Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I will start this review (as if the 5 star rating wasn’t enough) with…this is a VV Good book. That’s Jones-speak for, “VERY VERY GOOD!” Admittedly I read this book after having seen the movie dozens of times so I had an idea of what I was in for but there was so much included in the book that wasn’t in the movie that it was a whole new experience for me when it comes to this story. It was a pure joy to discover what I had been missing out on. I will say that having now read this book I do wish more had been included in the movie version but honestly….the movie still came across with the right tone.
Ms. Fielding has very a unique story-telling perspective with this book; it’s as if you as the reader are a true voyeur looking out through Bridget’s eyes on her life as she lives it. She endures the same insecurities, same doubts, same battles with everyday things we all do. There’s such a guilty pleasure watching her frustration with her weight fluctuation and remorse over her not so infrequent food and alcohol over-indulgences all the while surrounded by her little battalion of totally loyal singleton friends. Bridget is simply charming in her complete and utter imperfection!
I love to find stories like this that aren’t strictly about romance. Of course Bridget has her romances with Mr. Wrong and Mr. Right but this book is about more than her love-life, it’s about all of the relationships in her life; her circle of extremely loyal singleton friends, her highly dysfunctional and ditzy mother, her poor unfortunate self-medicating father, and of course…herself and her quest to continuously improve herself in an all too human way.
Admittedly my absolute favorite thing about this book is the conversational style in which this story is written; it really draws the reader in. I honestly felt as though many times I was sitting right in the middle of a conversation with Bridget and her friends and I loved that. The very human dialogue, the free-flowing rhythm of it…and the very human stumbling over words simply won me over.
Cannot wait to read the next one!
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