Bridget Jones

[aprilfools19]

I saw this on Instagram today

“In Bridget Jones’ Diary, We’re supposed to believe that she‘a a failure and overweight when shes 10 stone, Got dead good mates, walks her way into a TV job, owns her own flat in central London and is fancied by Hugh Grant and Colin Firth.”

So true. I recently watched the first one for the first time in years and I noticed the weight thing right away! In one diary entry you can clearly see “weight: 133lbs” 😂😂

Still absolutely love the books and movies. It’s interesting watching them all again in my late 20s seeing how much my perceptions have changed. However it’s not aged terribly well considering the only reason she’s a “failure” is that she’s single. Not sure a movie centred around that would go down terrible well in 2020😅

Can I make a segue here into another book recommendation? If you loved Bridge you may also like Aisling too ("Oh My God What a complete Aisling" series). I devoured those books almost in one sitting they are absolutely wonderful.

Oh I loved the first book! Bridget Jones was a serial and then published as a book (1996). I was 25 when it came out. I received a copy in the post from a friend. It was a bit of a revelation to me - I'd been reading bonkbusters full of super glam characters or put upon women setting up internationally successful businesses 😂 The book is better than the films (although I enjoyed those) and an interesting record of its time.

I'd like to think young women are much more confident and aware of their own value these days.

I love a recommendation- I'll look out for the Aisling book, thank you.

I loved the first Aisling book - are the others as good?

MikeUniformMike gosh yes, thanks for that
The filmed spanned over a year so her weight fluctuates. I’m capable of 14x10, thanks 😅

MikeUniformMike gosh yes, thanks for that hmm
The filmed spanned over a year so her weight fluctuates. I’m capable of 14x10, thanks 😅

Yes, the books are much better. The films are pretty dated, Daniel Cleaver was a sex pest, Edge if Reason has waaay too many songs in the last 20 minutes! I think she suffered from imposter syndrome.

The thing is Renee Zellweger is still thin in it just not movie star thin, normal healthy weight! She is my weight in it and she is my height. Most movie stars my height are at least 5kg lighter than me.

@Hangingover

Can I make a segue here into another book recommendation? If you loved Bridge you may also like Aisling too ("Oh My God What a complete Aisling" series). I devoured those books almost in one sitting they are absolutely wonderful.

Second this! All three are good.

Though, I speak as someone who DIDN'T love Bridget. Sorry.

I loved the first Aisling book - are the others as good?

I adored them. Is the trip to Vegas in the first book? If not get the second it's worth it purely for that - it made me absolutely howl.

I read the book when it came out. I was about 13 and aside from being really well written, it cemented my own obsession with Mr Darcy/Colin Firth. I am off to watch this...

The problem with the last book was that it wasn't based on an Austen lol. Bridget Jones is a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. The edge of reason is a version of Persuasion

www.bookbrowse.com/excerpts/index.cfm/book_number/326/page_number/5/bridget-joness-diary#excerpt

Some excerpts from the book here

I read the books in my 20's and thought they were so funny

Absolutely hated the films

Oh excellent! Will get 2nd one.

Ahhhh I'm not getting all nostalgic for Georgia Nicholson and the utterly Marv late great Louise Rennison, her creator. I read those books over and over and over as a teen. The humour is so zany and authentically similar to all the utterly stupid in-jokes teenagers make up.

Now* not not!

The books are great, the first film was good too. I thought the second film was pretty naff, didn't do the second book justice at all, which was laugh out loud funny.

I remember going to watch the first film in the cinema with my mum and my nan.

I seem to recall reading an article where they'd looked up the current value of a flat in the location she lived in and it would've been worth a few million, right next to Borough market. So she wasn't doing too badly.

Have promptly downloaded the book onto my kindle!

I seem to have read somewhere that the book was loosely based in Helen Fieldings life! maybe have got it wrong ,not sure!Any how looved it my favourite film .Areas in London go up and down and maybe not quite as expensive then? Always assumed she was renting anyhow .Agree no need to worry about her weight .Although how slim must she have been to have to eat loads to put on weight I wonder!

The newspaper column was in the mid 1990s, and I remember that time.
Where I lived at the time (SE not London) a house costing £60K would be £285K today.

The house has one bedroom.

Bridget Jones was aged about 30 or so in the 90’s right?
So she’d be in her 60’s now

I was unreasonably annoyed by the "133 lbs" as well because it was totally pointless pandering to the US market. In the book it is given as 9 stone 6 pounds or whatever. Giving a total only in pounds is not how most people in the UK would describe their weight.

My scales are in lbs or Kg. I weigh myself every few days and just look if the numbers are significantly different. I have to think about what it is in stones.
Stones and pounds seems better because X st Y lbs seems more significant that Z kg.

I’m now rereading BJD off the back of this thread. It made me absolutely weep with laughter the first time I read it, perfect Friday evening!