Bridget Joness Diary (Bridget Jones, #1) By Helen Fielding

April (Aprilius Maximus)

Prepare yourselves, it's about to get personal up in here.
So, I've never seen the movie of Bridget Jones's Diary, so I thought I would read the highly acclaimed book before doing so and, to my great surprise, I ended up hating almost everything about it. I 100% understand why people like it - it's funny and relatable and reminiscent of the great decade that was the 90's, but because of a purely personal problem, this book made me feel like garbage and therefore made me absolutely loathe my reading experience.
Bridget is always writing down her weight and saying she's fat, but the thing is, it's not just herself saying this. Friends, family and other characters also call her fat throughout the novel and then I look at me, who weighs over 15 kilos more than Bridget, and it honestly made me feel like crap. I have already been struggling with confidence and self-loathing because over the past couple of years I've put on 25 kilos due to changing medications for my mental health, so this book honestly just made it worse. Is this what people on the street think about me when I walk by? Do my friends and family secretly discuss how much weight I've put on behind my back? It honestly took me back to when members of my own family were making snide remarks about my weight or offering suggestions for how exercise and dieting could benefit me, thinking they were helping when really, it made it ten times worse.
I was 3/4 of the way through the book, when I thought to myself, has anything plot-wise actually happened? Nope. Just a bunch of damaging self-hatred that triggered my own.
I get that a lot of people love the book and that's fine, I totally get it, but for me, it ended up being a damaging and destructive novel that ended up being quite triggering for my depression.
Let me know any thoughts you guys have on this book or any of the things I've discussed!

Around the Year in 52 Books Challenge Notes:
- 20. A book with a first name in the title

Jessica

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.

Shriya

Let's review this book the Bridget way!
Reading goal for 2011: 35 books (not bad)
Books actually read: 38(v.g.)
No. of chick-lits supposed to be read in a year: 1 (fair)
No. of chick-lits actually read: 2 (including Bridget Jones's Diary )
But wait a second! Who can call Bridget Jones's Diary a chick-lit? That would be an insult to such a master-piece! No, Bridget is no wannabe chick-lit heroine and this book is certainly no trashy best-seller! Bridget Jones's Diary is definitely a piece of literature! It is well written, it's funny and it is extremely relate-able. Bridget, like most girls, tends to make mistakes, fall in love with the wrong guy and she gives an all new twist to the story of 'Pride and Prejudice' . In a way, it is a work of plagiarism and yet, it has the quality of being original! It is at once the biggest tribute to Austen and one of the most successful experiments on creating a story which has its own elements of uniqueness and surprise!
And the best thing about this book is, you don't want to believe Bridget is not real! It's like Santa Claus or Hogwarts all over again!
Yes, I know I can't stop gushing over it but trust me, had this book been anything like the usual chick-lits, I most certainly wouldn't have given it a five-star rating! Of course, I approached it gingerly and rather hesitantly at first but once I was done, I felt like banging my head against the wall asking, "Why didn't I read it before when I had the e-book lying with me for the last three years?"
But I guess I had to borrow it from Gayatri and then spend an entire fortnight gushing over it!
Do I recommend it to you? Hell, yeah, I do!

Maggie Stiefvater

Like our narrator, both funny and deceptively stylish.

(I have not seen the film).

Ahmad Sharabiani

Bridget Jones's Diary (Bridget Jones, #1), Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones's Diary is a 1996 novel by Helen Fielding. Written in the form of a personal diary, the novel chronicles a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a thirty-something single working woman living in London. She writes about her career, self-image, vices, family, friends, and romantic relationships.

عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «یادداشتهای روزانه یک زن»؛ «یادداشت های روزانه یک زن برژیت جونز»؛ نویسنده: هلن فیلدینگ؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: هفتم سپتامبر سال2005میلادی

عنوان: یادداشتهای روزانه یک زن؛ نویسنده: هلن فیلدینگ؛ مترجم: ویدا قانون؛ تهران، چشمه، سال1384، در280ص؛ شابک9643622932؛ عنوان دیگر یادداشتهای روزانه یک زن برژیت (بریجت) جونز؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیا - سده20م

نام فیلم: خاطرات بریجت جونز؛ کارگردان: شارون مگوایر؛ نویسندگان: «ریچارد کرتیس؛ اندرو دیویس، هلن فیلدینگ»؛ بازیگران: «رنی زلوگر؛ هیو گرانت؛ کالین فرث؛ جیم برودبنت؛ امبت دیویتس؛ جما جونز؛ پل بروک»؛ فیلم‌ برداری: «استوارت درایبرگ»؛ تدوین: «مارتین والش»؛ توزیع‌ کننده: «میرامکس (آمریکا)؛ یونیورسال استودیوز (جهان)»؛ تاریخ‌های انتشار: «روز دوم ماه آوریل سال2001میلادی (نمایش نخست بریتانیا)؛ روز سیزدهم ماه آوریل سال2001میلادی (بریتانیا ایالات متحده)؛ روز دهم ماه اکتبر سال2001میلادی (فرانسه)»؛ مدت زمان: در97دقیقه؛ کشور: «بریتانیا»؛ زبان: «انگلیسی»؛ هزینهٔ فیلم: مبلغ26میلیون دلار؛ فروش گیشه: مبلغ218,929,795دلار؛ دنباله این فیلم در سال2004میلادی با عنوان: بریجت جونز: نکته باریک؛ و در سال2016میلادی با عنوان: «بچه بریجت جونز» ساخته شده است

تلاش‌های زنی سی و پنج ساله، برای ترسیم یک زندگی بهتر است، او می‌کوشد در جامعه جا بیفتد، و گلیم خویش را از آب بیرون بکشد، و در این راه از یاری گروهی از دوستان اندک خویش، و یکی دو خانواده ی سنتی، در شهر محل زندگی‌ اش، بهره می‌گیرد؛ زمان وقوع رخدادها دهه ی1990میلادی است؛ پیروزی این داستانها، و دید و نگاه تیزبین «هلن فیلدینگ» بر مسایل ظریف، و حس جامعه شناسی قوی او، سبب شد، زنان بسیاری به دنبال کردن داستانهای «جونز»، علاقه نشان بدهند، و با ایشان همذات پنداری کنند، و بویژه وابستگی زنان، به نشریات زنانه، و خط و ایده‌ هایی که نشریات به زندگی زنان در غرب می‌دهند، در این داستانها مورد تاکید و انتقاد قرار می‌گرفت، و نگاه نقادانه ی: «فیلدینگ»، به مسایلی از آن دست؛ نوشته ی «جونز» را، به چیزی بیش از یک اثر هنری، و حتی فراتر از یک رُمان پرفروش، بدل کرد، و از آن، یک پدیده ی ماندگار اجتماعی ساخت؛ «فیلدینگ» کتاب نخست «بریجیت(بریژیت) جونز» را، که همان جمع آوری پاورقی‌های چاپ شده، در روزنامه «ایندپندنت» بود، در سال1996میلادی منتشر کرد، و یک پاره ی دوم را نیز، با عنوان جنبی، و کامل کننده «لبه منطق، یا همان (نکته باریک)» در سال1999میلادی، روانه بازار ساخت، و در ادامه کتاب «بچه ی بریجت جونز» را نگاشت

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 23/11/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 30/10/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

[ J o ]

Read as part of
The Infinite Variety Reading Challenge, based on the BBC's Big Read Poll of 2003.

Let me introduce you to the Béchamel Test. No, not the Bechdel Test, that's different. And not the sauce, either.

The Béchamel Test is a very simply checklist to see if you should read a book or simply set fire to it. Here's how it works:

1.) Is There A Gay Best Friend?

2.) Are There Moments When The Main Character Would, If The Book Was Set In The Current Time Period, Do Something Awkward and Say, "Awkward" Out Loud Afterwards In An Incredibly Irritating Faux American Accent With A Hint Of Irony But No Clue As To What Irony Actually Is?

