From rec.arts.sf.reviews Tue Sep 26 15:05:06 1995 Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Path: news.ifm.liu.se!liuida!sunic!sunic.sunet.se!umdac!fizban.solace.mh.se!paladin.american.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!sgigate.sgi.com!uhog.mit.edu!news!nobody From: John Grant Subject: Review: The Prestige, Christopher Priest Message-ID: <9509220908.aa09637@post.mail.demon.net> Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Keywords: author= John Grant Sender: news@media.mit.edu (USENET News System) Reply-To: John Grant Organization: Ansible Information Date: Fri, 22 Sep 1995 19:21:16 GMT Approved: wex@media.mit.edu (Alan Wexelblat) Lines: 88 THE PRESTIGE by Christopher Priest Reviewed by John Grant Christopher Priest is probably the most under-rated novelist at work today, almost certainly because he chooses to write in that curious subgenre that is sort of science fiction, sort of fantasy, but in no way generically classifiable as either. For some reason we accept foreign writers who work in this field -- John Barth, Thomas Pynchon, Ben Okri, Valerie Martin and others -- but not Brits, unless they happen to be Martin Amis or John Fowles. Priest, who can write any of these other authors out of their skins -- with the possible (just possible) exception of Fowles -- tends to go forgotten. Yet, perhaps because he publishes so infrequently, one has the sense that the appearance of each new novel of his represents a publishing _occasion_ -- a moment when each of us, if we have the slightest concern about the future of fiction, should put our money where our mouths are. _The Prestige_ is Priest's first novel in five years (the last was _The Quiet Woman_ in 1990). It is one of those delicious books in which truth -- if there is indeed an absolute truth to the tale -- is revealed only gradually, and partially. A variety of narrators, most unreliable, describe to us the feud that sprang up between two Victorian stage magicians, Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier. Angier made an early living as a fraudulent spiritualist, which is what incurred Borden's obsessive wrath; Borden's public debunking of Angier, prefaced by his unintended inducement of a miscarriage by Angier's wife, is the source of Angier's venom. Yet atop all this is the professional jealousy between the two. Borden has a trick that seems to require the instantaneous transmission of a human body from one place to another. Angier cannot understand how this is done and eventually, in desperation, seeks the assistance of the inventor Nikola Tesla. Tesla is able to duplicate the effect only by constructing a genuine matter- transmitter, powered by the new force, electricity. However, the device is really a matter-_duplicator_: while a live Angier reappears in some startling part of the theatre, dazzling the punters who have come to see the `magician,' there remains, unnoticed in the place where he was originally standing, his corpse -- the `prestige.' To perform the trick he must die, nightly. To reveal more of this novel would be to do it and its readers a disservice: Priest has many surprises up his sleeve, not the least of which is his own ability to perform as a (narrational) illusionist. Never, while reading _The Prestige_, are we allowed to take anything for granted: the turn of a page is likely to reveal to us that this particular magician has a new trick that forces us to re-evaluate all that has gone before. Others have tried this game, of course. William Goldman did it with _Magic_ (1976), which was filmed in 1978 (the `magic' involved was ventriloquism). Jack Curtis did it with a rather nasty horror novel called _Conjure Me_ (1992). There are other examples. What these authors were trying to do was explore the area between conjuring -- stage illusion -- and real magic. Neither of the two cited authors was able -- quite -- to bring it off. Priest does. What he also manages to do is, through lack of overt statement, to make sly satirical comment on the nature of human pettiness. Imagine: here we have a potentially history-changing invention, the matter-transmitter, and what is it used for? A conjuring trick, whose secret must be preserved from the world at large because that, after all, is the sacrosanct ethic of professional stage magicians. Meanwhile its inventor, Tesla, is content enough to keep silent about his breakthrough because he needs a few thousand dollars to pay off his creditors -- who are less interested in the benefits his work might bring to the human species than in whether or not their bills are paid. _The Prestige_ is a novel full of subtle nuances. I particularly liked the way in which the dual nature of Borden is handled -- is he one person or is he two, is he a single soul with two bodies, is he two souls sharing a single body? -- and the portrayal of the woman (Olive/Olivia) who in effect creates her own twin in order to be the mistress of one illusionist after the other. She, like the illusionists themselves, discovers how to be two people simultaneously; also like them, in the end she has to decide which of her selves she would prefer to be. I read this novel at a sitting: it's a long novel so it was a long sitting. I cannot loudly enough exhort you to repeat my feat. Here is one of our finest novelists at his peak. Need I say more? %A Christopher Priest %T The Prestige %I Touchstone (Simon and Schuster) %C London %D September 1995 %G ISBN 0-671-71924-6 %P pp 404 %O hardback UKP 15.99 This review also appeared in the September issue of _SFX_ magazine, UK John Grant From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Jun 4 15:02:14 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!eru.mt.luth.se!www.nntp.primenet.com!nntp.primenet.com!feed1.news.erols.com!howland.erols.net!