Bridget Jones's Diary
by Helen Fielding

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Book Reviews of Bridget Jones's Diary

Book Review: A peek into inferior mind.
Summary: 2 Stars

Still I feel rather strongly about Bridget Jones's Diary. For me it's another monstrously overhyped piece of garbage to come out of Britain recently - along with Harry Potter debility. As I know from the interviews the USA was reluctant to swallow that book now it's found the way to the bookstores.

I really enjoy reading women's works starting from Sei Shonagon and Murasaki Shikibu up to Amy Tan. The books are charming and witty, full of insights - the peeks into the minds of humaity's better half.

But here we have something else. I think that many of the readers, even these not very sensitive to nuances, suspect that, but let themselves to be carried along with that wave of "screamingly funny!" and "a comic masterpiece" reviews. Not many of us are ready to admit that the book is not hilarious but only mildly amusing, often tasteless, and the main character is not an endearingly awkward misfit but the annoying and ultimately boring person with zero spiritual life.

You can count all the smileworthy jokes with the fingers of one hand. I was amused when Bridget tried to imagine herself a couple years after stopping leg-shaving and skin-peeling as a kind of Struwelpetter, but I was not roaring with laughter. The comic fear of being half-eaten by Alsatian is also funny, but when Helen Fielding belched with that joke for a dozen times more it's potential was exhausted well before the book ended.

And these statistics that precede every entry in the diary! I've made the effort of reading every one of them - they were put here for some reason. And I do not know why. They become routine very quickly, no sparkles there. To think that a human life can be judged by such parameters! Why did not she make it more "amusing"? She could include there the visits to a loo and rate them as v.g, v.v.g or just n.b . And I am sure that would be appreciated by the readers.

What's the trick? Helen Fielding wrote a book about the maladjusted semi-alcoholic, the thirtysomethingish woman that is still alone for a very obvious reasons and provided her with a Prince Charming at the end. The god from machine. The overachieving international lawyer forsook all the gorgeous Natashas of the world to fall in love with the plain-looking woman with messed-up mind. Do you remember the "witty" dialogue that preceded his final fit of infatuation? They were discussing the reasons for some dull political figure having an attractive wife and our girl came up with the explanation - He is a good shagger. How fresh and original! How very funny! How could that owner of the first-rate brain resist Bridget for a second more!

The book's reassuring message is: No matter how stupid and unexciting you are, no matter how pathetic and egoistic, the fabulously wealthy and clever male in his prime is waiting for you just around the corner. Just like Harry Potter series promise a ticket to the world of magic to the common Joe, Helen Fielding addresses the plain Jane in her bestselling piece of nothing.

And just like her fellow British millionairess-and-writer, Ms. Fielding succumbed to the worst form of sequelitis. And what do you want her to do? The lady's first book was about the refugee camps in Sudan. Who wants to read it? Let's forget the poor ones and move to something funny. Now she struck the gold and we are guaranteed the follow up - there is more money to be made. Yes, we have just one life and it's better spent with a couple millions to spare. And if the garbage can bring it let's do the garbage. Let's respect "success" in every form.

Book Review: Time to get noticed!
Summary: 5 Stars

The problem with reading a book AFTER you've seen the movie version is that you undeniably relive the scenes with the cinematic players in mind. Luckily, my time with this book was spent before the film opened and I was able to appreciate Helen's attempts at comedy with a better perspective on what she was trying to do - create a female character so flawed and jinxed, that it was impossible but to fall in love with her.

I must say that some of the scenes here read funnier than when they made it to film. But to give it credit, the movie version excelled in portions that were more or less underplayed in the book - the blue soup incident, and the mom-on-TV segments especially. However, I must say that the quality of language and the author's writing style here are wonderful and quite exceptional. Rarely has there been a book that makes you want to meet the lead character, but this one does just fine on that count.

The only concern I had is that while Bridget Jones's Diary is a journal that takes you through a girl's life in a year, the movie seemed to be more a collection of little vignettes, focussing less on the diary itself - though in the end, its the diary that brings her happiness and the man she loves. Readers may find the climax a bit silly (it looks even more contrived on film) but keep in mind this was written for twenty-somethings looking for a way to pass their time on a lonely weeknight, and not for aspiring professors of literature. Still, there are highly comic moments, and I'd have to give it to the author for sustaining my interest in the book until the very end.

And yes, if you're wondering if all your favorite scenes from the movie are there in the book, well, the answer is both yes and no. And there are bits and pieces that I found essential to the story that were left out from the movie, but thats no big deal. As a novel, this reads very well, and its satisfying to learn that it will gain renewed attention now that the film version is out.

