I have been a big follower of movies and in particular, Christopher Nolan is one of my top favorite directors. The first movie of his that I watched was 'The Prestige' and I was blown away by the script and performance. During one of my recent visits to the library, I spotted a book of the same name and I realized that this was the movie that was based on this book. I had to rent it and read it over the weekend after knowing this.
The story makes it progress through a series of diary entries by Rupert Angier and Alfred Borden which we get to know through their respective grandchildren, Kate and Andrew. Andrew visits Kate at her house in the pretext of a news report. But in actual, he is out to discover the truth of himself. They come across the diary which talks about the starting years Rupert Angier and Alfred Borden turned into bitter rivalry over a misunderstanding when Borden accidentally disrupts one of Rupert's seances. A minor struggle follows which result in the miscarriage for Ruper's wife. The events follow as to how they become renowed and how they compete against beating one another. Borden creates a new trick 'The Transported Man' which takes him a level higher than Angier. Angier takes the help of Tesla to develop the trick to the next level. But does that come out as expected? Did they continue to out do one another? How does the fued between them reflect down to the next generations? What self-realization does Andrew come to know of? all these form the answers to this wonderful story.
The book was a very interesting read.The way the story transpires through the leaves of the diary is really interesting. The story has woven its way around a handful of characters. Angier and Borden seems to be in grey mode making it difficult to infer who was right and who was wrong. Both had their own viewpoints and the way they crossed paths with one another. It was really interesting to read how an unwitting action of one almost damaged the other one's reputation, career and even life. What I loved the most was the way Tesla was made a part of the story and the way how magic trick and technology was combined. The writing style and language was very good. I got to know a handful of new words. The life of that time is showcased well and the normal lifestyle of people during the era. While Borden was secretive at times, I felt Angier was not. The notion I had on Angier while I read Borden's account was totally thrown off track when I heard the story from Angier's end which made me think how a person's word can affect our opinion of another. My perception seemed to switch as quick as the pages of the diaries. The ending was unexpected and good. But was I fully satisfied? I am not sure. Also, the book did give a streched out feel. The start was rather slow and took it's own time to fall into the proper gear. Having said that, once in the right gear, it was very engrossing.
As a movie, The Prestige is one of my favorite and I really marvelled how the story was confusing as well as exciting along with some solid performances. Coming to the book, I will say that the expectation was high and it indeed did fulfill the same. But I did not expect what I read, which was good. The book held its own ground and overall it was a great and interesting read.
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