Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected... but v.g.
Review: I read this book with great reluctancy. A friend of mine recommened it strongly.. but I had to ask myself: Who the heck is Bridget Jones? and why would I care about reading her diary? One day I picked it up to see what all the fuss was about and after two pages I couldn't stop laughing.Bridget Jones sees life from such an interesting point of view... she is crazed, loony and neurotic, yet at the same time she is like many of us. She makes promises to herself to bettter her life, but usually gets distracted by someone or something else along the way. Like John Lennon said "Life is what happens to you while you are making other plans". She is trying her very best to get what she wants, but usually the outcome is well handled by fate instead. Finally, in the end, she ends up getting most of what she wants. Highly recommened if you need a good laugh at the misfortunes and misadventures of life. must write book review on second book now and try to be brilliant yet humble in a serious, pseudo-journalistic tone...
Rating: 
Summary: Those Crazy English!
Review: I love this book not only because it really captures the life crisis that errupts in every late 20s/early 30s person, but it teaches you so much about the interesting aspects of contemporary English culture. This is something far from the Dickenisian world we usually envision, but a fast-paced new business world of intellectuals and modern women. You'll learn so much about the UK culture you'll want to visit.
Rating:
Summary: What I Love About Bridget...And What I Don't
Review: Lots of other reviewers can give you a good idea of what this book is all about, but I did have a few thoughts that I didn't see in any other review. What I Love: Bridget is a snap-shot of a single woman in the self-improvement obsessed 90's. She is convinced that if she can just get down the pounds, become a nicotene-free tee-totaler, and find a decent man, she will at-last find happiness. The problem is, Bridget's true demon is self-confidence. I love that the book succeeds in giving a voice to women who are single, not through character flaw, or not being sexy enough to get a man, but through being too smart to settle for the wrong one just because it is hell to be alone at times. Like Shazzer says,"we don't need to wash anyone else's socks." What I Don't Love: 16 alcohol units in 24 hrs?! Hello! Is our singleton heroine really just a functional alcoholic? By glorifying Bridget, we are giving a skewed idea of many of us single women who are not compulsive smokers, drinkers, or "Women Who Love Too Much." Bridget is AN EXAMPLE of a single woman, but she is no icon for us all.
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly wonderful read
Review: I kept on resisting reading this book but when I knew the movie was coming I gave in if only to be able to say I'd read it before seeing the movie. I was pleasently surprised. This book is realistic and it addresses a lot of the neurosis that we all suffer from each and every day. Bridget has one hell of a year in this book, but it and read it and see how much of you is in this book.
Rating:
Summary: A WOMAN OF HER TIME AND OUTRAGEOUSLY FUNNY!
Review: Bridget Jones is a new-age single woman, a sign of the times, and her life is absolutely hilarious. This book chronicles her diary; it is a year of trials and tribulations in Bridget's life and her search for "Mr. Right." Written in a heart-warming style, the book has a way of drawing out a woman's inner-most insecurities; you can actually relate to much of what goes on in Bridget's life. At other times, you will find the book outrageously funny. As Bridget counts the cigarettes smoked, the alcohol consumed and the weight gained or lost, she tackles life with wit and determination. As for Bridget's mother...she is something else! As a suggestion, I would recommend reading the book before seeing the movie. For all the movie is a number one box office success and is certainly worth seeing, much of the content of the book seems to have been lost or down-played in the movie.
Rating:
Summary: Tons of fun
Review: This book was wonderful, with a brilliant cast of characters. It was at times fall-down hilarious. The situations Bridget is in are nothing outstanding or unusual, but they are somehow made unique and worth reading about. Any woman can find at least a little bit of herself in Bridget.
Rating:
Summary: A year in the life of Bridget Jones
Review: Set in london, modern time Helen Fielding's novel Bridget Jone's Diary is very enjoyable, and easily realatable. Bridget Jone's quest for self-improvement and her imperfections will bring a smile to your face, when you realize yourself doing the same things. The novel is brilliantly funny, while we read about one year of bridget's life, in this fast paced novel. Fielding truly captures something real in bridget, that many other character don't posses, and that is Bridget's true nature and how she seems so real.
Rating:
Summary: Novel & Film Are Different But Equally Wonderful
Review: I deliberately held off from reading this novel because I'd heard Colin Firth was the romantic lead. I loved him in "Pride & Prejudice" and when I heard this was a modern reworking of that favorite novel and series, I wanted to "save" myself. I'm glad I did because the two works are very different. Firth plays the hero, Mark Darcy, and Hugh Grant, the romantic rat, Daniel Cleaver, Bridget's boss. The movie is much more romantic than the novel, with Firth and Grant onscreen the majority of the time. Renee Zellwegger does a bang up job as Bridget but the men do take time away from her that they didn't in the novel. The novel, by contrast, is Bridget's with the two men really being supporting characters. The novel is funnier because you are reading Bridget's LOL diary entries. The movie is also funny but that accent is shared with the overall romantic mood. I promptly began reading the novel just hours after having seen the movie. Bridget's life as an early 30s single in London, who wants to find a boyfriend, is about as timely and universal a theme and a plot as possible. It's the entertaining way she writes her diary that "makes" the novel. It is the three leads, Zellweger, Firth and Grant who "make" the film. The screenwriter reworked many of the scenes and got rid of many scenes altogether, which if you adored the novel may be a problem for you. I didn't have this problem since I did them in reverse order. Bridget's mother remains a comic and controlling force in both versions and she goes about her own way of "finding herself" with an oily tv con man from the continent. She nevertheless advises her daughter throughout and, just like the mother in "Pride & Prejudice," is right in her advice even though you think she hasn't a brain in her head!
Rating:
Summary: Terrific book...Terrific movie!
Review: Knowing that the movie would be released this month, I was desperate to read the novel first. Oh, I was not disappointed!! The book was so gripping and funny. I actually did laugh out loud MANY times! I don't remember the last time I snorted and giggled so much while reading. I can't say that I related to all of B. Jones' problems, but I definitely felt a kinship to her just the same (yes I too have a problem saying the wrong things at the wrong time). The actors in the movie do a marvelous job bringing the characters to life, esp the main three. I am determined to read the second B. Jones novel as soon as I can. Pride & Prejudice is my absolute favorite novel, and I think I have found my #2!
Rating:
Summary: Jump on the Bridget Bandwagon!!
Review: Okay, I've already read both books and I've just watched the movie. I have to say that Bridget Jones is a very amusing read, and you don't have to relate to the girl to appreciate her antics. It takes a bit to get used to Bridget's writing and lingo, but you catch on and relish in your amusement. It mirrors P&P fairly well, with a "Mr. Wickham" and an honest-to-goodness Mr. Darcy, but you didn't have to read P&P to enjoy the book. I personally loved the second book more than the first (so go out and get the second one too) but that's because I am a big fan of Persuasion. And watch the movie! I don't mean to promo, but if you didn't love Colin Firth already from P&P, you'll love him now. Sigh!
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