3.) Is The Protagonist Selfish, Deluded, Thinks 9st Is Overweight, Doesn't Think Maybe A Bit Of Exercise Would Help Pretty Much Every One Of Their Problems, Not Care About Anything Except Men And Thinks That's Fine, But Can't Stand The Idea of Marriage And Kids, (But Secretly Wants That), Hates Anyone Who Is Happy, Thinks Feminism Is Just Acting Like A Man (Wouldn't Want To Be Thought Of As Delicate Now Would We)?

4.) Is The Book Purported To Be Funny But Isn't And Is Just A Weird Way For People To Be Mean About Past Generations Without Actually Saying Anything Specific?

If you answered "Yes" to any of those then the book has failed the Béchamel Test and should be burnt. At once. Don't bother leaving the bookshop; ask them to help.

And go and spend your money on some actual Béchamel Sauce.

P.S. Also failed the Bechdel Test and the one that uses a needle on a metre to determine whether a noise was heard after a joke was made.

P.P.S. (no noise was heard).

P.P.P.S. Read as part of the Infinite Variety Reading Challenge based on the BBC's Big Read poll of 2003.

P.P.P.P.S. Just watch the film.

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Annalisa

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?

Annamaria

"Skirt is indisputably absent. Is skirt off sick?"

Despite what most of my friends think about me, I'm a sucker for good romantic comedies. Sure, they'll tell you that I mostly end up calling everything cheesy and roll my eyes but that's a coping mechanism and they just don't get me, alright? One of my favourite chick flicks is, you guessed it, Bridget Jones's Diary. I love its lightheartedness, how utterly 2000 it feels and looks, the Pride and Prejudice references and, my god, how gorgeous are Grant and Firth in this one? It's a personal attack I say, I'll sue!!

I didn't have many hopes for this book since I had already started it once but couldn't be bothered to finish it. Recently though I decided to give it another go. It just.. didn't work for me.

Bridget Jones's Diary presents itself in the form of a diary that doesn't feel like an intimate portrayal of life at all as it lists a series of stuff that happens to Bridget in the driest way possible. At some point it takes her pages and pages to tell us how unsuccessfully she's trying to work the video recorder. Who cares Bridget? Who cares?? There really is no plot if we don't consider poor Bridget whinging about her weight and men for the majority of this story.

As a character, Bridget doesn't grow and doesn't inspire empowerment at all as she doesn't stand up for herself, not even once. She lets people walk all over her and mops around afterwards. She's so self-centered that, as a reader, you struggle to see her as anything else beyond a huge ego. Her friends are the ones who help her and who care for her, but you never feel this care expanding from within her. Even when her parents are going through a rough patch she ends up projecting their issues onto her own, like, ew.

When it comes to the romance, she will tell us that she is in love, but we don't get to experience that love. We don't know Daniel at all, we just know that he's a borderline sexual harasser and a sex god. Good to know Bridget, can't we go a little deeper? And what about Mark? I.. Was he even in the book? (Seriously, was he? I ended up skimming through most of its second half)

What got me more than anything else though was the fake feminism. I know that when it comes to light-hearted comedies, feminism can become too surface level, but I wasn't prepared for this!

"After all, there is nothing so unattractive to a man as strident feminism."
(I don't know if this is possible but I felt my uterus litearally shrivel up)

"Think will cross last bit out as contains mild accusation of sexual harassment whereas v. much enjoying being sexually harassed by Daniel Cleaver."

"That didn't give him license to sexually harass me, but the complication was quite enjoyable, really."
(The oxymoron in these last two is what my nightmares are made of)

Bridget pretends she's a raging feminist but only when she gets to talk shit about men with her friends. Because that's what feminists do. Sometimes her friend Sharon would come up with actual good talking points that could have started interesting conversations (like the unwillingness of most women to stop compromising their careers for the sake of men who don't share the same emotional investment as their partners), but Bridget mostly fat-shames, calls a woman a "worthless trollop" because she's wearing a suit better than she did and at some point she laughs at Daniel Cleaver's "frigid cow" comment (he calls her that because she once refused to have drunken sex with him). I'm ---

Finally, that cover is so ugly I want it to die the worst death.

