The Prestige by Christopher Priest
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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: "I Will Go Alone to the End..."
Summary: 4 Stars
Like many other recent reviewers, I was drawn to Christopher Priest's novel after having watched and enjoyed the Nolan Brothers' adaptation of his work into cinematic form. Going into the reading experience I knew that several plot twists would be spotted a mile away, but the film is sufficiently different from its source material that Priest's work contains several surprises.
Journalist Andrew Westley is brought under false pretences to a Derbyshire estate to meet with a young woman who is quite desperate to get in contact with him. Andrew is an entirely ordinary man, except for one quirk: having been adopted at a young age, he is convinced that he has a twin brother somewhere in the world, despite all evidence to the contrary. However, his informant Kate Angier thinks that she can shed some light on his situation, believing that a traumatic experience she had as a child and Andrew's own confused past all has something to do with their great-grandfathers: Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier, two 19th century stage illusionists.
Their story unfolds with the discovery of two journals that recount a bitter feud between the two men, how it escalated over the years, and how it still affects the last surviving members of each family. This contemporary framing device is the biggest departure the Nolan brothers took in adapting from book to film, and is eerie, chilling new material for those that were introduced to the story via the film.
Priest uses the device of journal entries to recount the lives of Borden and Angiers, shedding more light on their backgrounds and upbringings, and recounting their shared experiences from each man's point of view. Both live their lives shrouded in mystery and secrets, each engaged in a bitter feud with one another that has devastating consequences.
Many liberties were taken in the film (usually to good effect), and it is an intriguing exercise in contrasting and comparing the two mediums. The Nolan brothers took Priest's premise and characters, and shaped into something that was quite different and yet still the same in essentials. The film makes more of the feud itself (which is not nearly so personal in the book; nor does it start with the same set of circumstances), and has more to say about the dangers of obsession and its detrimental affect on those that surround the protagonists. Characters such as Olivia and Cutter are present, but modified, as is the historical personage of Nikola Tesla and his role to play. Each magicians' family life is explored in more detail, the diary entries are jettisoned, and a waiting-for-the-gallows plot is introduced - in other words, plenty of bits and pieces have been changed about.
The book on the other hand keeps the men more or less separate throughout their lifetimes, and they have little personal investment in the rivalry - in fact, neither one is quite sure *why* they partake in it. The most satisfying aspect of the novel is to see how Borden's recollections of certain events match up with Angier's own take on what was happening, as well as each man's love of both magic and family and how each of these things motivated them.
It is impossible for me to say whether I would have guessed Borden's secret without having seen the film first, but the particulars of Angier's secret have been ever-so-slightly tweaked in the film. This means that the consequences of his secret lead to significantly different circumstances in the novel, as well as a new climax and denouncement. One thing I did find interesting is that it is Angier's narration that takes up the bulk of the novel, lending him a degree of sympathy that was not quite as apparent in the film.
Since both film and book come very highly recommended by me, the real question remains is: what does one do first - watch the film or read the book? Unless you somehow find a way to do it concurrently, one will inevitably find that foreknowledge of one will influence the reading/watching of the other in regards to the secrets that permeate each one. The clincher is that Angier gets the better story in the novel; whereas Borden gets the better one in the film; yet the twists in Angier's story are more likely to catch you off-guard than Borden's easy-to-guess life secret. Naturally you won't know which plot is worth being "spoilt" for the sake of the other until you experience them both.
My advice would be to watch the film first. The Nolan brothers are somewhat more adept at handling each character's major twist, for though the revelation of Borden's secret comes as the climax of the movie; the novel treats it quite casually, almost as an afterthought and Borden is more or less dropped from the narrative soon afterwards. For the sake of Christian Bale's carefully nuanced performance as Borden and the "eureka!" moment that his revelation provides, I don't regret seeing the film before reading the book.
Each medium has its advantages and detriments, yet in both cases the intrigue and thematic soundness of the story makes for a rewarding, entertaining experience. It is the structure of each that really makes book and film worth the effort; each are as carefully plotted as an illusion, both are haunting and thought-provoking stories, and perfectly complimentary material. It's very easy to enjoy and appreciate both.
Book Review: The Prestige: Speaking Magic
Summary: 4 Stars
This book intrigued me such that I recently bought a copy at the airport for a long international flight. It's been released as a second-rate motion picture. I haven't seen the film, but there's a fascinating angle to the book for anyone involved with the professional speaking business.
The two main characters in this sensational Victorian melodrama are rival magicians whose stage acts provide entertainment in the Music Halls of nineteenth-century London. The book chronicles their careers. What's fascinating is how much like the business of professional speaking today the business of the professional magician was then.
They have their professional associations, journals and tricks of the trade. Every magician preserves their tradecraft:
"Magic has no mystery to magicians. We work variations of standard methods. What will seem new or baffling to an audience is simply a technical challenge for other professionals." (p.68)
They struggle in the early days of their career, learning to showcase their tricks as they learn to tolerate rejection by booking agents. They perform to small audiences where and when they find them. They bomb. They try again. They struggle to establish themselves:
"The real problem with theatrical bookings is that while they pay well they provide no continuity. Each is at the end of a blind alley. I do my act, I take my applause, I collect my fee, but none of these ensures another booking. Even the reviews in the press are small and grudging." (p.172)
As today, the secret is finding a niche. It might be running seances, or assuming the character of a French scientist, or embracing the use of the novel aspects of electricity in an act. Their careers peak and they struggle to reinvent themselves. The demands are relentless:
"A magician can never practice enough, because every moment spent will improve his performance. So I toil in my workshop...and rehearse until I feel sick with preparation. Although my skill with prestidigitation increases, sometimes, in my darker moments, I do wonder why I am continuing to rehearse at all." (p.210)
In the days before television and radio, the internet and mobile connected c0mmunications, these entertainers were the superstars of their day. Those who make their living on the podium today play to much diminished audiences. The volume of bookings, attention spans of audiences and desire for entertainment to be delivered in person were far greater for the Victorians. There were no requirements to turn off cell phones before a speaker came onstage, no glances at a Blackberry if the message was not compelling. Of course, limelight played havoc with your sinus condition and the demands of a roadtrip were just that.
If you want a ripping good yarn, pick up a copy of The Prestige.
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: I like it but I don't. Now beam me up.
Summary: 4 Stars
I'd like to give this book 4.5 stars, since it's a great read (I stayed up to the earlier hours to finish it), and is very cleverly plotted with great surprises and twists.
My main problem with the book is probably my fault. I believed it to be a 'historical' novel, something like "Carter Beats the Devil" by Glen David Gold. I didn't know it had won the 1996 World Fantasy Award. This meant I became rather upset when the book took a sharp turn into the fantastical during the Tesla part of the story. I was thinking TV, not the pseudo-science that actually appears. It seems to me something of a cheat for a book that's about stage magicians, not real Magicians.
It was also a shame that the mechanisms behind the two great magic tricks were revealed. This goes against the magician's code, and spoils their mystery. That's why I can't imagine reading the book again, since most of its charm is in that mystery.
To be fair, there is some ambiguity about how one of the magicians does his great trick. Unfortunately, this is jettisoned in the movie.
The last part of the book seems rushed and unconvincing. Of course, it allows for a great ending.
I was pleased that one of the character is called Andrew, and is from Wilmslow. Me too; a nice bit of duality there.