The Quiet Woman
by Christopher Priest (Bloomsbury, 1990)
audiobook read by Jane Collingwood (Bolinda, 2016)
Granted, speculative fiction should contrast the everyday with the unreal; but Priest takes ‘everyday’ to banal extremes, and his ‘unreal’ is merely a half-baked melange of surveillance state and mental breakdown. A book-length, autological lament/sneer at the state of the publishing industry.
The Prestige
dir. Christopher Nolan (2006)
A dark and cleverly constructed film, more ‘inspired by’ than ‘based on’ Christopher Priest’s novel (and better seen without reference to it). Backed by top-notch acting and cinematography, director Christopher Nolan marshals a complex, fast-paced mix of mystery, drama, tragedy and obsession.
The Prestige
by Christopher Priest (Simon & Schuster, 1995); audiobook read by Simon Vance (Blackstone, 2006)
The intertwined life stories of two feuding magicians, told by way of their respective reminiscences. The overlapping viewpoints allow for an exploration of narrative felicity and also, dramatically, an almost Shakespearean tragedy; concomitantly, there’s no denying the book sags in the middle.