Needless to say that I disliked this book intensely, but am also very thankful for the movies it inspired. Without it we wouldn't have been able to get this ~~brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before~~ shot, and what a wretched existence that would have been:

description

Manny

Cine Transat

Get up and make sensible plan. Will work hard on journal paper during day, then go for well-earned picnic at open-air movie theatre. Tonight's movie Bridget Jones's Diary (v. good). Make salmon florentine for picnic, will eat half there and save rest for tomorrow. Feel v. organized.

Hard to concentrate thoughts on journal paper. After lunch go back to bed, need to recover energy. Wake up again mid-afternoon. Decide to postpone working on paper until tomorrow, have to tidy apartment since guests coming for picnic and place looks like tip. Pack picnic. Guests arrive, walk down to water and find good spot to pitch camp. While waiting for movie to start, eat all salmon florentine followed by large serve of chocolate mousse and most of two bottles of wine. Halfway through movie, stretch out hand to grope girlfriend and spill remaining wine over brand-new picnic rug (v. bad). Girlfriend not happy. Arrive back home pissed at 1 am. Must do better tomorrow.

Lena

The movie was better. In the book Bridget is annoying idiot, who has serious problems with alcohol and zero self-control.

Yulia

This certainly wasn't a novel but, what's worse, it wasn't even a credible diary. Who records their mishaps while cooking and running late in their preparations? Perhaps if this were written in the phone-texting age, I could imagine someone constantly chronicling their every move, no matter how pressing the situation or how inane and empty the commentary, but as it is, this book serves as a frightening precursor to a new generation of books with no established atmosphere, characters, dialogue, or insight. Fielding would be better off looking into a crystal ball and telling people their fortunes than writing another non-novel.

Nenia ✨ I yeet my books back and forth ✨ Campbell

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So I'm doing this thing where I'm rereading the books I read as a teen and trying to figure out whether they hold up to an adult's perspective or if they were just zeitgeist-appropriate crap. BRIDGET JONES is definitely not a teen book, but that didn't stop me from reading it anyway! Actually, the first time I read it, I was ten. My mom wouldn't let me have it because she was like, "She'll be a bad influence on you!" which meant me pulling up a chair to the bookshelf to get it from where she'd hidden it and staying up three nights straight to read it. Did ten-year-old me understand WTF Ms. Jones was on about? No. Did I suddenly start weighing myself and listing my meals in my journals just like she did because I thought it was cool and the Grown-Up Thing to Do? Yes. Did it mess me up for life? Well, no, but it did seem to turn me into a thirty-something Singleton so maybe that's The Curse of the Book.

I'm not sure there's a book out there that captures the life of the thirty-something single woman quite like this one. Bridget is so relatable and so funny. She's like the perfect blend of good girl/bad girl, and her dynamics with her friends and family were such a delight to read and made her feel like such a well-rounded character. I did think the movie was better since so much of the focus is on Daniel that Darcy almost feels like an afterthought and when his feelings do crop up, they seem to come out of nowhere. It's funny that Hugh Grant and Colin Firth were chosen for the roles because both of the actors are actually mentioned in this book (which I thought was super hilarious).

The sexual harassment and outmoded dating advice don't age quite as well, and part of my love for this book is definitely nostalgic, but I still really enjoyed being in Bridget's head. Her anxiety/neuroticism really mirrored my own in my teens/early 20s. I honestly feel a little embarrassed thinking about how much I obsessed over boys sometimes when I was younger. I still have my journals from my early teens and oh my god, I forgot how I could spent hours parsing through every single interaction for secret clues. I'm not sure this book will be quite as appealing to teens and young women now but if you're interested in some fun 90s references and a pretty well-rounded heroine (that also serves as a pretty decent homage to PRIDE AND PREJUDICE), you should definitely check out this book.

