Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding

I preordered Mad About the Boy long before I heard the tragic news about Mark Darcy.  When the book came, I devoured it over the course of the first weekend it was in my possession.  I enjoyed it immensely.

Bridget is now a 51 year old widow.  After the tragic death of her beloved husband, Mark Darcy, Bridget is left alone to raise her two very young children.  Bridget is flustered as only Bridget could be, but she makes the best of it.  The novel starts five years after this tragic death with Bridget’s posse of friends (Tom, Jude, and Shaz) trying to get her out and about in the dating world again.  Bridget goes on a weight loss regime and also tries to learn about the world of social media by starting a twitter account.  She goes back to work by writing a novel as she has always wanted to do.

Before Bridget knows it, she is dating Roxster, an attractive man twelve years her junior.  Bridget’s friends can’t believe her good luck and he is a nice guy, but is he the right man for her?

I’ll admit, I was as shell shocked as everyone learning before the novel came out that it was going to be about a widowed Bridget.  Mark Darcy dead, it can’t be!  I thought the novel was great though.  It respected the love and time that the two had together and was more about the journey of Bridget trying to find her self-confidence and way in a world without Mark.  While Bridget has matured and is now a mother, she is still the same old Bridget with her foibles and keen observations on modern life.  It made me laugh out loud several times.  I enjoyed the novel and really hope that they make a movie out of it.

I must say I also enjoyed it so much more than the Bridget Jones addition that Helen Fielding had published in a British newspaper a few years ago.  I really disliked this piece that had Bridget still trying to decide between Mark Darcy and Daniel and ultimately having a baby with . . . Daniel.  Ugh.  I loved how in Mad About the Boy, Bridget did chose Darcy; and she has moved on with life and grown as a person.  It is so much more realistic as compared to other series of books where the heroine is caught forever in a love triangle never changing.  Bridget may be older than me (She’s 51 and I’m 35), but with her small children (late in life babies) she still has a lot in common with me on the parenting front.

Overall Mad About the Boy is a great addition to the Bridget Jones series and highly enjoyable.  I hope that Fielding writes about Bridget again five or ten years in the future!

Book Source:  I preordered this book on Amazon.com

Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding

To celebrate the bicentenary of Pride and Prejudice with Austenprose, I chose to reread Bridget Jones’s Diary and Bridget Jones:  The Edge of Reason.  I also thought it was timely as I am greatly looking forward to Bridget Jones:  Mad About the Boy being released in October.

I’ll admit that when I first read the two books, I was a Singleton and related too much of the material.  My life as a married mother of three is far different now, but I still found the two books to be hilarious.  I love that Bridget is a relatable woman and I also love how Bridget Jones’s Diary is a modern take on Pride and Prejudice, while Edge of Reason is a modern take on Persuasion.

In Bridget Jones’s diary, Bridget navigates the waters of life and love as a single British woman in her thirties.  Her witticisms and observations on life are quite hilarious.  Bridget at first falls for her boss, the dastardly Daniel Cleaver, but also has a love/hate relationship with the handsome haughty lawyer, Mark Darcy.

Some of my favorite passages are when Bridget relates to Pride and Prejudice:

“It struck me as pretty ridiculous to be called Mr. Darcy and to stand on your own looking snooty at a party.  It’s like being called Heathcliff and insisting on spending the entire evening in the garden, shouting, “Cathy” and banging your head against a tree.”

“That is precisely my feeling about Darcy and Elizabeth.  They are my chosen representatives in the field of shagging, or rather, courtship.  I do not, however, wish to see any actual goals.  I would hate to see Darcy and Elizabeth in bed, smoking a cigarette afterwards.  That would be unnatural and wrong and I would quickly lose interest.”

