently when I read a book, novel or non-fiction, I'm typically ready to finish it before it's over. "The Prestige," however, is a rare gem that kept me reading and wanting more. Priest truly keeps it all together throughout. About 2/3 of the way through, I questioned how Rupert Angier could do a certain trick with one object and seemingly get a different result that he did with another object. That was just bait. I'm now ready to see the movie and I'm sure it will be great.
If you're interested in turn-of-the-twentieth-century magicians, science, mystery and well-written, cogent fiction that doesn't read like it was hammered out in three months by John Grisham or Dan Brown, then by all means get yourself a copy of "The Prestige."
Book Review: Magic is Magic
Summary: 4 Stars
"The Prestige" is truly exciting reading. It chronicles the rivalry of two outstanding magicians of the latter 19th and early 20th centuries. It is written in diary form (akin to Bram Stoker's "Dracula")which heightens the intimacy of the characters for the reader. Add to that a plot with many twists and turns that keep the reader's attention at a high pitch. Since the book is about stage magic, it gives some insight into traditional magic tricks but doesn't give all the magic away. I recommend it as very enjoyable reading.Book Review: Magical fun
Summary: 5 Stars
This was a lot of fun but probably doesn't warrant repeated reading since it's pretty dependent on plot twists and shocks to hold your interest. With most Christopher Priest novels currently out of print (Dream of Wessex, etc) it's nice to see this one still out there and it's one of his better novels too, which is a nice bonus. Basically it concerns two magicians at the turn of the century who's paths cross and through a series of unpleasant events become bitter rivals, screwing up each other's tricks and driving each other to more and more complicated illusions in a magical game of oneupmanship. This tale is told through two journals as read by their descendants, first one magician, than the other. This style works pretty well, there are some quirks and it probably won't fool anyone who is a Victorian scholar but it looks good enough to me and it's not enough to make me hate the books. What he does an excellent job of is getting us into the world of magicians, without turning the book into a tedious expose of how they do their tricks ('cause it's all about the illusion), you get a glimpse into a sort of exclusive club that's all about convincing you that you're seeing what you shouldn't be seeing. The method of using both journals is a trick that required quite a bit of skill to pull off properly, since the order of the journals make a bit of difference in order to remain surprising and it's interesting to see two different versions of events, especially when one explains the other in greater detail (the only problem with that is that by the time you get to the concurrent event in the second journal, you might have forgotten what happened the first time around). Some people might take some issue with the fact that it gets seriously weird toward the end, and being that the book mostly sticks to "real" stuff the way it starts to go toward fantasy might turn off some people . . . you'll have to read and decide that for yourself, unfortunately. Also, I wasn't exactly sure what the point of the bookending modern day descendants was, they barely appear and Priest doesn't make too much of an effort to give them any sort of personality, which leaves the ending a little flatter than maybe it should be. Still, this is a fine novel showing a lot of imagination and skill, and those looking for fantasy without elves and swords should take a sharp detour here. Even with its flaws, it's highly readable and very recommended.Book Review: Masterful writing style - should be on the bestseller list.
Summary: 4 Stars
I saw the film before reading the book, and enjoyed both thoroughly, but can't understand reviewers who say they liked the film better. Both were wonderful, and for different reasons. the film was great because of the gorgeous and passionate actors and their escalating rivalry. The novel is exquisitely written: brilliant pacing, literate to the nth degree. It was a pleasure to read a truly beautiful work of art. I gave it four stars, however, for the ending. I felt that it suddenly turned into horror (as opposed to fantasy), as if H.P. Lovecraft (one of my favorites, I might add) had been called into hurriedly tack on a shocking conclusion. I had so enjoyed the measured pace and suddenly, it was all blurry and running together in haste. Maybe the author was constrained by a frugal publisher, who knows. Still, I will always think of reading this book with great pleasure, and recommend it to my friends.