3.5 stars

Kelly (and the Book Boar)

Find all of my reviews at:
http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

Like so many others out there the holidays can sometimes get me feeling blah. Not like seasonal depression or can’t-get-out-of-bed kind of depression, more like just . . . . “meh.” In an effort to combat that, I do things like going balls out on Christmas decorating well before Thanksgiving, making giant Sunday dinners with all the fixins as soon as the leaves start to change in case I turn into a “please just go get Taco Bell” kind of Mom between Thanksgiving and the New Year and tipping the scales heavier than usual when it comes reading/watching things of the feel good rather than the stabby variety. Thus is the case with Bridget Jones and her diary.

I’m not a big re-reader (but I am HUGE re-watcher). My family always knows I’m about to go spelunking in the basement for decorations as soon as I’ve watched Christmas Vacation (usually as close as possible to the day after Halloween) and it becomes hot cocoa, cookies, snuggly blanket and cozy reads season with the annual viewings of Serendipity and Bridget Jones’ Diary. There’s just something about moments like these . . . .

Oh and just in case you’re wondering if I’m a pod person, I assure you I’m not. In my world it’s not officially Christmas until this happens . . . .

Greatest Christmas movie ever. Period.

It seems ol’ Bridge is a fail for the newer generation. The only thing I can say is this is not a story that’s meant to be taken seriously so if you’re not in on the joke, it definitely won’t work for you. Put yourself in the mindset of geriatrics like me and Bridget . . . .

“I am a child of Cosmopolitan culture, have been traumatized by supermodels and too many quizzes and know that neither my personality nor my body is up to it if left to its own devices.”

Realize that Bridget’s inner dialogue regarding weight, alcohol and cigarettes is more of a “first world problem” type of confessional rather than an “I’m going to go stick my head in the oven because I’m a morbidly obese drunk with lung cancer and no one will ever love me” admission.

Kiki

Gawd, this book was criminally hilarious. I sat in the doctor's office waiting room literally snorting into my Nine West handbag (there's something really metal about being a minimum wage worker who chooses to buy labels instead of food) as I cradled my Kobo in my lap, with Bridget Jones and her life of ridiculous shenanigans all over the black and white screen. Needless to say, the people I waited with were unimpressed. They are probably not the first to wonder why someone like me would carry anything as elegant as Nine West.

Sometimes I wonder that, too.

Honestly? I took off a star because I was highly disappointed with the rushed and nonsensical ending. But the rest of this book? Pure gold. A little warning, though: this is not a shiny, polished tale of the stereotypical (and in real life, extremely rare) uptown and sophisticated south-English thirtysomething. It's an incredibly and often shamefully honest portrayal of a woman who likes sex and cigarettes and drinking and her foul-mouthed friends. It's not The Young Victoria. It's modern Britain, like nobody wants to see it.

Sure, it's a little ham-fisted in places. I won't say it doesn't idealize relationships, and get a little bizarre here and there. But who cares? I picked this book up expecting to be entertained. It exceeded those expectations.

Good job, Helen Fielding.

Olive Fellows (abookolive)

This book is just so much fun. I love rereading it around Christmastime - according to Goodreads, this was the fourth time I've read it! 😲

Elizabeth

description

I love Bridget Jones with my whole heart. I want to live in her head forever. She is fantastic, fearless, and funny. She sees the humour in every tragic situation. She understands every neurotic thought I've ever had. She is my spirit animal.

Bridget Jones has always been one of my favourite movies and so I put off reading the book for a long time because I figured it would be more or less the same but it's actually totally wonderful in its own way.

I think you have to have been through certain things to really enjoy this book. If you can't relate to Bridget, you must be very lucky indeed. In a way, she is a bit intolerable, in a lovable sort of way. She guzzles wine, smokes countless cigarettes, and gorges on food like it's the last time she'll ever get to eat, and then wails endlessly about her weight; she moans about her dead-end job (in publishing, which I always thought would be so glamorous) without ever trying to get ahead; and she mopes about her social life and single status while remaining surrounded by her completely vapid (though all individually endearing) friends, and dating the absolute worst kind of men. This is something I experienced for several years (luckily in my early twenties - poor Bridge is still struggling into her thirties) and I wasn't even half as good as dealing with it as her. I was actually intolerable. Not at all adorable or witty or good-natured like she is.