On another note, when I first read the book, I did not at all picture Bridget the way Renee does her in the film. I saw her more as a plump Toni Collette ('Muriel's Wedding' and 'Emma') or a bloated Kate Winslet ('Sense and Sensibility', and 'Jude'). Also, the Hugh Grant character seems more suave and smooth than Hugh does on film - a Rupert Everett or Jeremy Northam was what I first thought of in this role. However, Bridget's mum is as funny here as she is in the film. What I really love about the entire Bridget Jones Diary madness going around is that the film really compliments the book and is a faithful reproduction, for the most part. If you're a person whos been thinking about reading this book based on the hype thats been circulating, I would urge you to get it now. For once, heres a work of comic writing thats worth your time.

Highly recommended!

Book Review: Quintessentially British Humour at its Absolute Best!
Summary: 5 Stars

Bridget is a chain-smoking, alcohol-swilling, overly weight-conscious, man-obsessing, 30-something "singleton" with an addiction to self-help books and chocolate. She is also one of the most delightfully entertaining characters one could hope to come across. Some of the situations she gets herself into--well, they are just hilarious. But the book is more than just a comedy of errors, misunderstandings and mishaps. It is also highly insightful--both with respect to men and women (and I should imagine a lot of men would find this book enjoyable too). So far as women are concerned, however, I can't imagine anyone who could not find something to relate to in Bridget's character (whether or not one smokes, drinks, etc.). So long as one has spent at least a portion of one's life single, one will be able to relate. Indeed, it is that bond, that ability to relate that makes Bridget both so hilarious and so endearing, for ultimately it is ourselves, our own foibles, insecurities and obsessive moments that we are chuckling at.

The novel covers one full year in Bridget's life, with one month per chapter. It is written in diary format, which is a wonderful way of structuring the novel as it allows for a lot of humour to come through in ways that would be impossible otherwise. Never fear, though, for the diary entries are more for the reader's benefit and enjoyment rather than being that which one would actually write, with the result that chunks of it read like a novel complete with "recollected" dialogue.

Although a familiarity with Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is not necessary for the enjoyment of this novel, a familiarity with that work (particularly with the BBC/A&E dramatisation featuring Colin Firth) does enhance one's appreciation and enjoyment of this novel as it is, in fact, a very loose (and modern) parody of Pride and Prejudice (with actual reference being made to that particular dramatisation).

In short, I enjoyed this novel (and its sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) immensely, and I recommend both novels extremely highly. I particulary recommend them to those who enjoy British humour at its absolute best, for the humour here is quintessentially British. It simply does not, at least in my opinion, get any better than Bridget Jones!

Book Review: Four and 3/4 stars
Summary: 4 Stars

Bridget Jones is a wryly humorous, voyeuristic look into the life of a young thirty-something who is set upon improving herself while trying to balance her world on a set of conflicting beliefs. On the one hand she purports to be a staunchly independent "feminist", and yet she is utterly desperate for a man to call her own. In point of fact, Bridget and her other unattached cronies are all convinced that they'll die alone and will be discovered weeks later half-eaten by an Alsatian. This desperation tends to drive Bridget into relationships with some real sleazebag losers, which, while doing nothing helpful for her self-esteem, does wonders for her dieting.

Add to all this the fact that Bridget has finally reached that difficult point in life where she has to be the adult in her family. She has to handle her dad's pitiful middle-of-the-night phone calls while her mum, who left home in the throes of an end-of-life crisis, plays at living a wild carefree life as a television personality with a new youngish boyfriend, all the while trying to throw Bridget at her neighbor's rich, newly-divorced barrister son.

What worked for me:

    I totally relate to Bridget's neuroses concerning food and calorie counting, as I imagine millions of other women in the world do. I also understand her worries about fitting into the world and trying so hard to present herself as someone who "belongs" appearance and intelligence-wise. Bridget's attempts at self-improvement in those areas were funny but also terribly bittersweet.

Though it sometimes seemed a bit much, the terse telegraphic writing style lent itself very well to giving the feel of reading someone else's journal. And it was certainly fun trying to decipher those cryptic entries made when Bridget'd had a few too many!

Size-wise Bridget was at best on the plump side of average, but she felt as though she was much larger than that. When she managed to shed the "extra" weight, all her friends couldn't help but ask her if she was ill and where her bosom had gone to.

What didn't work for me:    

The characters were more like "caricatures" as they were so incredibly over-the-top in many respects, and at times I found their antics and attitudes wearing. (Well, you know how the psychobabble goes . . if you don't like someone, odds are it's because she reminds you of yourself. I am fervently hoping that this isn't actually true!)

Overall:

A fun, fast read for those who want to have a few laughs and feel better about their own lot in life. After all, things could be worse. You could be Bridget!
Warning: coarse language and sexual references abound, and if you abhor calorie obsessions, then skip over the headers to each entry in this book.

If you liked "Bridget Jones's Diary" you might also enjoy "Jemima J." and "Having It and Eating It".

Book Review: There is even a little Bridget Jones in you!
Summary: 4 Stars