[.ca] The Prestige (ISBN 0765356171)

From Amazon.com:
The Washington Post called this "a dizzying magic show of a novel, chock-a-block with all the props of Victorian sensation fiction: seances, multiple narrators, a family curse, doubles, a lost notebook, wraiths, and disembodied spirits; a haunted house, awesome mad-doctor machinery, a mausoleum, and ghoulish horrors; a misunderstood scientist, impossible disappearances; the sins of the fathers visited upon their descendants." Winner of the 1996 World Fantasy Award, The Prestige is even better than that, because unlike many Victorians, Priest writes crisp, unencumbered prose. And anyone who's ever thrilled to the arcing electricity in the "It's alive!" scene in Frankenstein will relish the "special effects" by none other than Nikola Tesla.

Magical fun:
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.

Different and enjoyable:
I wasn't really sure what to expect coming into this book. The blurbs on the back are kind of vague, but the positive reviews got me to pick it up. Now I understand why the cover blurb is so vague: it is very difficult to describe the plot of this book. The most general way, without giving away too much, would be to explain that it is the story of two stage magicians in turn of the century (the last century, that is: 1900) England who end up in a feud that escalates in unexpected directions. At the heart of the novel is a mystery, one which the reader is not fully revealed until the last 50 pages of the book. This book won the World Fantasy Award, but I found that it leans more towards sci-fi rather than fantasy. It's sci-fi written in a style that is reminiscent of HG Wells which, considering the time period in which the majority of the book takes place, adds to the flavor of the story. What drives the book forward is its interesting characters. Throughout the book, the reader encounters four (possibly five, depending on how you look at it) narrators, all told in the first person, be it standard first person narration or from diary entries. On top of this, two of the narrators live in the late 19th century while the other two are from the present day, which serves to heighten the central mystery. Priest does an excellent job of giving each character their own voice and motivations. As the feud between the two characters living in the 1880s escalates, the reader feels directly involved in the rising tensions and the desparate race of each man to uncover the other's secrets. We also see how this affects the narrators in the present day who happen to be descendants of the earlier two. While the plot itself is carefully unfolded throughout the book, the payoff in the reveal of the secret suddenly jumps out at the reader as the book begins to wind down. Unfortunately, I got the impression that the book ended before the story of the two modern narrators was finished. I would have liked that story to be tied up a bit more neatly. Here we have this big reveal to the two descendants, but then not much is done with it. All in all, however, this is a very worthwhile book. I enjoyed the atmosphere that Priest created and was thoroughly engaged by the characters. If you're looking for something different than the standard fantasy fare on the shelves, this book will definitely sate you.

A curious book - possibly great, but presumably not:
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...

Double your pleasure, double your fun:
Christopher Priest's _the Prestige_ is an entertaining read; well written fantasy without asking us to view the world in any particular new way. _The Prestige's_ greatest strength lies in its ability to harken back to a Victorian style of writing while maintaining modern sensibilities of fiction. The Victorian aspect comes from Priest's use of the diary and memoir style to develop most of the plot. He presents to us the story of a rivalry told from the points of view of the rivals, magicians Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier. Both have reasonably excellent ability in performance and skill in their trade. Priest is successful in giving each of these gentlemen separate voices. (actually creating six separate voices total; not an easy task in one novel). It is faintly reminiscent of Stoker's _Dracula_ or Hogg's _Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner_. The other particularly Victorian (and gothic) aspect is the novel's obession with the theme of duality, doubles and the dopelganger. Here we have our Dr. Jekylls and Mr. Hydes, Frankenstein and his monster, and even _Invasion of Body Snatchers_ played out in the novel. Throw in some really neat stuff about stage magicians in general--Alfred Borden's "Pact" with the audience is one of the most interesting philosophical discussions about the stage i've ever read--and you have one quite entertaining and pleasing novel. So put a little magical reading into your evenings and enjoy.

Bad technique mars good story.:
I have no fault with the author's imagination. The plot outline (a generations-long magicians' feud laced with hints of the fantastic) is compelling, and I also don't fault Mr. Priest for his development of the narrative. However, in reading the novel I couldn't overlook what I thought were serious defects in the technique that detracted from my enjoyment of the plot. Priest takes the risky step of using the supposed memoirs and diaries of the two principal magicians as the vehicle for the story development. This allows him to try his hand at two different voices with sometimes distorted perspectives. These "source materials" ostensibly date from the 1870's-1900's. Unfortunately, his execution of this device was, in my opinion, wretched. My main criticism is that Priest makes no attempt whatsoever (that I can discern) to bring ANY authenticity to his source materials. The memoir and diaries read like a 1990s author trying (but not very hard) to sound like a real, honest late-Victorian Briton. There are on average at least a dozen anachronisms in language, usage and historical material on every page. I'm sure Priest did a lot of research into the development of magic and illusionists, but he certainly didn't do any research into Victorian writing. I hope the next time he tries this technique, he buys a copy of the Oxford English Dictionary to lend some authenticity to his efforts. Otherwise, what's the point? In addition, the diaries, in particular, are almost laughably unlike any real person's diary--they contain long word-for-word extracts of conversations, almost always end with melodramatic climaxes, and never seem to allude to any mundane details of the diarist's life. I wouldn't be so critical of Priest's use of the historical first person devices if they didn't occupy 80% of the novel. Since they do, and since I couldn't overlook the fundamental problems in presentation, I can't award this book any points for execution. Just some points for excellence of plot.