Quotes

In reference to "The Pact of Acquiescent Sorcery."

"The act of showing the hands to be empty, before revealing that despite appearances they could not have been, is itself a constituent of the Pact. The Pact implies special conditions are in force. In normal social intercourse, for instance, how often does it arise that someone has to prove that his hands are empty? And consider this: if the magician were suddenly to produce a vase of flowers with out first suggesting to the audience that such a production was impossible, it would seem to be no trick at all. No one would applaud.
This then illustrates my method."
....

"As every stage magician well knows there will be some who are baffled by this, some who will process to a dislike of being duped, some who will claim to know the secret, and some, the happy majority, who will simply take the illusion for granted and enjoy the magic for the sake of entertainment."

- The Prestige


I really like these two passages because Christopher Priest touches on concepts that not only apply to the 'magic world' but to the world as a whole. People want to be entertained and shocked, but what it takes to achieve that is getting harder and harder. What limits will people go to to see 'something new' and how much will they take for granted in life before they realize that 'shocking' things are right in front of them? The fact alone that we can do half of the things we do today is incredibly amazing, but I feel as though most of the time it's just viewed as 'technology' and not given the weight of importance that it deserves.