The Prestige by Christopher Priest Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Prestige
Book Review: Wow - Movie and Book, Both Great
Summary: 5 Stars
If you saw the movie READ THE BOOK. If you read the book SEE THE MOVIE. They are both spectacular, and both are very different. One of the few times when I can say this in full earnest.
If you love Victorian-era magic, plots with spectacular twists and turns, and shifts in perspective, this is a must read!
Book Review: awesome and fascinating
Summary: 5 Stars
My first book by Christopher Priest and I am already in love. I find difficult to label such a book, that takes equally after Science Fiction, victorian-like, and fantasy genres. I had the impression that I was reading a classic book, written in an old-fashion way, classy and genteel.
The story starts nowadays, when Kate Angier meets Andrew Borden. This down-to-earth part tends to become more and more mysterious. All through out the book given to Andrew by Kate, we soon learn more about their ancestors, two rivals, who fought until the end, wanting to be and stay the best of all..
First, we learn about Alfred Borden, an ambitious and talented magician who explains the hows and whys of his ascension, how he became a famous artist in spite of his working-class origins. He talks about his rivalry with another well-known magician called Rupert Angier. The last part of the book (read by Andrew) presents another point of view, with Angier's diary. Suddenly the story turns out different, some unexplained facts and details told by Borden are partially explained, but the mystery remains. The fantasy part is quite subtle, the book seems still "realistic", no big effect, no spectacular stuff to impress the reader. We soon understand that this novel is mainly about doppelgänger, in many ways. We have two points of view, different, complementing each other. We easily understand what it will happen, but still don't know how, the novel is a trick in itself, one of those mentioned by both Albert and Rupert, you know how it will end, but ignore the process.
The author makes the most of such fascinating themes as brotherhood, rivalry, physical and psychological doppelganger, delusion, reality, with style and refinement.
I also recommend the movie derived from this excellent novel, The prestige, by Christopher Nolan with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. The plot may have some alterations compared with the book, some could say it is too far from the novel, but it still works perfectly too, a great movie for a great novel.
Book Review: fantastic!
Summary: 5 Stars
I first heard of this book when news came out about the film being made by the very capable Christopher Nolan. I more or less read the entire novel in a weekend, and I can't get it out of my mind. It seems to be slow in some parts, but in retrospect, virtually no line is wasted and while in unfolds slowly, it's very carefully thought out. The point of the whole novel, or the main plot twist, isn't even evident until the closing pages of the book when all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. I thought that the book was fantastic, perhaps not for everyone, but certainly for fans of mystery and perhaps even sci-fi. Highly reccomended.Book Review: not quite the movie, but still a well told tale
Summary: 4 Stars
My wife and I saw the movie and we loved it. We wanted to see it a second time but thought that reading the book might help us figure some things out. It didn't. The book and the movie only follow the basic core story.
Set mostly near the turn of the twentieth century in England, The Prestige tells the dual (and perhaps duel) tales of Rupert Angier and Alfred Borden, two magicians who had a fierce and violent rivalry. The book starts with one of Borden's descendants being given a book on magic written by Alfred Borden and that book was part diary. Borden Descendant follows a lead for a newspaper story to the woman who sent him that book: a Descendant of Angier. Then The Prestige moves into the Alfred Borden diary segments, then back to the present day, then to Angier's journals, then back to the present day and Christopher Priest constructs this novel well enough that everything fits and makes sense, but there is still a bit of a confusing mess in a well constructed novel. There is just a lot going on as to why these two magicians are feuding (in the movie there is a very good reason, in the book it all seems so petty).
I am already engaged in the story because of how good I thought the movie was, but Christopher Priest had a lot to live up to as source material and this is a very good novel. I think the movie is somewhat superior (the movie gets a bit less weird at the end than the book does), but Priest still spins us a good story. I wanted to move past the present day stuff to get back into the fued of Angier and Borden and since Angier's perspective came second in the book we can see everything Borden wrote being tempered by our new knowledge of Angier's side and how they seem to remember things differently. This is one thing Priest excelled at: he gives the first person perspective of different characters distinct voices and speech (and writing) patterns so that we can tell who is writing and telling the story and they do not feel the same. It's a very well written book and without the movie I would probably say "Outstanding!" but with the movie I'll just say the book was rather good.
-Joe Sherry
Book Review: the prestige
Summary: 2 Stars
it's taking forever to read; the story appeal to readers with interest in magic, the book drags and drags and and it's quite different from the movie, like always.