THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA – BUT WHO EXACTLY IS THE DEVIL?

The Devil wears Prada is probably one of the few books where people actually prefer the movies to the books. Well, I actually haven’t seen the film (okay, I get it I am missing a lot) , but it is good in a way so that my view of the book isn’t influenced by the film at all. I read the book a while back, and my instant reaction was that, How can a person think this fast and does this really happen in real life? Supposedly, it does as the book is itself inspired the author’s career stint at a designed fashion magazine(think Vogue, but I dint tell you, ok?) It is relatable in the sense, people do go through priorities-clash in their early 20’s but do they react like Andy is a whole other discussion.

Plot

The plot is fairly simple. Fresh College graduate Andrea goes on a CV dropping spree at every publishing house as her ultimate career aim is to work in a magazine, preferably the New Yorker. She ends up getting a call form Runway, to be the Editor-in-Chief Miranda Priestly’s junior assistant and she agrees to do the job as it is a start. It soon turns out that Miranda is the boss from hell, who treats Andrea(andy) like her personal servant than a junior assistant leaving her in charge of all her works from collecting laundry to sewing her tote bag. She runs a tyrannical office where everybody who works is terrified of her. Soon, Andy gets caught up in the office politics, the continuing obsession of her colleagues with their weight while slowly reaching a breaking point where the job threatens to get the better of her. How she handles this is what form the climax of the story !

Style

The narrative style is not exactly special , it takes the form of more of a rambling than a story telling though it might be to describe the main character Andy’s state of mind at all times but it honestly becomes a turn-off at a lot of points. The style could have been a lot better is what I personally felt.

Characters

The main characters Andy , Miranda, Emily (Miranda’s senior assistant) , Lily(Andy’s best friend) and Alex (Andy’s boyfriend) are the only characters that are given importance with respect to the plot. Even their characterization is not consistent and thorough, sometimes the characters actions make you feel odd, as their portrayal till that point would have been completely different. Even Miranda, the focal point is not given a very broad character, everything she does just points to her tyrannical and dominant nature. There are no backstories , no explanations given for any character’s behavior anywhere in the book. Alex, throughout the book is portrayed as a loving , wholesome and mature boyfriend but he is not exactly understanding about Andy’s career choice while Lily is just another addition in Andy’s life, her presence only being the constant reminder to us on how Andy is neglecting people in her life because of her job. But at the same time, Andy’s character is highly relatable to people who are on the verge of making career choice or people who recently made career choices, as it portrays their mental state close to perfectly.

Verdict

All said and done, The Devil wears Prada with all of its faults and pitfalls , is good for a fun and breezy read. For all the fashion industry obsessed people, this book will give you a glimpse inside the working of the beauty-driven industry which might actually leave you in awe. So, pick it for your bookshelf one lazy evening and while your time away. It won’t be a waste.

-         Wanna-be-Savant