20th Century Lizzie

Bridget Jones's Diary

Author:
Helen Fielding
Publisher:
Penguin Books (1996)
Number of Pages:
307
Review: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces.” Women in their thirties are expected to be well read in subjects such as history and literature, should be married and have produced at least one offspring, be well versed in poetry and play at least one instrument but most of all they should have a firm grasp of handling the housework. Fortunately we no longer live in the 18^th century but that doesn’t mean women still aren’t pressured to follow these rules of proper womanhood. And when Bridget Jones’s tries to fall for the kind of man that would render her the epitome of a Jane Austen heroine, hilarity ensues.

Bridget Jones finds herself starting the new year thirty, unmarried and with no prospects for a husband. Thus she decides to start a diary in an attempt to change her life. When her mother insists on her meeting the mysterious Mark Darcy, Bridget’s excitement slowly dwindles as she realizes that he isn’t the man of her dreams. Thus more determined than ever to change her life, she starts a fling with notorious flirt Daniel, learns (or attempts) to cook, tries to patch her parents broken marriage, embark upon a new job and finds herself in situations that only a young woman in the 20^th century could discover.

Bridget Jones is one of those novels that can pretty much sum up every working single girl living in the western world today. “I am a child of Cosmopolitan culture, have been traumatized by supermodels and too many quizzes and know that neither my personality nor my body is up to it if left to its own devices. I can't take the pressure.” Society has put such high standards upon us and sometimes it just gets overwhelming. I really liked Bridget Jones, and being a young lady who is also single I can often empathize with her. She’s snarky, and witty, slightly shallow, but deeply caring, but most of all, she’s realistic, to the point that she could have been my best friend, heck I think she is my best friend, and my mother, and me for that matter. Helen was able to invent characters so realistic that if you give this novel to any female today, they will find at least one person they know in this novel.

Her mother is fantastically clueless. Always meddling in her affairs and quite frankly treating her like a 12 year old instead of the 30 year old she really is: “Don't say 'what,' say 'pardon,' darling.” I felt every cringe she felt towards her mother. Her friends are wonderfully pathetic and supportive. From the fiercely independent feminist to the melodramatic homosexual, they embody the characteristics of a 21^st century human being. And Daniel being the first main love interest is every guy I’ve ever dated, completely shallow, oversexed, obnoxious, arrogant, and yet gets away with it all because of his pretty face. Sure Bridget may have rushed into the relationship but can you blame her, she’s thirty with no prospects, if it was me I’d jump on that roller coaster too. And her constant dieting shows the exact pressures our society on women and body image.

As for plot, I have to say there were a few times I was confused with what exactly was going on. I had to reread entries and try to decipher what she was talking about especially when she was drunk. I think this had a lot to do with the actual writing style. Fielding writes in broken sentences, almost like jot notes, but it works well because of the format, some people write diary entries with abbreviations and unformatted sentences, Bridget Jones definitely did. While the writing style takes some getting used too, once you got into the groove of things the writing flows pretty well and the read becomes quite a quick one.

The light airy tone, combined with a universal plotline of love and loss, adding a bit of parental drama and a whole lot of hilarious and embarrassing moments, makes Bridget Jones’s Diary one of the most charming and accurate tales of a women in her thirties struggling to find a perfect life in a not so perfect world. I highly recommend this read to any girl (and boy for that matter) struggling to do the same. And please stay away from the Daniels of the world ladies; I’m sure even in this century there is a Darcy out there for us somewhere.

Happy Reading!