Bridget Jones's Diary
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I’ve told men that if they want to learn about women, they should read Bridget Jones’s. Of course afterwards I wished I had further explained myself a bit more, distanced myself a bit from Bridget—at least from parts of her. It’s true, of course, that most women can relate to at least something in this book, but it’s also true that a lot of it is substantially hyperbolized. So men who read this book to understand women should take it with several grains of salt.

At any rate, it’s a funny book for both genders. Its exaggeration is exactly what will leave you holding your sides with laughter as Bridget writes exactly what she thinks in her diary entries. As a reader, you follow Bridget, a thirty-something singleton living in London, through the erratic ups and downs of her life during the course of a single year (which follows an amazingly similar, though modern and very loosely connected, path to Elizabeth’s in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which BBC TV series is discussed quite freely in the book).

One of my favorite things about this novel is its use of stats. Bridget compulsively weighs herself and counts her caloric, nicotine, and alcohol intake throughout the year in an attempt to keep her New Year’s resolutions (listed at the beginning of the book and totaled at the end). She’s breathtakingly honest in her stats keeping, which is quite amusing. Even more telling are her notations showing her reactions to each figure, showing often in a single abbreviation whether she’s being hard on herself or lenient that day and therefore telling you a lot before you even get into the entry.

The telegraphic diary-entry style makes this a lovely read that doesn’t last nearly long enough. Of course, if you’re incredibly lazy, there’s a marvelous movie adaptation, but of course you still have to read the book because like most movie adaptations, it’s quite a bit different. If you loved the first book, there’s a sequel: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.



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