Priest takes it beyond the obvious twin theme, adding in what might be called Victorian decloning and marriage, as two of the representation of the duality theme. In fact, the story – though we may not realise it for some time – is about the harmful effect of the separation of the two sides. Hyde but a more complex view, where we see that everyone – in this case the three protagonists – is made up of two parts which are dependent but can be separated, though to the detriment of the whole. This is not the simplistic good versus evil duality à la Dr.
Priest is concerned, however, with other things, particularly the duality of personalities. The rivalry and how one outdoes the other, though at great personal cost, in perfecting the great trick of apparently instantaneous transportation is riveting. This, in itself, would have made an excellent story, particularly as Priest tells the story of one straight through, engaging our sympathy with him and making us feel that the other is a charlatan and then telling the other’s story and giving us the same story from a different standpoint.
Both try – in some cases successfully – to harm the career of the other. Most of the book consists of the writings of the two protagonists, both of whom were successful magicians but also bitter rivals.
The owner of the house tells him, primarily through the writings of the two main parties, of the rivalries between her great-grandfather and his (biological) one. He is summoned to a house in Derbyshire, ostensibly on a journalistic assignment though that turns out to be a red herring. Westley was adopted when young but he feels he has a twin brother, though has never been able to prove this. It starts with the story of a contemporary journalist who may be called Andrew Westley but may also be called Nicholas Borden. Home » England » Christopher Priest » The Prestige Christopher Priest: The PrestigeĪnother first class work from Christopher Priest.
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