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Wednesday, November 08, 2006

The Devil Wears Prada

Hi, everyone~!
I just felt like adding a new post because I've finished reading the novel "The Devil Wears Prada" today! It took about 2 weeks to read all of it, but I finally did it! Yaaaaay!

I actually bought it while I was in the US, at the bookstore in UM. I've started reading books in English since I was in high school, but I took a break from doing it ever since then because I've been really into reading in Japanese, which is much easier for me! However, I felt that it was the right time to get my habit back and try to read a longer one. After I kept staying for a long time in front of the shelf for the best-seller books at the bookstore, I chose this novel. The reasons why I chose this were that I liked the title, and I was interested in what the story was like because I already knew that this would be made into a film as well. I just couldn't wait for the film, so I decided to read it first. Fortunately, the movie hasn't been played at the theaters in Japan. So I still had time to read it before the movie starts playing. I really like to see the novel become a movie because that means the things I imagined on my mind turn into a motion picture even though it might be completely different compared to the original.

The story was all about fashion. I guess the things you come up with about fashion are like fashion shows, celebrities, luxurious and gorgeous clothes, and so on. But in this novel, you'll be able to take a look at what is really happening in the industry. The main character's name is Andrea Sachs, and she comes from a small town in the US. She just graduated from her college and happened to work at the editorial department of a fashion magazine, which is the job a million girls would die for. Her boss, Miranda Priestly, was a successful editor of the fashion magazine. Andrea became the second assistant of her boss. Miranda is so demanding that Andrea always has to be reachable to get what her boss wants.

In fact, I was not so sure if I could finish reading this book because the same things kept happening over and over again. Andrea went on errands for her boss and Miranda always complained about her assistant's perfomance. However, the story became more and more interesting as Andrea's job as an assistant for her demanding boss got everything on her life like her boy friend, her family, her best friend involved. Everything went so wrong because of her job! Then, she began asking herself if her job was what she really wanted to do. She actually had wanted to be a writer of The New Yorker, and she was not interested in fashion very much. She couldn't help but feel the gap between ideal and reality. I don't know if you want to know the ending or not, so I decided not to write particularly about it here. But I'm really satisfied with the ending and what she chose to do at last because the ending was down-to-earth. I don't like "happily ever after" or "everything goes right" endings very much because they won't happen in a real world. Life is never really that easy, right? (But it also makes life more fun, doesn't it?)

Her struggles against hard working made me want to cheer her up, and I enjoyed reading about her fellow workers at her office. Each of them were really interesting and I easily could imagine their appearances. Also, the descriptions of New York did remind me of the trip to there in March. This page-turner book even made me feel like as if I were in New York! I clearly remembered waiting for the traffic light at the Times Square and looking up the sky. That feeling coming over me even made me want to eat bagels...hahaha!

The genre of this novel is fiction and a kind of comedy, but the things happened in the book enabled me to think about people's relationships at offices, and how people gradually learn to manage both job and private life by setting priorites. Also, I could learn a little bit more about what really is happening in the fashion industry which many people think is literally fabulous and gorgeous!

Alright... did I talk too seriously about the novel which really made me laugh?! Anyway, the movie edition of this novel will start playing here on November 18th! I guess I'll add a new post after watching it as well. So please look forward to it!

See you soon~!

4 comments:

Nina Liakos said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Nina Liakos said...

Hiromi, I don't know how you manage to read novels and write long blog posts when I know you must be very busy with school! I enjoyed reading your review of The Devil Wears Prada (which I haven't read or seen). Your comments are insightful and you obviously understood the novel very well (and it took only 2 weeks!). Kudos!

John said...

Hiromi,

Only two weeks? Do you ever sleep??
I am impressed. I also want to read the book (and see the movie--is this the one with Meryl Streep in it?)after your compelling description!

John

Hiromi said...

Nina>
Hello, Nina. Thanks for your comment! It usually takes an hour to go to school, and I mostly read books on the train. So I still can manage to do my homework. Don't worry! Hahaha...

John>
Hi, John. I'm glad that you visited my blog again! I really appreciate it!(^-^) I always read books on the way to school, so I actually don't read books very much before sleeping. Yes, you're right! Meryl Streep is starring in the movie. She is so amazing, isn't she?

Mamii>
Hi, Mamii. I'm so delighted that you came to my blog! Also, the fact that my university's name is also famous in Osaka made me happy.^^

Anyway, thank you so much for your compliment on my post! I really enjoyed the book, and I recommend you watch the movie! It'll definitely be enjoyable especially for women.