The Prestige

This is an amazing book dealing with magic, mystery, intrigue, and to top it all off, Nikola Tesla. an explosive mix of action and mystery, the prestige sees rival magicians Alfred Bordan and Robert Angier competing for jobs in turn-of-the-century London. however, when one of them performs the ultimate illusion the stakes are raised. also, this is the only book that may be worse than the movie, not because the book is bad, its amazing! but the movie is simply incredible.

4/5

J'avais lu beaucoup de bien de ce roman et après l'avoir terminé je peux dire que les louanges étaient largement méritées. Pour moi, ce livre est un chef d'oeuvre.

Je ne peux pas ici en dire beaucoup sur l'histoire elle-même, de peur de dévoiler des éléments essentiels de l'intrigue. Je dirais simplement que Christopher Priest nous propose de suivre la longue rivalité entre deux prestidigitateurs au tournant du XIXe et du XXe siècle, avec une histoire autour des thèmes de la prestidigitation bien sûr, de l'illusion et de l'identité.

C'est un joyau d'inventivité, un roman construit selon une structure minutieuse qui fonctionne parfaitement. Cela commence doucement, on comprend progressivement où l'auteur veut nous amener, et on finit par dévorer les chapitres les uns après les autres, sans pouvoir s'arrêter. C'est en tout cas à l'image de mon expérience de lecture : un peu lente au début, le temps de se prendre au jeu, avant d'accélérer très nettement pour lire le dernier tiers en moins d'une journée, profitant du moindre temps libre pour lire et terminer ce livre absolument génial.

The book is kind of different from the movie, but equally good! If you've seen the movie and worry that you know the big secret so you don't want to read the book - read the book! It's really interesting and different in its own right!

A feud gone too far
hurting the great-great-grandkids
all for a dumb trick.

It was good, but like most others have said, the movie is better.

Why?
Better back story for their fued
Keeps the secret of the transported man longer.
Magic is visual. Easier to portray in a movie than in writing.
Condenses the plot to move faster.
Better ending.

Basically, I ran out and picked this book up as quickly as I could after watching the excellent film by Christopher Nolan. Of course, having seen the film spoiled the ending for me a bit, although knowing the ending allowed me to enjoy the ride for what it was, rather than trying to figure out what the secret of the film was.[return:]The basic plot: two Victorian-era magicians from differing backgrounds feud, and become obsessed with being better than each other, regardless of the personal cost. It's a terribly harrowing story, watching what depths the two men will sink to in order to achieve greatness, and seeing how terribly obsession can destroy one's life.

One of the most fascinating thing about the story is the structure of it - the entire story is told through a succession of memoirs and journal entries, which allow us to see greatly differing interpretations of the events of the story.

If you had to choose between reading the book and seeing the film, I would recommend the film; however, I would definitely recommend experiencing both to get the ‘full experience'.