This book is about growing up while trying to maintain sane with a cool, calm, and collected outer appearance. It's about learning to take your life seriously while trying not to take your life too seriously. It is heart-warming and laugh-out-loud funny and a complete narrative of my early twenties. It's to be taken lightheartedly, and if you can do that, I think you'll find it incredibly enjoyable.

K.P. Webster

What a depressingly bad book. ‘Helen Fielding is one of the funniest writers in Britain,’ says Nick Hornby on the front cover, ‘and Bridget Jones is a creation of comic genius.’ What on earth…? Why is he saying that? Did he want to sleep with her? Same goes for Salman Rushdie. ‘A brilliant comic creation,' blurbs Salman. 'Even men will laugh.’ Oh, Salman. Why is he saying that? Surely, if a book is genuinely funny, then people will laugh irrespective of their gender. Obviously. ‘Even men will laugh.’ What kind of bullshit is that? As it happens, I did laugh. I laughed, if I remember correctly, four times. Out loud. On the other hand, I also shouted out in anger, annoyance and plain old despair at least forty times.

So what’s wrong with this book?

Well, in a nutshell: flaccid, half-dimensional characterisation; sickeningly pat plotting – the ending in particular is an embarrassing slap in the face for anyone who's ever shown even a passing consideration for the real world; downright adolescent ideas about style – those bits where she writes ‘drunk’ and ends up with her typing slurred are a disgrace.

Also, I know Helen Fielding can’t exactly be blamed for this, but Jesus, you’d think Picador could afford a decent proof reader. There are so many incredible howlers in BJD that it beggars belief. On page 174 of this edition, for example…

…not only is there an ‘on one’ instead of a ‘no one’, but there is also – drum roll – this: ‘that’s a nice shirt your wearing’. NOOOOOoooooooo! God in Heaven, strike me down and bugger me.

One thing that particularly upset me about this book - and which Helen Fielding can be blamed for - was the woefully predictable oscillation of mood. This kind of thing throughout:

7pm. Opened bottle of wine feeling desperate and lonely and miserable. 7.30pm. Oh unassailable joy! Daniel called and declared his undying love for me. 8pm. Daniel called back and said he’d called the wrong number by mistake. He thought I was Ryan Giggs. (Who?) Opened second bottle of wine. Binged on marshmallow and lard and put on 3 stone in 20 minutes. 9pm. Oh insurmountable ecstasy! Mark Darcy called and declared his undying love for me. He’s coming over. Performed quick gastric bypass procedure on self and washed hair. Down to 9 stone but still look podgy. 10.30pm. Mark Darcy stood me up. Why am I so lonely? Why? Why? Why?

Because you’re a bore, Bridget, that’s why. You’re a fucking bore.

Of course I know we don’t have to like our fictional protagonists. Patrick Bateman, for example, is vile. As is Humbert Humbert, and even Homer Simpson. Yet in each of these cases, it is possible to describe these characters using one or more of the following adjectives: ‘interesting’, ‘fascinating’, ‘funny’ or ‘well-written’. And all of these things are important. However, if you insist on creating a character who is dull, slow-witted, utterly charmless, and self-indulgent to the point of mentally ill, then you’d better make sure that you write them well. Otherwise no one will read your book.

So, I suppose the next question has to be: how could I believe so passionately that what I’m saying is true and yet at the same time be so wildly and obviously wrong?

Bridget Jones's Diary has apparently sold millions and millions and millions of copies worldwide. It has also picked up astonishing reviews by the likes of the inestimable Jilly Cooper and a clearly fuckstruck Salman Rushdie.

My instinct is to say that these people are all wrong and that I know dross when I read it and that Bridget Jones’s Diary is utter, utter dross. But… what if it’s me?

