The Devil Wears Prada

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It's a hit!

Borrowed this book on recommendation from my best friend and adored it! Then the movie came out! I really enjoyed it as did everyone else she lent ... (show more)

Borrowed this book on recommendation from my best friend and adored it! Then the movie came out! I really enjoyed it as did everyone else she lent it to .. I think she's lent it out enough that it is now lost. Obviously a great book that any reader would enjoy! (show less)

 

 

by Claire Leslie

No, it's a flop!

All in all a nice book for killing time: There's humour, sarcasm, fashion and drama, all in nice, digestable amounts.
Especially the drama is not ... (show more)

All in all a nice book for killing time: There's humour, sarcasm, fashion and drama, all in nice, digestable amounts.
Especially the drama is not always really obvious and comprehensible for the untrained eye, and, at times, the reader might get the impression that the book is in fact a payoff to wash some dirty laundry. Long passages bear some resemblance to a sullen teenager's diary where screwed-up friendships & first loves are blamed on anyone but the author herself.
The 360 pages make it obvious that the job must be very hard, no argument there, but as many times in life in western civilization the solution is handed down along with the problem: The protagonist ignores being given a choice between bracing herself against the inconveniences, surviving her year of near-slavery and oppression for an overseeable amount of time or to live throug an alleviated version of her personal hell for the triple amount of time. All the while claiming that there was no way of deciding differently, in favour of family, friendship and love.
Hard to commiserate with someone who has to cope with huge workloads but in contrast to many others can balance the scale by pinching massive amounts of haute coutoure and charge all personal needs on the company, being a mere personal assistant, not the editor in chief herself, mind you.

edit: After completing the book, I am astonished to find that for once I liked the movie much better than the original book. So far, I haven't found a single original though or idea in the story, it is all just a neverending complaint about the harshness of life towards one of the more clueless future writers on this planet. The storytelling is clearly unbalanced and while aimed at the reader jumping to poor Andy's defence and finding fault with all the "shallow fashion people", it clearly does the exact opposite: She ends up being perceived as ignorant, incompetent, whiney and vain whereas the unsurprisingly single-minded fashionistas at least seem purposeful, capable and resilient (most of the time). The movie, however, using only the most basic storyline, creates a much more balanced picture, enlightens the audience on the characteristics and motives of the key players and all in all is worth the time spent to watch it, whereas the continuous complaining makes the book feel stale after the first half. Also, as many others already noted, many a plot thread is left dangling in front of you and in the end, nothing seems really solved (except for the protagonist's finances after nearly' a year's worth of salary from the gifts that were forced upon her by her oh so hellish former employer).

What a drag... (show less)

 

 

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  Maybe I should have learned that Lauren Weisberger is the worst author I have ever read, after trudging my way through Chasing Harry Winstone. But I was so impressed with the movie that I thought she'd have at least one trick up her sleeve.

  No luck. I made my way through 9 insipid, uninspired and dare I say it, dull chapters before deciding life is too short to read bad books. It is neither funny, nor witty, nor fresh, nor the outsider's look on the industry it would have you believe it is... (show more)

  Maybe I should have learned that Lauren Weisberger is the worst author I have ever read, after trudging my way through Chasing Harry Winstone. But I was so impressed with the movie that I thought she'd have at least one trick up her sleeve.

  No luck. I made my way through 9 insipid, uninspired and dare I say it, dull chapters before deciding life is too short to read bad books. It is neither funny, nor witty, nor fresh, nor the outsider's look on the industry it would have you believe it is.

  All Weisberger wants to do is show off about all the things she got to supposedly do while at Vogue, at the same time hoping we feel sorry for her that she was so overworked.

  It is terribly put-together, a struggle to read and nothing at all to do with the movie. I was not amused in the slightest and I finally gave up on it, leaving gladly unfinished. I would sooner wear Croc sandals in public than be made to finish something that is only suitable to light fires with. (show less)

   

  by Facebook-användare on Jul 11, 2009 at 10:24AM

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  I am not one to read book AFTER movie, but I did with this one. I have seen and loved the movie for the past couple of years. I finally decided to sit down and read the book. The one disappointment is that I thought I would cruise right through this book and be done in no time. Instead, it seemed like it took me a very long time to read through it! I got really into it eventually, but not until at least 200 pages in (and it's only 360!). The movie is completely different, and no matter ... (show more)

  I am not one to read book AFTER movie, but I did with this one. I have seen and loved the movie for the past couple of years. I finally decided to sit down and read the book. The one disappointment is that I thought I would cruise right through this book and be done in no time. Instead, it seemed like it took me a very long time to read through it! I got really into it eventually, but not until at least 200 pages in (and it's only 360!). The movie is completely different, and no matter what I did, I could only picture Anne Hathaway as Andy. Lily was a refreshing addition, however. I did not expect that relationship, and really enjoyed reading about it. And all the other characters that were not introduced into the movie for that matter. I think that this book was very well written, but it could have had a little more flow to it. In regards to movie versus book: Both are great in their own separate genres. (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook-användare on May 18, 2009 at 04:03PM

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