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!news!wex From: "Evelyn C Leeper" Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.books.reviews Subject: REVIEW: THE PRESTIGE by Christopher Priest Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 02 Jun 1997 16:30:01 GMT Organization: Software Agents Group Lines: 50 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:1323 rec.arts.books.reviews:2424 THE PRESTIGE by Christopher Priest St. Martin's, ISBN 0-312-14705-8, 1996, 404pp, US$24.95 A book review by Evelyn C. Leeper Copyright 1997 Evelyn C. Leeper I have resolved to spend more time pointing out the wonderful books that people don't seem to hear about, and much less reviewing the latest "nth book in a heptology" or whatever, and this is a wonderful book. Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier were two Victorian magicians who through circumstance became not only rivals, but bitter enemies. Borden's descendant is a modern-day journalist who has been having strange "premonitions" of a lost twin, and eventually becomes entangled in the strange tale of his ancestor and Angier. Both Borden and Angier were masters of deception, and it is this bent towards deception and concealment that leads to their war against each other. That both perform a trick involving magical bilocation is part of their rivalry, but only part. How they perform their magic, and the implications thereof, are only slowly unfolded throughout the book. By the end it all makes sense if one accepts some science fictional conceits and a certain amount of misdirection. But then, misdirection is what prestidigitation is all about, and Priest manages his magic trick as neatly as Borden and Angier do theirs. This is a book that you cannot read only once. As with a stage magic trick, there is a compelling desire after seeing the trick to go back and see if one can figure out how it was worked. This has been used to excellent effect in a couple of movies of late as well. After reading it you'll know which ones I mean, but even saying which would be giving too much of a hint. This is a magical book, and the one mystery is how it's managed to remain as invisible as it has, especially given that it won the World Fantasy Award. It would be a better trick to materialize it on everyone's night stand, though of course that would bypass the royalties for it. So I'll settle for giving you a strong recommendation for this book. %T The Prestige %A Christopher Priest %C New York %D October 1996 %I St. Martin's %O hardback, US$24.95 %G ISBN 0-312-14705-8 %P 404pp Evelyn C. Leeper | eleeper@lucent.com +1 908 957 2070 | http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824 "For there is a truth which cannot be bought or sold, imposed by force, resisted or escaped." --Muteba Kazadi From /home/matoh/tmp/sf-rev Fri Aug 22 16:47:53 1997 From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Aug 18 15:23:50 1997 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!newsfeed.sunet.se!news99.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!sunic!02-newsfeed.univie.ac.at!newsfeed.ecrc.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!howland.erols.net!infeed1.internetmci.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.kei.com!eecs-usenet-02.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!news!wex From: agapow@latcs1.cs.latrobe.edu.au (p-m agapow) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: "The Last Deadloss Visions" by Christopher Priest Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Date: 06 Aug 1997 20:29:41 GMT Organization: Calvin Coolidge Home for Dead Biologists Lines: 62 Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: tinbergen.media.mit.edu Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:1476 "The Last Deadloss Visions" by Christopher Priest A Postview, copyright 1997 p-m agapow An enquiry into, a history of and thoughts on the non-appearance of Harlan Ellison's "The Last Dangerous Visions." "Deadloss" is a peculiar work, but then "Last" is a peculiar affair, the SF publishing world's Marie Celeste. For those who came in late, a brief sketch of the background: In 1967 Ellison, SF's oldest enfant terrible, produced "Dangerous Visions," a collection of edgy provocative stories by the hottest authors of the period. A followup anthology "Again, Dangerous Visions" appeared in 1972. Both books achieved considerable commercial and critical success, enjoying much publicity and high profiles. Regrettably, both collections have aged poorly since. A final volume, "The Last Dangerous Visions," was promised by Ellison and stories collected and paid for. "Last" never appeared. The non-appearance of a book is scarcely interesting or unique. What makes "Last" interesting is the way the project refused to die, snowballing to grandiose proportions. The book shifted publishers several times, more stories were acquired, the size blew out absurdly (more than twice the length of "War and Peace") Ellison made repeated and unambiguous statements that book was finished and publication just around the corner. "Last" never appeared. The details are byzantine, colourful and, as Priest notes, "a terrific story." Just as "The Devil's Candy" charted the disastrous filming of "Bonfire of the Vanities," so "Deadloss" observes the course of "Last" with the sick fascination of a car accident. Horrible as it is, you can't help but watch. Apart from the entertainment value, is there worth to "Deadloss?" Given the cult of personality that surrounds Ellison, both for and against, such a question is controversial. Priest is cast as either a character assassin or a brave hero. My thoughts are unlikely to change the mind of anyone who has already decided. Nonetheless, Priest deserves credit for the compilation of this history for the first time and his efforts to inform and support the large number of authors involved. Perhaps Priest's motives are questionable. He has been accused of wanting to embarrass Ellison. Maybe so, but Ellison has much to be embarrassed about. Conversely, there are points at which the text is not entirely dispassionate or convincing. For example, Priest asserts that Ellison's integrity was not an issue until he made it one. "If he did not, no one else would be bothered about it." This seems dubious to me. Apart from these isolated points, the analysis is cold, perceptive (including a plausible theory of how it all happened) and frequently amusing. "Deadloss" was last updated in 1994, with the majority of its material gathered in 1988. As such it is slightly dated. Also it will prove interesting chiefly to those who have heard part of the story or have followed the work of Ellison. Thankfully it is available in published form (as "The Book on the Edge of Forever") and widely on the web. [***/interesting] and "Bad Movies We Love" on the Sid and Nancy scale. %A Christopher Priest %T The Last Deadloss Visions %I http://sf.www.lysator.liu.se/sf_archive/sf-texts/Ansible/Last_Deadloss_Visions,Chris_Priest %D 1994 %O Internet resource paul-michael agapow (agapow@latcs1.oz.au), La Trobe Uni, Infocalypse "There is no adventure, there is no romance, there is only trouble and desire." [archived at http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~agapow/Postviews/] From rec.arts.sf.reviews Wed Mar 8 12:08:39 2000 Path: news.ifm.liu.se!news.lth.se!feed2.news.luth.se!luth.se!logbridge.uoregon.edu!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!dreaderd!not-for-mail Sender: wex@deepspace.media.mit.edu From: pj@willowsoft.cix.co.uk (Paul S. Jenkins) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: Review: Christopher Priest's _The Extremes_ Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Approved: wex@media.mit.edu Organization: CIX - Compulink Information eXchange Reply-To: pj@willowsoft.cix.co.uk Date: 06 Mar 2000 11:57:04 -0500 Message-ID: X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.5/Emacs 20.3 Lines: 53 NNTP-Posting-Host: deepspace.media.mit.edu X-Trace: dreaderd 952361826 2944 18.85.23.65 Xref: news.ifm.liu.se rec.arts.sf.reviews:2629 _The Extremes_ by Christopher Priest Review Copyright (c) 2000 Paul S. Jenkins Teresa Simons is a 43-year-old FBI agent who has lost her husband (also FBI) in a Texas shooting. She has come to England on vacation, but also to investigate -- in her own time -- a similar shooting that took place in the quiet Sussex seaside town of Bulverton, on the same day her husband was killed. By this means she hopes to ascribe some meaning to her husband's senseless death. Teresa's FBI training immersed her in the use of virtual reality scenarios, or 'extreme experience.' In these sessions she assumed the roles of different people present at shootings of innocent members of the public. By repeated participation in the scenarios, from various points of view, she eventually learned how to deal with such situations in real life. Set a little into a future where completely involving VR has been developed -- though how it is accomplished isn't more than hand-waved -- _The Extremes_ is an exploration of how our personal realities impinge on the realities of others, and how others' perceptions can be changed by our own. The commercial version of extreme experience is known as ExEx, managed by the GunHo Corporation. Teresa is surprised to find a branch of ExEx in Bulverton, and decides to make use of it. Gradually she spends more and more time there, and begins to lose track of what's real and what's virtual. Priest uses a relaxed, open style, with a transparency that lets the reader into the minds of the point-of-view characters. Although the point of view shifts about a lot, it's rigorously logical. There's a metaphysical aspect to the novel, when Teresa seems to be experiencing things in real life that couldn't possibly happen. Of course, this could be the approach of mental breakdown, and not metaphysical at all. _The Extremes_ is an engaging and readable novel that raises several questions, not least about the wisdom of creating virtual realities that could ultimately permeate the real world. %A Priest, Christopher %T The Extremes %I Scribner (Simon & Schuster) %C London %D 1999 (copyright 1998) %G ISBN 0 684 81941 4 %P 393 pp. %O paperback GBP 6.99 Paul S. Jenkins | More reviews at: Portsmouth UK | http://www.cix.co.uk/~willowsoft/revup/