Miss Jones. I just finished watching Mad About a Boy and I love Miss Jones got her groove back. Bridget Jones's Diary started it all. The funny and sarcastic Miss Jones who can not filter her mouth. I like this book. I was very much entertained.

4 stars

I read this ages ago and getting to write a review now. I'd like to say that this was the first chick-lit I ever read and loved it. Sure Bridget is idiotic and loathes herself for her weight issues and the choices that she makes but I still laughed. I did watch the movie first and then read this book so that's why I kept on imagining Renée Zellweger doing all that Bridget did in the book.

I do think that had I not watched the movie first and read the book first, I may not have enjoyed it as much as I did. But it is still hilarious but not as heartwarming as the movie though.

4 stars

2/5stars

I'm OVER pride and prejudice and p/p adaptations uwu ✌️

Of course the book is all about Bridget's feelings and emotions..............it's a diary!! I think anyone, man or woman, would quietly admit to themselves the selfish thoughts they have when something terrible happens to someone they know, Bridget is just doing that in her diary. The book provides an excellent outlet for anyone woman who feels the pressures of impending singledom, rubbish careers and crazy parents and it makes the reader see that IT'S OK NOT TO BE PERFECT! We love Bridget 'cos she is fun, honest and finds true love even though she is (shock! horror!) average and has arse the size of Brazil. Obviously not for everyone but one of the best reads I have come across and a must for any single girl.

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 or similar, have obsessions about random people we probably shouldnt and wonder if we will get to shag them, suffer for being a singleton when we secretly rather enjoy it, plan diets that we never quite stick too and sometimes record the banal details. We also often enjoy a good wallow in self-pity. I even have a friend whos more than likely downed several solitary bottles of red and mouthed the words to 'all by myself' before collapsing in stupor. In short theres a bit of Bridge in all of us and I loved it...even if I've now left the country for a slightly less depressing life in the sun!

The simultaneous failure and masterstroke of this book is, of course, the fact that Bridget Jones is everyone. It’s a delightfully funny romp of a book; the pages turn quickly and the laughs come easily because every reader identifies with Bridget’s misfortune and neuroticism. But the fact that most readers will identify with her means that she’s probably not individualized enough—except in her case, with her zany ways, it’s likely that she’s too much of an individual, which paradoxically makes her an archetype. If that makes any sense…

Really, though, this isn’t the type of book where such a criticism matters. It’s a book to be enjoyed quickly, in the brief moments where you’re not, like Bridget, obsessing over your love life or career or appearance. I found it impressive that although many of these characters are frequently unlikeable (Bridget herself is horrible when her friend Tom “disappears”), they are all so easy to sympathize with.

Although I haven’t read much “chick-lit” and I also despise that term, I am willing to bet this is a highlight of the genre. For the most part, it’s light and funny, but it also puts emphasis on significant current social issues, particularly those concerning the role of “modern” women. And for that reason, I expect Bridget Jones’s Diary will, despite its fluffy exterior, go down in the literary annals because it quite accurately represents the major anxieties facing women in the beginning of the 21st century while managing to be witty and charming.

Immediate Thoughts
I never ever thought I'd enjoy a "chick-lit" book this much. But Bridget Jones was hilarious...even though I think her kooky mother was the real star!

Ставлю тверду п'ятірку, бо у своєму жанрі (щоденник? комедійна проза?) Бріджит Джонс мене надзвичайно потішила. До речі, книжка В РАЗИ краща за фільм!

"Щоденник Бріджит Джонс" - типово дівчача книга, яку приємно буде взяти перечитати до чашечки/келиху чого-небудь (істинно кажу), повалятися з нею у ванній (перевірено), в ліжку (теж) і підлікувати нерви гумором та пригодами головної героїні.

"Щоденник" родом з 1996 року, тож було цікаво з такої відстані глянути на всі біди світу (не одна згадка про Чарльза й Каміллу), головні телешоу й екранізації ("Гордість і упередження" з Коліном Фертом - вловили, правда ж?), а також на те, що питання з роками не змінюються: "Як справи на любовному фронті?", "А що з дітьми думаєш робити, Бріджит?", "Ви зустрічаєтесь?", "Чому ти не привела свого хлопця?" і т.д., і т.п....

