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Book Reviews Title Bridget
Jones - The Edge Of Reason Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story The Wilderness
Years are over! But not for long. At the end of
Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget hiccuped off into
the sunset with man-of-her-dreams Mark Darcy. Now
in 'The Edge of Reason', she discovers what it is
like when you have the man of your dreams actually
in your flat and he hasn't done the washing up, not
just the whole of this week but ever. Lurching through
a morass of self-help book theories and mad advice
from Jude and Shazzer, struggling with a
boyfriend-stealing ex-friend with thighs like a
baby giraffe, an 8ft hole in the living-room wall,
a mother obsessed with boiled-egg peelers, and a
builder obsessed with large reservoir fish, Bridget
embarks on a spiritual epiphany, which takes her
from the cappuccino queues of Notting Hill to the
palm - and magic -mushroom-kissed shores
of… We
Say After reading the
first instalment of Miss Jones's Diary, my only
complaint was that I found the plot a little
flimsy. As for the main character - I thought she
was great. The book certainly managed to hit on
something with women who went out and bought it in
their hundreds of thousands (probably millions now
that the film tie-in has come out). But before
long, feminists began to declare loudly that the
needy Bridget was a poor role model - weak-willed,
self-conscious and dependent on a man for her own
happiness. In fact, poor old Bridget is flawed, or,
in other words, she's human. One of my (many!)
flaws is that I resisted buying the second Bridget
Jones novel, 'The Edge of Reason', because I
believed all these Moaning Minnies. I felt as
though my feminist principles would be compromised
if I happened to enjoy the antics of this
particular heroine (and yes, Minnies, she is indeed
a heroine). I know I shouldn't like her - but I do.
And what's more - I like her even better in the
second book. 'The Edge of
Reason' has seen Helen Fielding improve on her
creation and construct a plot that's worthy of her
this time. It's so funny that you really will laugh
out loud. And that's not just me deploying a
standard book review phrase - I was averaging a
noisy throwing-head-back-type-laugh almost every
page. Some of the situations that Bridget finds
herself in are slightly contrived but this is
easily forgivable when the main character is so
clearly conceived and the pace so fast. Without
giving too much away, the good news is that the
plot takes Bridget out of her usual habitat for
part of the novel, which works incredibly well.
The ensemble cast
is an important part of the strength of the book -
Bridget's Mum is as loony as ever, her mates are as
disarrayed and wonderful and Mark Darcy is a dream.
A strange twist to enjoy is the appearance of Colin
Firth as a character (although this will be
slightly weird if you're relying on his recent film
portrayal to visualise Mark Darcy). Bridget might not
be everyone's idea of a role model but she is a
compelling figure and great fun to spend some time
with. Review by: Rachel
Taylor |
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