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Oct 24, 2007

Jessica rated it:

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 More...

9 comments like (46 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2011

Annalisa rated it:

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 i More...

3 comments like (6 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Yulia rated it:

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, More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2007

Ilene rated it:

Really didn't read too much of this book because most of it was skimming trying to get around the profanities and sex. I have only seen part of the movie on t.v. so thought I would look at the book that inspired it all. I thought it may be an interesting take on the P&P phenomena but really, it wasn't. Bridget just spends way too much time drinking, smoking, and worrying about the next man... she needs a hobby. The most annoying thing though is her tracking of weight. Somehow 126 pounds is More...

5 comments like (13 people liked it)

Nov 20, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

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!

5 comments like (10 people liked it)

Nov 22, 2008

Bonnie rated it:

Didn't know what to expect when picked the book up on spec. Ended up laughing out loud so often, my husband allowed me to read bits to him -- and he laughed just as much! (Now, this was a while ago, of course!)

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 19, 2011

Shriya rated it:

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 More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

May 07, 2011

Emily rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2008

Bonnie rated it:

Okay - I learned a few things from this book and I didn't think I would. For me, Ive been doing some pretty heavy reading over the past few weeks -- SWIMMING by Hershon, THE AMBER SPYGLASS bu Pullman. I wanted a break from all that was hard. I wanted to simply read and laugh a little and enjoy a lot. I picked BRIDGET JONES' DIARY because I hoped to read and not engage my intellect too much. Durr...

I really, really liked this book, for a number of reasons. Characters that I coul More...

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

May 05, 2009

Ceridwen rated it:

I'm not much for the beach read, or chick lit, or whatever this is called, which is fairly dumb of me. I can tell you from hard experience that Gravity's Rainbow + the Wisconsin Dells = EPIC FAIL. (Although, to be fair, Wisconsin Dells – Gravity's Rainbow = regular fail.)

I just re-read this by accident, in a serendipitous fit of laziness and disorganization. I tried to loan my copy to someone, couldn't find it, checked it out of the library, gave it to her, went home, read the best b More...

18 comments like (15 people liked it)

Mar 28, 2009

Danielle rated it:

I know two stars sounds harsh, but "it was okay" is just how I felt about this book. It was fine. Mildly entertaining, good pacing, and all ends happily. Plus, I read it in two days, which is exactly what I was looking for. That's one nice thing about chick-lit--you always know what you're getting.
So, a few thoughts: I didn't really get the whole diary thing. It didn't make sense as a real diary, because obviously no one is pausing in the middle of a dinner party disaster to make More...

4 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2011

April rated it:

... I know.

So I know I'm not supposed to like Bridget Jones, with her obsessions over her weight and her single state and her constant attempts to improve herself to conform to a societal standard and blahblahblah.

But I do, so there.

I remember when this book came out and everybody was so in awe of how Fielding had managed to write a book that was spot on in terms of being a Singleton in a world of Smug Marrieds, and how a single woman in her 30s often worr More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 30, 2007

Tamika rated it:

Excerpts from my readers response notebook...

(early on in my reading)

I think Bridget Jones has too many vices in life. She copes with not having love by drinking and eatings. I think there are many women like her trying to be strong...trying not to give into the temptations, but failing miserably anyway.

"Only three alcohol units consumed over the last week as grudging concession to Tom, who complained that spending the evening with the new vice-free me wa More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 29, 2008

Vish rated it:

I read this book for a contemporary section of an AP Literature Class.

To say the least, Fielding sells her soul to the idle masses to sell novels. I believe the only way BJD will be remembered in the literary canon is if the critics of the future look back at what a horrid generation we were.

A daughter of the greatest generation, Bridget Jones is an insecure, irresponsible, sex-driven woman who (to be fair) write clever, quippy journal entries of her life. The humor, More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 19, 2009

Kate rated it:

we'll see if it's still 5 stars after a quick re-reading, but since I've been running into a lot of fuckwits lately, my money is on Jones...
UPDATE: indeed, still worth it after all these years. :) apparently, it doesn't matter which mr. darcy we're talking about, as they are all fabulous. found myself mildly annoyed at her going on about the disasters of weighing 130lbs, but the counting cigs, alcohol units and lottery tickets was as funny as ever.

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 11, 2008

Cedony rated it:

I usually end up liking the books better than their film counterparts, but it worked the other way around for Bridget Jones's Diary for me.

While I loved the movie, this book was just a bit blah. Bridget irritated me with her whining and her desperation for a man. I hope that I won't be anything like that by the time that I'm nearing the big 3-0. The diary format of the writing annoyed me, but that might just be because I prefer books that are descriptive and have wonderful narrative.

Daniel More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jul 14, 2008

Holly rated it:

Anyone who doesn't know the premise of Bridget Jones has been living under a rock for the past ten years, so I'll skip over that part. I read, re-read, and re-re-read this book before the movie came out in 2001. Since then I've re-watched the movie many times, but never did get back to the book again until just recently.

