A review by wickedlyethan
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
4.0
"The Prestige" is a fantasy like no other, a real treat full of unbelievably new and original ideas - you simply won't find a book like it anywhere, in many ways: structure, setting, content. However, that which makes the book great also weighs it down with some marrow-deep problems that you'll have to forgive if you want to lose yourself in the fantasy.
Firstly, the whole novel is in first-person, mostly epistolary format. This leads to a lot of "tell, not show" in the moment-to-moment revelations, if not the overall arc of the narrative.
Secondly, if you've seen the 2001 masterpiece of a film, you've ruined the book for yourself. You are no longer reading the book for itself, you are reading to see the shifts that were made in translating the source material to screen. This is a fun exercise ultimately, but nonetheless an exercise that will affect how you enjoy the novel.
IF you haven't seen the movie: read "The Prestige", then watch "The Prestige", then read "The Prestige" again.
But truly "The Prestige" is nonetheless a fascinating novel, and a look into the mind of an author who is so damn creative that you forgive his stlyistic choices because you're too busy being sucked into a world of magic, both illusory and real.
Firstly, the whole novel is in first-person, mostly epistolary format. This leads to a lot of "tell, not show" in the moment-to-moment revelations, if not the overall arc of the narrative.
Secondly, if you've seen the 2001 masterpiece of a film, you've ruined the book for yourself. You are no longer reading the book for itself, you are reading to see the shifts that were made in translating the source material to screen. This is a fun exercise ultimately, but nonetheless an exercise that will affect how you enjoy the novel.
IF you haven't seen the movie: read "The Prestige", then watch "The Prestige", then read "The Prestige" again.
But truly "The Prestige" is nonetheless a fascinating novel, and a look into the mind of an author who is so damn creative that you forgive his stlyistic choices because you're too busy being sucked into a world of magic, both illusory and real.