Bridget Jones's Diary
I'm well aware that Bridget Jones's Diary is old news to the rest of the world, but I've just now--ten years after its publication--gotten around to reading it. For some reason or other I gave it a miss when it was current, then after seeing the movie I figured I might as well cross it off my must-read list. I knew the story, I reasoned, and though I liked the movie well enough, I didn't love it and felt no interest in rehashing it in book format.
A few months ago I was browsing through a thrift shop in Stockholm, and I came across a few English-language paperbacks on the bookshelf. Among them was a worn copy of Bridget Jones's Diary, and since cheap books--particularly cheap books in English--are few and far between in these parts I added it to my shopping cart, then took it home and promptly forgot about it. I happened across it again a couple of weeks ago when I was re-ordering my bookshelves, and decided it would do well as a light read, a book I could easily put down whenever maternal duty called.
I was wrong.
Oh, it suited me fine, but it wasn't exactly "light," and it was far from put-down-able. I used every spare second I could find to read more, and when I had to be away from it I actually had a nervous, antsy feeling. I couldn't wait to get back to it! As it most often the case (and as I had somehow forgotten where Bridget Jones was concerned), the book is vastly better than the movie. First, the book doesn't rely on cheap and predictable fat jokes about a woman who is rather more slender than the average British or American woman. Furthermore, the book's character development is deeper, the plot is meatier, and, most important to me, Bridget herself is far more likeable.
In addition to becoming fonder of Bridget, I came away from the book with a new appreciation of Hugh Grant, based solely on a few throwaway lines in the middle of the story. Bridget walks into a meeting with her new boss, the producer of a tabloid news program, and the subject on the table is Grant's then-recent and forever infamous dalliance with a prostitute. I think it's a testament to the actor's good humor that he agreed to take the cad's role in the film even after the book poked fun at his real-life caddish behavior. Good on him.
As soon as I had turned the last page, I hurried to the computer and ordered the sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. I expect to receive it this week and will probably have read it cover to cover by the time this issue goes live. If you haven't yet read these books yourself, I encourage you to do it now, even--or maybe especially--if you've seen the movies. You'll likely be pleasantly surprised.