I didn't enjoy this book in an ironic way, or in a it's-good-even-though-, or I-can't-believe-I-do-but-I-perversely-can't-help-it or any other angled, roundabout, halfway indirect from behind kind of way.... No. I sat on my couch and wolfed this thing down in one sitting while laughing my ass off.I read it last spring when I decided I was curious about what "chick-lit" was, so that I could form an opinion and generally improve my likelihood of passing as a somewhat informed member of civilization. This was not the only "chick-lit" book I attempted. I tried *Bergdorf Blondes*, the first few pages of which made me want to stab my eyes out with a rusty fork; well, maybe it made me more want to stab someone else's eyes out (Plum Sykes springs to mind), but my point is that it wasn't just bad but actually highly disturbing. Disturbing as in, does not so much shake as demolish one's faith in humanity and makes one tremble in horror at the times we're evidently living in..... I also tried *Good in Bed*, which wasn't upsetting, but did seem pretty bad, or at least definitely not for me. I even flipped open a *Shopaholic* book, which wasn't as awfully written as *Bergdorf Blondes* but did similarly make yearn for a grim Stalinist dystopia where this kind of trash just isn't permitted.Then there was Bridget Jones.Now, my enjoyment of this book was not uncomplicated by this terrifying "I-am-Cathy" feeling that I'm now enough of a grownup to identify with a lovably neurotic character from fluffy popular women's fiction. Because, dear bookster, identify I did. Yes. I had the 100% straightforward chick-lit experience, which I guess must be exactly this sense of recognizing your own ridiculously stereotypical feminine traits in a light novel's plucky heroine. And seriously? That's exactly what happened to me.(Can I just explain that I'm supposed to be packing right now, which is why this is getting so long and involved? I'm not really crazy, I'm just procrastinating.) (Also, though, I do want to tell you guys about Bridget Jones and how weirdly good it was.)There were a few things I didn't realize about BJ before I read this book. One is, she drinks too much. The other is, she smokes. I know it sounds dumb, but I think I would've felt differently knowing that, instead of just that she struggles with food. I'd sort of heard that a lot of it was about efforts to control her weight or whatever, and this typical, you know, on-again-off-again dieting, blah blah blah, and I really couldn't imagine anything less appealing, partly because that isn't a problem I identify with, and partly because does the world really need another book about a self-hating lady trying to lose weight? And why would anyone want to read something like that anyway?Well, I would. And I did! Because it's not really about her trying to lose weight (although I guess it kind of is), it's more about the constant, compulsive agony self-inflicted by a woman cursed not only with zero impulse control and a ravenous id, but also obsessively high standards for herself and a ridiculous amount of guilt and self-scrutiny about virtually everything she does.So yeah basically, this book is about me and a lot (not all) of my close female friends. And it really, really -- I want you to hear this from me -- truly gets at some stuff about certain ways that a lot of women tend to act and think, which, I'm sorry, all my fancy feminisms and gender theory aside, let's be honest, a lot (not all) of us are very crazy in some classically female ways, and Fielding just NAILS a lot of those. Plus she's very funny.Is this the greatest book ever written? No. But it was fun to read.Obviously, not all men act one way, and not all women act like Bridget Jones. However, I certainly do, and that must be the reason I got such a kick out of this book.
Bridget Jones's Diary was bloody horrible.I once thought of myself as quite an intellectual being, but after reading this book, I felt that it has sucked all the IQ i once had (i refuse to believe that I had none to begin with, haha), since this book felt like a hundred pages of BLAH BLAH going on.I wanted a light read, after literally being in the middle of gun point. I, who has zero tolerance for violence, needed something to cheer myself up. However, this book sucked the humor out of me. I don't even remembering laughing even once. I wanted to give the book the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I was just overly traumatized after the gun thing, so I tried reading another book, and bloody hell, I was laughing. So I have to put all the blame on this bloody excuse of a book.I will continue to rant. Ranting is good. I felt no pity for Bridget. I found her absolutely unlikable and highly repulsive. I felt no remorse for her inability to find a boyfriend or manage to fulfill a thing or two on her new year's resolution list.This is the most shallow book I've read, and even I don't see the point of reading it. If it's barely for entertainment, I'm sorry, this book failed. I could only be glad that I finished this sad excuse of a book, though I do regret the time and effort wasted in finishing it. The only reason I gave it two stars, is because I love Mr. Darcy and the hero of this book is named Mark Darcy (though Mark Darcy is in no way comparable to Mr. Darcy in anyway, except by name). And hey, with the two stars, I was being way too generous.Hmm, despite this book not making me laugh, it did help me unleash a little bit of anger and sorrow I feel for having to endure a moment of having a stranger point a gun at my face. But at this point, the gun could have been more desirable than having to endure reading this book once more.
What do You think about Bridget Jones's Diary (1999)?
I'm torn as to how to rate this. On the one hand, Fielding nails the humor. Humor is very hard to capture in literature and I often found myself smiling or chuckling. But when I wasn't, I was exasperated with Bridget Jones. Fielding nails her too. Why do women insist on being proud of being so... shallow? Idiotic, blind about themselves and their lives, and obsessed with all the wrong things in life? I didn't sympathize with Bridget at all, nor did I really care about the holes she dug herself into. This book is the perfect example of why I don't read chick lit. I just don't relate to this definition of what women are. More than that, I'm embarrassed by it.I also didn't buy into the love story. I didn't really get why Bridget liked him other than he was there. But what else than a shallow love interest did I expect from Bridget? I'm glad that the Pride and Prejudice undertones were not blatant or I might of cried that Fielding so disgraced the characters. I liked the way Renee Zellweger played Bridget so much more than the way this is written. At least in the movie she has a brain and a personality worth something and she seems a little above all the nonsense around her. One of these days I'd like to read chick lit with a protagonist I can relate to, but then again, would it really be light and chick-lit-ish?
—Annalisa
I think it goes without saying that this is a very funny and witty book, and the main character Bridget Jones is one of the most relatable characters I've read about. I especially liked her intros to every diary entry where we get to know how much she weighs, how many calories she's had during the day, how many cigarettes she has smoken, etc. It was fantastic and actually made me feel quite good about myself, because apparently I'm not the only one with those kind of insecurities. I have watched the movie adaption of this book several times and I will say that decreaed my reading experience a little bit. I didn't laugh as much at all of the jokes and whimsical twists because I knew they were coming - however, I did laugh out loud once because Bridget's tone of voice and sense of dry humour is amazing. This is a book that will make you feel good - especially if you are of the female species, even though I'm pretty sure males would find it very entertaining and educating as well :-)
—helen the bookowl
I read this book for a contemporary section of an AP Literature Class. To say the least, Fielding sells her soul to the idle masses to sell novels. I believe the only way BJD will be remembered in the literary canon is if the critics of the future look back at what a horrid generation we were. A daughter of the greatest generation, Bridget Jones is an insecure, irresponsible, sex-driven woman who (to be fair) write clever, quippy journal entries of her life. The humor, at best, is a compensation to keep the reader from falling asleep from the over-tedious style of the book itself. Based loosley off of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" (a book which, in my opinion, was 562 pages of enjoyable small talk), this book uses the empathetic "THIS CHARACTER IS ME" plea to force a generation of immorailty and insecurity to flock around it. Still, I think a read can still be enjoyable, even if it isn't necessarily enaging literature.
—Vish
