The Prestige(Book review)

Oh God! Note to self: The next time you read a book or watch a movie, write the damn review immediately! I opened this post weeks ago when I finished the book and let it lapse. And now all I have are fragments of vague memory to guide me. But I sure as hell don't want to pick up the damn book again and I don't have the heart to delete this blog so will make a go of it to the best of my abilities.
Reading Christopher Priest' novel after watching the movie robs you of the jaw-dropping surprises the twisty narrative takes. But luckily, apart from the central characters and the twists, Nolan jettisoned much of Priests' book for the film, leaving the reader with sufficient material that's new. For instance, the movie omits the present-day plot involving the descendants' of Borden and Angier which book-end the main narrative detailing the magicians' bitter feud. Also, unlike the movie, Borden and Angier never started out as colleagues, the catalyst for their enmity not the death of Angier's wife in the film( here she's happily alive until the end) but a ruined seance ( conducted by the latter, ruined by the former). It's still a terrific tale of duelling magicians, a study of the profession in the late Victorian era and a riveting story of obsessions taken to the extreme. And like the movie, Priest' narrative sleight-of-hand rivals Nolan's cinematic one. And he does it without running timelines through a blender!