Overall, I loved reading Bridget Jones’s diary again and it really makes me want to watch the movie again.  Bridget Jones:  The Edge of Reason is a good sequel, and so much better than the movie version. I remember watching the movie at the theatre incensed that they totally blew the Persuasion theme of the novel.  In The Edge of Reason, Bridget is back and in a functional relationship with Mark Darcy.  Under the persuasion of self-help manuals and her friends, she is sure that something is wrong with her relationship and soon the two are divided.  Like Captain Wentworth and Anne, Darcy and Bridget move on, but can’t forget each other.

One of my favorite scenes is when Bridget interviews Colin Firth.  She is supposed to ask him about his new movie, but all she can talk about is his portrayal of a wet shirted Darcy.  Classic.

Both novels are well worth checking out for their humor and for their Austen moments.

Book Source:  My personal library.

Today in Pop Culture - Sea Monsters, Bridget Jones, and Twilight

I'll admit. I am a nerd. The first thing I did this morning was to log onto Facebook and check out Quirk Classics announcement about their new title, the follow-up to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I was vastly entertained to see the new title is Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and enjoyed the book trailer. I also enjoyed reading about it on ew.com. I can't wait to read it when it comes about in September, although I am sad that the author of P&P&Z (Seth Grahme) will not be back for this novel. I'm also wondering why they didn't pick Persuasion for the sea monster theme. With all of the naval talk and Bath setting, it seems like it would have been perfect!

I also read on ew.com that there is talk of a THIRD Bridget Jones movie staring Renee Zellweger. Please no more! While I LOVED the first movie and both books, the second movie was not very good. It really lost the point of the second novel paralleling Persuasion in my opinion. I really hope this movie is not made. Focus on something new and exciting instead!

Two other points of interest were a sneak peak at the Twilight graphic novel. I can't wait to read this and I also can't wait to look at more illustrations that will be in this week's Entertainment Weekly. There is also a post on Entertainment Weekly trying to start a fight between Harry Potter fans and Twilight fans. I am a fan of both series. Why can't we love them both and not compare? One does not have to be better than the other! Stop the violence! My own personal Twilight news is that I have succeeded in getting two of my friends in my new book club obsessed with Twilight. The highlight of my day was one of my friends telling me how she stole her daughter's teen magazine to read about New Moon and look at the pictures. :-)

That's all for now - I hope everyone is having a great day!

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

This may have been the third or fourth time I've read Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding. It is the Kewaunee Mom's Club book club pick for September and I thought I'd read it early rather than last minute like last time. The book was my suggestion as something light hearted after reading Stephen King last month.

Bridget Jones's Diary was the first of the "chick lit" genre as we know it. It's a good book and also a good movie. Bridget is a thirty-something "singleton" that keeps a journal starting with the new year and her hilarious resolutions, which include "I will not fall for any of the following: alcoholics, workaholics, commitment phobics, people with girlfriends or wives, misogynist, megalomanics, chavinists, emotional f**kwits or freeloaders, or perverts." Bridget has a great group of friends, some crazy relations, and definitely some romance problems. She starts off the year in love with her boss, Daniel Cleaver, who is also quite the cad. She is very annoyed with Mark Darcy, whom she meats at the New Year's Turkey Curry party, as he seems quite standoffish. Will Bridget find true love? You'll have to read the book to find out.

This book parallels Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, while it's sequel, Bridget Jones and the Edge of Reason parallels Austen's Persuasion. The sequel is worth a read, but don't bother with the movie. I thought it was quite terrible and seemed to have missed the whole Persuasion theme of the book. If you want to read something truely terrible, click here for Bridget Jones Returns, postings of a column that Fielding has been writing in Great Britain. I was very annoyed by where she has taken the story with this column. SPOILERS AHEAD: Bridget has a baby (good for her!), but the father is DANIEL CLEAVER!! ARGH! I thought we got rid of him as a cad in books 1 and 2. Once again ARGH!

Overall Bridget Jones's Diary is a good book and fun to read. I must admit though, as I read it this time, I realized I've become a "smug married." When I first read the book while I was single, I related much more deeply to Bridget. Now that I'm married, it's still funny, but doesn't hit home as much. Ah!