Friday, August 17, 2012

Book Review #170 - Bridget Jones's Diary (Bridget Jones #1) by Helen Fielding

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

Meet Bridget Jones—a 30-something Singleton who is certain she would have all the answers if she could:
a. lose 7 pounds
b. stop smoking
c. develop Inner Poise


"123 lbs. (how is it possible to put on 4 pounds in the middle of the night? Could flesh have somehow solidified becoming denser and heavier? Repulsive, horrifying notion), alcohol units 4 (excellent), cigarettes 21 (poor but will give up totally tomorrow), number of correct lottery numbers 2 (better, but nevertheless useless)..."

Bridget Jone's Diary is the devastatingly self-aware, laugh-out-loud daily chronicle of Bridget's permanent, doomed quest for self-improvement — a year in which she resolves to: reduce the circumference of each thigh by 1.5 inches, visit the gym three times a week not just to buy a sandwich, form a functional relationship with a responsible adult, and learn to program the VCR.

Over the course of the year, Bridget loses a total of 72 pounds but gains a total of 74. She remains, however, optimistic. Through it all, Bridget will have you helpless with laughter, and — like millions of readers the world round — you'll find yourself shouting, "Bridget Jones is me!"


My Rating: 2/5


The biggest issue I had with this book was the protagonist Bridget. When you are reading a diary, you would expect the character to be interesting and entertaining, but I found Bridget really boring and I hated her from the first page.


Another issue that I had was that absolutely nothing happens throughout the book. It is basically Bridget whinging about her weight, the fact that she doesn't have a boyfriend and that she drinks quite alot.


The format in which the book is set was really irritating. I ended up skipping over the update part of each diary entry as I found that part pointless.


Even though I do own the second book in this series, I never plan on reading it.

2 comments:

  1. Wow!That's tough. Is the top part from the back of the book then? (It actually sounded good).

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  2. I haven't read this though I enjoyed the movie adaptation. It's a shame the character didn't come across as more interesting and entertaining. In a novel written as a diary, it's particularly important that the narrator have a strong, interesting voice.

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