Book 349: The Edge of Reason (Bridget Jones #2) – Helen Fielding

If possible this one was even funnier than Bridget Jones’s Diary, or at least the ending was. There were parts in both books where I could not stop laughing, but this one ended with such a hilarious situation that I could easily find myself in involving wine and Christmas cards. I didn’t read this one quite as fast as the first, but I still read it in only a few sittings.

What I enjoyed most about this novel was the unapologetic sexuality and brashness of Bridget. This was evident in the first novel, but in this novel she takes it to a different level, primarily manifesting through keeping track of the seconds, yes SECONDS, since she last had sex. (It’s up in the tens of millions.) Now this might sound strange, but Fielding writes about issues that affect large sweeps of the population through this quirky character.

Fielding, instead of focusing on the free-love sexuality in the first novel, focuses on the post-break-up sexuality and burgeoning freedom of non-relationship singledom. I also thoroughly enjoyed the rantings, in both books, about fuckwittage and smug-marrieds. And Bridget Jones is, contrary to what you think for most of the novel, actually a strong female character in her own way. She is not as over the top and outspoken as her friend Shazz or as financially and career successful as her friend Jude, but the way the novel ends shows that Jones is just as successful in her own right.

I’m not sure if this film adaptation stayed as close to the book as the first as I don’t remember one sub-story from the movie, but I haven’t watched it as frequently as I did the first. I feel that the sub-story I’m not sure about led to some of the most heartfelt and hilarious scenes in the novel and hopefully it’s just my forgetfulness and not actually the lack of inclusion.

Where Fielding does best is in the internal dialogue of insecurity. Everyone has this type of dialogue, but not everyone has it as wittily or as hilariously as Fielding’s Bridget Jones. Twice in this novel, and more in the first, I found myself laughing so hard I couldn’t read for a few minutes and generally it was a direct result of Bridget’s confidence in her amazingness and then her inner dialogue of how other people interpreted whatever it was.

Recommendation: DEFINITELY read these. I think there’s a humor in them for everyone and the way Fielding portray’s Jones is perfect. As someone who recently entered their 30s I’m excited to see where my decade leads me and if it’s half as fun as Bridget’s who knows where I’ll go!

Opening Line: “Hurrah! The wilderness years are over.”

Closing Line: “Think will just have a little glass of wine and a cigarette.” (Whited out – highlight to read.)