I'm going to go a bit in the opposite direction than the two of you above, not that you're wrong as this is all opinion, but I have a hard time saying one is better than the other. I really loved the book, and read it after seeing the movie. Beyond the differences in the storytelling, the whole meaning of the title of the movie has a different meaning in both versions. Nolan and co. didn't just condense the story for the shift to film, like most adaptations do, they altered the story and made it a completely different take on the source material. That's the brilliance of the movie. It's a true adaptation in that the story was truly made to fit that medium better than the source material would. It's brilliance is in the significant liberties it takes, which aren't just to be different, but to explore a different angle that wasn't explored as significantly in the book.
If the movie had come first, and they wrote a straight up novelization of it, I think it would not be that interesting. While I personally prefer the movie version, I don't think it would have worked as well if it had been adapted to a book, assuming it would follow as most typical novelizations of movies do. I feel the book by Priest is fantastic as written. I don't think the book loses anything by not making the Borden / Angier fued more visceral. I've said this before, but it warrants repeating. This is the best adaptation from a book to a movie that I've ever seen and read. What's great is that seeing or reading either does not spoil the experience of the other. There are familar parts and situations, but so much is different.
Slask wrote:actually i'm afraid of reading the book. after seeing the movie i fear it could be less interesting..
They're both so different from each other.. I don't really see it as less interesting. If anything, sorting through the book to see what the Nolan's interpreted makes it very interesting.
So, I haven't read the book... I've been looking for it for ages, but I can't find it anywhere!
I'm curious about the female characters: are Sarah and Olivia original characters created by the Nolan brothers, or are they in the book, too?
If they are in the book, how do they differ from the characters in the film?
Lynn wrote:So, I haven't read the book... I've been looking for it for ages, but I can't find it anywhere!
I'm curious about the female characters: are Sarah and Olivia original characters created by the Nolan brothers, or are they in the book, too?
If they are in the book, how do they differ from the characters in the film?
They are both in the book and Nolan's portrayed them 100% true to the book
Lynn wrote:So, I haven't read the book... I've been looking for it for ages, but I can't find it anywhere!
I'm curious about the female characters: are Sarah and Olivia original characters created by the Nolan brothers, or are they in the book, too?
If they are in the book, how do they differ from the characters in the film?
On the characters, they are there... and they are pretty different. Olivia Wenscombe is American, and there are some pretty significant differences beyond that, but I'll just say that you need to read the book.. the characterizations of everyone are pretty different, even if their fundamental roles are the same.
As for finding it, not sure if you can get on Amazon.com and order it. If a new edition isn't available in Italy, perhaps you can find it used? I've bought some used books from Amazon UK, and I live in America.. so you can order it from another country, it just takes a while to get it.
Thanks to both for your replies! I gather that Nolan changed some things, but they're mainly the same characters in the book and in the film (at least from the point of view of their role in the story and their relationship with the other characters). Interesting.
Robbman wrote:
As for finding it, not sure if you can get on Amazon.com and order it. If a new edition isn't available in Italy, perhaps you can find it used? I've bought some used books from Amazon UK, and I live in America.. so you can order it from another country, it just takes a while to get it.
It's available on Amazon Italy, but I don't really like their payment options. Thanks for the heads-up anyway, if I don't manage to order it through a bookstore I'll give it a try when I need to buy something else on the Internet.
My goodness, I haven't read that book for ages. I have forgotten quite a lot.
I really liked the way that the magicians first met one another. Adds a interesting element.
IWatchFilmsNotMovies wrote:I'm thinking about reading the book. For those who have read it do you recommend it?
I loved it, so yeah I recommend it. It made me want to read more by Christopher Priest.. he's written some good stuff, but I think The Prestige is easily the best out of the three I've read. Hard to say if the movie made me like it more or not, to be honest. What was cool is how different it was, and trying to figure out if Nolan meant the same thing that the author did in places and story.
