The Devil Needs To Rest

Sequels are always a tricky old dog! It is not without reason that some of the greatest sequels in literature have been released without much delay. It doesn't serve much purpose if the audience has forgotten about the original, no matter how big a bestseller it may be.

The Devil Wears Prada hit the shelves in 2003 and took readers by storm. Supposedly inspired by Lauren Weisberger's own experience at American Vogue magazine, the book was a breakthrough in the chick-lit novel market. Miranda Priestly, made memorable on screen by Meryl Streep, struck terror. Speculations that Priestly was an adaptation of Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of American Vogue, only helped the publicity department. The book and its screen adaptation were equal hits.

Ten years later, Weisberger returned with the sequel, Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns. Andrea Sachs has moved on in life. She co-owns a successful wedding magazine, The Plunge and is married to Max Harrison, heir to the Harrison Publication Group. Weisberger probably intended this to be Andrea, alias, Andy's second tryst with The Devil. However, it is no more than Andy fighting her own fears.

The momentary reappearance of Miranda Priestly and constant conversations about her omnipresence, along with recurrence of other characters from the first book, are the only grounds of calling this book a sequel. But the ground is shaky! Andy could very well have been called anything else and we would still have the same story. Nothing in the book inspires readers enough to go back to the first book and find out the reasons for Andy's reservations. For those who may not have read the first book, the 'sequel' remains a standalone book. It definitely forces me to think, if some studio got interested in adapting the sequel to screen, what would Meryl Streep do this time around?

Having spoken to a few friends who are huge fans of the first book, I did not find a single person who was interested to know what happened to Andy after she unceremoniously quit The Runway. The readers could definitely have survived without the sequel.

Think its time for Weisberger to wrap up those Prada and put The Devil to rest.

The Man Booker Prize

The Man Booked Prize is a literary prize awarded each year to the author of the best, original, full-length novel, written in English language. The author has to be a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Republic of Ireland, or Zimbabwe.

Starting 2014, the award would consider other authors, provided that the original language of the book is English, and it is published in the UK.

The 2013 Shortlist:

• We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo (Chatto & Windus)
• The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton (Granta)
• Harvest by Jim Crace (Picador)
• The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Bloomsbury)
• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (Canongate)
• The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin (Penguin)

The 2013 winner would be announced on 15 October, 2013.

Who do you think will walk away with the award and adulation this year?

Punctuated

Ever wondered where were punctuation marks born? 

This interesting article in The New Yorker reveals the history of punctuation marks; some still in use and some long dead and buried.

Mary Westmacott

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To the world, at large, she is the Queen of Crime. But the real Agathe Christie is not to be found in the pages of her 66 detective novels and 15 short stories. Instead, one truly looking for her would have to go behind the curtains of Mary Westmacott and the six romantic stories written under the pseudonym.

Standing at the height of her success as Agatha Christie, she probably yearned to voice her own longings. Traces of these longings can be found in her detective novels. Both Poirot and Miss Marple have a history of unfulfilled love. Tommy and Tuppence seem like a wishful exception. But deeper than her detectives, her longing reflects in her victims, especially those who are a victim of love.

However, Christie found her true outlet under a false identity. Her six romantic novels are as far away from the utopian world of Mills & Boons as they possibly could be. In the pages of these six novels, she identifies love in its most destructive forms; not only that between a man and a woman but that in every relation that one human being shares with another. Each love more binding, yet liberating, than the other; each more catastrophic than the other.

Christie's close bond with her mother and sister, her loss of her mother, her divorce and her rediscovery of love, all leap out of the pages. By the time she found true companionship, she had possibly come to realize the futility of looking for love and, yet it being an endless search. And this double-edged sword became the basis for the six Westmacott works.

They did not receive as much success as the Christie series. Nevertheless, it was here that Christie felt most comfortable, content and accomplished. She was more at home in the loss and pain experienced by her characters, possibly because of her own series of losses, than in the accomplishment of her detectives seeking justice. The Westmacott books are a clear indicator of her acknowledgement of the fact that there can never be a 'happily ever after'. Life is, indeed, about trial, losses and failures and, in the end, making the best of your situation.

Very rarely known for anything else but her detective works, Agatha Christie became the pseudonym to the real Mary Westmacott.

Reading for Beginners

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Having been a reader for the longest time, it was about time the writing bug hit me. But writing a book and finding a publisher, I discovered, was more of a task than I had been led to believe.

The easiest way is to blog. I get to write, I publish, and, if I am fortunate, I find a few readers as well.

So here go's nothing.

Watch out this space for information about all types of books - the freshly printed, on the shelf copies to the dog-eared, musty editions.

In turn, if you wish to share your views about your favourite book, feel free to drop in a line in the comment box.