[021] Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding

What the Back of the Book Has to Say:

The Wilderness Years are over! But not for long. At the end of Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget hiccuped off into the sunset with man-of-her-dreams Mark Darcy. Now, in The Edge of Reason, she discovers what it is like when you have the man of your dreams actually in your flat and he hasn't done the washing-up, not just the whole of this week, but ever.

Lurching through a morass of self-help theories and mad advice from Jude and Shazzer, struggling with a boyfriend-stealing ex-friend with thighs like a baby giraffe, an eight foot hole in the living room wall, a mother obsessed with boiled-egg peelers, and a builder obsessed with large reservoir fish, Bridget embarks on a spirtitual epiphany, which takes her from the cappuccino queues of Notting Hill to the palm -- and magic-mushroom-- kissed shores of ...

Bridget is back. V.g. 

Why I Picked It Up:

Nothing says "It's almost time to go home for Christmas!" like a re-read of one of your favorite books.

What I Think:

I think I have covered most of what I have to say about my love of Bridget Jones in my entry on the first novel but I suppose I will say a little bit more about the main plot of the sequel.

If you've only ever seen the movie version of this, get that out of your head right now. Although I personally don't think it's an awful movie, it's definitely not as good as the book and it would be much better if you're not picturing movie scenes as you read. The plot line, although similar, strays a lot from the original plot and the novel is much, much better.

It opens about the same, with Bridget finally together with Mr. Darcy and settling into a comfortable life of domesticity. However, things start to go wrong when too many misunderstandings and not enough discussion begin spiraling out of control.  A frenemy of Bridget's sets her sights on Mark, Bridget keeps jumping to conclusions about things that she never explains quite right, Jude and Shazzar have problems of their own and Tom runs away to San Francisco with an airport attendant. 

Bridget tries to get her life back on track, tries to become an independent journalist and a confident working woman and those plans go just as well as you would expect. She has to face head on her addiction to self-help books and when friend's advice shouldn't be listened to anymore. It's a novel about personal growth, not just for Bridget but for all the characters.

There are some wonderful sideplots with Jude and Shazzar that I am ultimately disappointed they did not include in the movie. Jude and her on again/off again boyfriend 'Vile Richard' go through a lot in the background of this book and it has a big effect on all of the characters. Unfortunately, Richard just gets a passing mention in the first movie. Shazzar, as well, as to deal with the conflict between her non-comprimising feminist views and the relationship she has with a close guy friend. 

I love this novel as it sees the characters from the first book come into their own and achieve happiness not through luck but from really looking at themselves and doing their best to change for the better. It has a great message (if you're looking for messages in your chick lit) and, beyond that, it's just a great read. It's funny, romantic and takes all of about two hours to get through. If you like chick lit, I promise you that you'll love this book.

[019] Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

What the Back of the Book Has to Say:

A dazzling urban satire of modern human relations?

An ironic, tragic insight into the demise of the nuclear family?

Or the confused ramblings of a pissed thirty-something?

Why I Picked It Up:

Comfort food

What I Think:

Bridget Jones has long been one of my favorite novels of all time. Of course, if you ask me what my favorite novels are, I'll say something like Pride and Prejudice or Lord of the Rings or Snow Falling on Cedars. I definitely have a wide and varied taste on this sort of thing. However, when it comes right down to it, I think I have read Bridget Jones at least fifty times and it never gets old.

Bridget Jones is about as close to perfect as any chick lit novel can come. Bridget is a wonderful heroine: she makes mistakes but she is always endearing. She never really learns her lesson but stands up for herself when she needs to. Her diets never succeed nor do her attempts to give up self help books. She is simultaneously worried for and annoyed by her mother and second guesses herself constantly. Basically, she's a regular girl and incredibly relatable.

The novel is a modern take on the Pride and Prejudice story and if you've only ever seen the movie, I suggest you also read the book because the similarities are even more noticeable in the novel. It's a quick read: it will maybe take you all of a day, if you take frequent breaks. It's broken up into months as it is, as the title states, a series of diary entries. Even the entries that don't pertain to the plot are a delight to read as an insight to the mind of a thirty-something in the mid-ninties. Of course, due to the time period it was written in, a few things do seem a bit dated but it's easily overlooked. 

I always come out of a reread wanting to be Bridget's best friend and writing in her diary style for a few days afterwards. She has abbreviations and turns of phrases that are very her and will stick in your head for awhile. I applaud Helen Fielding for creating a character where you really feel like you're in her headspace. It's very easy to understand Bridget's point of view at any time and the writing style is a big part of that. 

If you've only ever seen the movies, I really encourage you to read both the original and the sequel, The Edge of Reason. I know the second movie isn't very good but I assure you that the book is quite the opposite. While the first movie follows the book pretty faithfully (with a few missing plotlines), the second movie is almost nothing like the book and the book really is much better. Bridget has a stalker! Bridget interviews Colin Firth! Trust me, it's just as good as the first novel.

It is very hard to write about books you love to death objectively in this blog format so I think I'm going to stop while I'm ahead, before this turns into me gushing "It's really just so good!" as I tend to do. If you like chick lit, then I promise that you'll find something to like in Bridget Jones. It's a light read but definitely worth it.