This is a chilling thought. And I'm not sure what to do with it. Perhaps I shall just sit here, in my study, in nothing but the light from my computer monitor, and weep.

Tatiana

A lot of this aged poorly. Particularly the notion that a 130-lbs woman needs to diet and obsess about cellulite. But this remains by far the best Price and Prejudice retelling, and super funny too. Bridget's mom even can beat Mrs. Bennet in terms of ridiculousness. I forgot all about that.

Suz

Watched and loved the movie first, and that's what's stuck unfortunately. So I'd say this is 3.5 stars from me. Of course it would’ve been a different experience if I’d read it first, and I can totally see why the movie focused on Daniel the cad.. What would the movie have been without the fist fight in the snow?!

The diary entries witty, the protagonist funny and cheeky. She's a ninny isn't she?! This is a fun book, a romp really, and all the more fun with the self deprecation that is Bridget. It’s a fun reminder of the noughties (naughties??) and the nineties, for me at least.

I love the mention in the book of Colin Firth and Hugh Grant (I love these guys full stop). And what’s not to love about “Gav had cooked spag bog”. But why oh why are Aussie’s always portrayed as drunkards?! Perhaps there really is something behind that..

"…I have nothing to wear. I’m no good at anything. Not men. Not social skills. Not work. Nothing.” Love her.

"Where in the name of arse where you last night?” I said. “I might ask the same of you,” he said, icily. Love it.

Where else can we read gold pieces like this? I'd eat blue soup all day, if I could sit down with Bridget and Mark. Daniel too, even if he’s a sod.

Nina

It’s been a long time since I saw the movie, so it was lovely to meet her again. The diary entries were entertaining, but in the book it got a bit repetitive. I got fed up about reading about calories and cigarettes. But I still enjoyed the book and her antics.

Blaine

Hmm. Think will cross last bit out as contains mild accusation of sexual harassment whereas v. much enjoying being sexually harassed by Daniel Cleaver.

For one of my book challenges, I needed to read a Jane Austin-inspired book. I remember enjoying Bridget Jones’s Diary, a book I read when it first came out 25 years ago. So I decided to reread it, and see whether or not it holds up a generation later.

Sadly no. No, it does not.

There are some parts of Bridget Jones’s Diary that still work. The judgment and frustration that “singletons” feel at the hands of their “smug married” friends and family is pretty timeliness. Her wild flights of imagination are amusing. And there are some parts that are almost still funny—no one knows how to program their VCR—even though they feel trapped in amber from a 1990s Seinfeld episode.

But most of Bridget Jones’s Diary is hopelessly dated and often cringey. Her obsession with her weight is unhealthy. Her lists of her weight, alcohol, cigarettes, and calories consumed gets old. This book may have originated the gay best friend trope, but it’s jarring every single time she calls him a “homosexual” like he’s some exotic creature. The plot line involving Bridget’s mother and Julio is just odd. Worst of all, like many good romcoms there’s a love triangle here, but this one sucks. The best parts of
Pride and Prejudice is the banter between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, but Mark Darcy is rarely in this book until the final third. Instead, Bridget spends most of her time obsessing over her relationship with her boss, Daniel. Daniel is all class, using the work e-mail to call her a “frigid cow,” and tell her “I like your tits in that top.” Instead of going to HR about his sexual harassment, she STARTS sleeping with him.

Regular readers of my reviews know that I’m always on the lookout for that rare situation: the movie that’s better than the book. I keep a running list of them (there aren’t many) on my profile page. But onto that list I now add Bridget Jones’s Diary, a flawed book that was made into a better movie thanks to great performances by Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant. Bridget Jones’s Diary helped reinvigorated the romcom book genre. But that genre has grown and evolved and passed this book by. It’s just so vapid and cringey that I struggle to remember what I liked about it the first time. Not recommended.