Словом, до прочитання може й не надто обов'язково, але дівчатам - вартує:)

WARNING: RANT AHEAD!!!
I feel the need to mention that I am a child of the 90's and early 200's and they are both decades that I wish would come back as I miss a lot of things about it like the music, clothes, culture.... but FFS Bridget Jones's Diary is a book written in the 90's and that is in my very honest opinion where is needs to stay in regards to its overall impression on me.
The book has not aged well at all, some of the terms and language used will actually pass off as being insensitive and offensive nowadays such as "I quite like being sexually harassed" and "I wish I could live in a oppressive Muslim country where at least all the women are treated like outcasts" nope nope nope nope!
I understand that a lot of the terms in this book are used in a humorous fashion (I freakin get that) but after the 100th weird entitled "joke" you kinda stop doing the ha-ha's and do more the Marge Simpson sounding Mmmm's???
Maaaay read the second book out of morbid curiosity.
I found the film to be much funnier, the story line to be smarter and Bridget to be far more relatable than this posh wanabee, alcoholic, narcissistic, self obsessed bitch.
RANT OVER!
1/5

So, I have never seen the movies or read the books, and thought it would be a good idea to at least read the first book, since there's a new movie coming out. Not the best decision on my part, I need to learn that reading the book before every single movie isn't always necessary (tell that to my brain though).

I know that this came out in the 90s, and I'm aware it was a very thin-is-in kind of time, but that still doesn't make the casual fatphobia okay to me, nor is it something I want to read about in such great detail.

Perhaps I'm a bit too sensitive, because I struggled with an eating disorder for half of my life, but I couldn't stand to read the way Bridget wrote about herself, thought about herself, how others treated her etc.

On top, Daniel was insufferable, and I felt as if I'd spent eons waiting for Mark Darcy to become a love interest.

And then there was literally zero development, ZERO, they went from meeting to nothing to meeting again to nothing and then suddenly by the end of the book all is grand and he's in love with her??? Where did that come from? I also didn't feel even the tiniest spark between them, they were just so...dull?

There were some parts of the book that were okay, even somewhat funny (like Darcy staring at the bunny tail, I did smile at that) and slightly relatable, and I could see why so many people fell in love with the story, but it was just too much for me.

Hopefully the movie tackles the whole thing better, because I want to give it a chance. But the rest of the books, I'm going to have to pass on.

I'm sure the book is funny (it is!) because I loved the movie (I still do, all three of them), I watched it so many times; so even before I begin I think I am going to like it, and as Helen said: "Adopting Bridget's lifestyle could seriously damage your health." So I mustn't love her as I do, but I do!

The book is sectioned as a diary from New Year's Eve, January to December, each month is filled with daily entries, contents:
New Year's Resolutions
January: an exceptionally bad start
February: valentine's day massacre
March: severe birthday related thirties panic
April: inner poise
May: mother-to-be
June: hah! boyfriend
July: huh
August: disintegration
September: up the fireman's pole
October: date with darcy
November: a criminal in the family
December: oh, christ

Somebody once said to me that every time somebody reads 'Bridget Jones's Diary' Jane Austen turns in her grave. Given the popularity of BJD, I suggested that somebody attach Austen's corpse to a dynamo and solve the world's energy crisis.

Yes, this book has its faults but, damn it, I think it's very, very funny, and just what I needed while in COVID-19 lockdown. Bring on book two!

say what you want, but i had the time of my life reading this. i’m surprised that i haven’t read this earlier because 1) bridget jones’ diary is the ultimate comfort film, and 2) this is literally the adult version of the ‘georgia nicolson’ series aka ‘angus thongs and perfect snogging’ (although this was published first, so i guess the georgia nicolson series is the teen version of bridget jones, but alas).

obviously, some of the jokes/language and the obsession with weight/calories hasn’t aged well (although that’s a bit more understandable given the more positive attitude towards diet culture in the 90s), but i kind of knew that’d be the case going into it. it was just a really fast, funny, and entertaining read, which is just what you need sometimes! also mark darcy doesn’t have as many raging tory vibes in this than in the film, so that was nice.