I had forgotten the differences between the two and it was fun to experience the book version once again, but this is one of those rare times when I have to admit More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Aug 14, 2009

Marsia rated it:

A novel by, say, Edith Wharton is like a twelve-course meal. By comparison, Bridget Jones's Diary is like a single potato chip: tempting and kind of amusing but not satisfying, fluffy rather than substantial--and quickly forgotten.

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2009

Lorraine rated it:

caused uproarious laughter and much anxiety. think bridget's grammar leaves much to be desired. felt horror when first came upon natasha -- feelings of sympathy instead of revulsion. conjures excuse: 'response on a metadiscursive level allows for ironising of bridget's first person and hence necessarily biased perspective.' reads on. wishes self was more like bridget and not such an anal prig. gets paranoid fit about whether self is elitist bitch. worries about the diffusion of novels into pop c More...

0 comments like

Feb 18, 2009

Stephanie rated it:

I remember being shocked and appalled that the American publishers of the Harry Potter books figured that American children were too feebleminded to work out that "jumper" actually means "sweater" and so they changed the British English to American English.

Likewise, it appears that the American publishers of Bridge Jones's Diary, by Helen Fielding, believe that American women are too feebleminded to understand that "stone" is a weight measurement, and More...

1 comment like

Feb 06, 2009

Rachel rated it:

Liked the movie better. Can't help it! I own the movie and have watched it about 50 times- I am a huge Colin Firth fan. Anyway, one of my favorite book excerpt- hilarious and so true.

"How many calories are you supposed to eat if you're on a diet?" he said.

"About a thousand. Well, I usually aim for a thousand and come in at about fifteen hundred," I said, realizing as I said it that the last bit wasn't strictly true.

"A thousand?" More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Dec 24, 2008

Jon rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 23, 2008

Alison rated it:

Ahhh, this is exactly what I want when I pick up a chick lit book. It's a light, funny story about errant boyfriends and strained family relations, but it's also clever and relatable.

Unlike other books of this genre, the main character does not completely reinvent herself. Bridget ends up with The Guy, of course, but little else changes in her life. She's still smoking, dieting, weighing herself obsessively, drinking too much - there's no cathartic moment where Bridget realizes th More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Kirstine rated it:

Oh god, I just spent the past 5 hours reading this book, because I decided to shun reality for a while, and well, Bridget Jones is both a very good and a very bad choice for that.

The book is very different from the movie, in fact the two storylines have very few similarities, and I must admit I probably like the book better. I think the second Bridget Jones movie borrowed a few themes from this book as well (mainly the part of Mark being a badass lawyer and getting someone out of a fe More...

0 comments like

Jan 28, 2012

Felicia rated it:

Bought from Amazon

What I Loved: Bridget was a wonderful mess of a woman that I think most singledoms can relate too on some level. Mark Darcy is so straight-laced and adorable that it is hard not to fall in love with him. Daniel is the perfect cad with just enough hotness that you don't totally hate him. Put them all together and you have one fun mess!

What I Liked: The family, friends, and co-workers are really the glue that keeps this book going. They made you laugh out More...

0 comments like

Jan 02, 2012

Sarah rated it:

I read this book a number of years ago after it was recommended to me by a friend and ever since that moment I have been wishing that I could go back in time and smack her over the head and tell her to take the book and shove it.

I found the book to be deeply irritating with a central character that was nether funny nor likable. In any way shape or form. In fact Bridget Jones has got to be one of the worst literary characters I have ever come across as she is in turns a moaning, whiny More...

0 comments like

Oct 09, 2011

Tom rated it:

It's funny, in a breakneck, breathless sort of way. The main character is clearly an imbecile but not without her positive qualities. I suppose the moral of this book is that when you get on the sex train you never really think about where it's gonna stop until you've reached the end of the line. So buy a car, or even a bicycle. The first symbolises wealth and power, and will get you laid, the second will trim your arse and makes you attractive to socially conscious solicitors, who you can then More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 20, 2011

Lisa rated it:

I did not want to like this book. I heard about it when I was much younger than the demographic it's intended for and wrote it off. Now that I'm somewhat more in the crowd that could appreciate it (have grown past my asexual nerd phase), I thought it was charming. My preconceptions about the book were that it was going to glorify a slovenly attitude towards one's self respect and buy into sexual stereotypes that depict women as slutty shopaholics. There was only a teeny bit of that (and truth be More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 08, 2011

Will rated it:

I don't read a lot of "chick lit" (and I'm only reviewing this one because it was part of GoodReads Setup Survey) but this is a well-known title, so when I saw it at a library sale ($1) I was curious and decided to give it a try.

[It's not unlike reading "Cosmopolitan" at the dentist office - a chance to get a glimpse into the Other Team's playbook!]

It's been a few years since I read "BRIDGET", but my recollection is that it started off fairly eng More...

0 comments like

Aug 28, 2011

Catherine rated it:

I read this book only because it's on the BBC's Top 100 books/series list, and I made a (bit regretful) goal to read all the books on the list over the next couple of years. I knew I wouldn't like it (chick-lit=not my thing), but I really, really, really didn't like it. I couldn't get past the disjointed writing and the format of the book. What bugged me most of all were the sentence fragments, and not just here and there, but in almost every line. The author routinely left out articles and pron More...

0 comments like