Original rating: 4 stars
Rating I really want to give it: 2 stars
New rating: averaged to 3 stars

Charlotte May

I must confess I watched the Bridget Jones films before reading the books.
This was light hearted amusement for me.
I could relate to a lot of Bridget's thoughts and habits, but I wouldn't say it was groundbreaking. If anything it was probably a bit too close to home for me to really enjoy - I prefer books with more escapism or surrealism.
But if you are looking for something that won't strain your brain too much and will offer you a few chuckles then this book is all you need.
Still gonna read the other two though as I own them so I might as well.

Paulo Ratz

Um dos “chick-lits” mais legais que eu li na vida. Acho que nunca ri tanto lendo um livro. Eu amo todos os personagens, mas principalmente amo os pais, que são muito doidos. Fiquei tão envolvido. O livro nem tem um grande plot, mas adorei vivenciar esse ano todo pelo ponto de vista da Bridget.

Tem as questões com o peso da Bridget que, pelo menos no livro, me parece uma leve romantização nesse desespero que ela tem em se manter magra. Por mais que seja a realidade de muitas mulheres, e não vejo problema em tratar com naturalidade, acho que o livro trata do assunto sem explicitar que é uma questão prejudicial a saúde mental, além da física.

Aishu Rehman

Of course the book is all about Bridget's feelings and emotions..............it's a diary!! I think anyone, man or woman, would quietly admit to themselves the selfish thoughts they have when something terrible happens to someone they know, Bridget is just doing that in her diary. The book provides an excellent outlet for anyone woman who feels the pressures of impending singledom, rubbish careers and crazy parents and it makes the reader see that IT'S OK NOT TO BE PERFECT! We love Bridget 'cos she is fun, honest and finds true love even though she is (shock! horror!) average and has arse the size of Brazil. Obviously not for everyone but one of the best reads I have come across and a must for any single girl.

Jennifer

This was SUCH a FUN book to read. I read it in December - when family/holiday shit and self worth is really taking a beating. So to pick up this book and read about her holiday get togethers and her weight and smoking issues and family issues - and how she can make an ass out of herself in such a grand grand manner....well - it was just what I needed. To be able to sympathise and laugh at the same time? Priceless!

Annet

Read this one years ago, hilarious!

Jon

Judging by some of the reviews, I think its quite possible that it might be slighlty lost on the audience if not a Brit or spent time there. The book was such a success because she nailed the English sensibility, particularly, but not exclusivley female. Everyone either has an element of Bridget in them or knows someone like that. We do whinge, worry about the size of our arses, have to put up with naf jumpers for Christmas, occasionaly about having no friends and found alone eaten by alsations or similar, have obsessions about random people we probably shouldnt and wonder if we will get to shag them, suffer for being a singleton when we secretly rather enjoy it, plan diets that we never quite stick too and sometimes record the banal details. We also often enjoy a good wallow in self-pity. I even have a friend whos more than likely downed several solitary bottles of red and mouthed the words to 'all by myself' before collapsing in stupor. In short theres a bit of Bridge in all of us and I loved it...even if I've now left the country for a slightly less depressing life in the sun!

Karla Martínez

es un libro corto y aún así lo sentí demasiado largo jajaja.
no sé qué decir la verdad. prefiero mucho más la película.
eso si, creo que puede llegar a ser gatillante el comportamiento obsesivo de bridget con la comida y las calorías. hace muchos años yo hacía exactamente lo mismo y creo que, si mi relación con mi cuerpo no estuviera mejor ahora, me hubiese sentido como el hoyo leyendo este libro.

Julie

Forgot how funny this book is. Lots of fun.

Title	:	Bridget Joness Diary (Bridget Jones, #1)
Author	:	Helen Fielding
Rating	:
ISBN	:	014028009X
ISBN-10	:	9780140280098
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Paperback
Number of Pages	:	271
Publication	:	First published January 1, 1996
Awards	:	Audie Award Solo Narration - Female (2000), British Book of the Year (1998)

Bridget Joness Diary (Bridget Jones, #1) by Helen Fielding

Bridget Joness Diary (Bridget Jones, #1) Reviews

Bridget Joness Diary (Bridget Jones, #1) Reviews

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