Bridget Jones – The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding – author of Bridget Jones’ Diary https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/01/bridget-joness-diary-by-helen-fielding.html - 7 out of 10

 

Bridget Jones – The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding – author of Bridget Jones’ Diary https://realini.blogspot.com/2022/01/bridget-joness-diary-by-helen-fielding.html

 

7 out of 10

 

This book was recommended by The Economist as one of the best comedies – trying to be funny, I would protest and say I do not know why – along with The Loved One https://realini.blogspot.com/2018/08/the-loved-one-by-evelyn-waugh-10-out-of.html and I agree with the latter

 

The Edge of Reason is not bad, but far from one of my favorite reads, indeed, it seemed quite silly, and very often…there is the upside of this, for it does have some clever insights, quotes from Buddhism, and books on that, such as ‘the atmosphere around you is a reflection of your inner world’ words to that effect

Besides, Helen Fielding has taken inspiration from Jane Austen https://realini.blogspot.com/2021/01/persuasion-by-jane-austen-10-out-of-10.html some names, even scenes, and Jane Austen is one of the greatest, her Pride and Prejudice is one of The Top 100 Greatest Books Ever

 

Furthermore, the author inserts Positive Psychology, positivity elements – incidentally, the ten ingredients of Positivity are awe, amusement, inspiration, interest, pride, hope, joy, serenity, love and gratitude

You get much more than the bare essential in Positivity by Barbara Fredrickson https://realini.blogspot.com/2015/05/positivity-by-barbara-fredrickson-life.html one of the classics of psychology, which Bridget Jones might have read, they are into self help books, both her and Mark Darcy…

 

The man is both the cause of elation and disaster for the young (well, some folks refer to her as not aging, mature, but somehow, not young anymore, astonishingly rude those fellas) lady, because they are together, lovers at times, and how wonderful it all is, what with shagging all night, but also separated and she is depressed

She keeps counting calories, noting down drinks, or the absence thereof, number of cigarettes (she is on and off), and eventually, the days without sex, and maybe because that adds gravitas, a sense of emergency, we get the millions of seconds without coitus, she even suggests covering the subject of celibacy

 

She has an obnoxious boss, Richard, who is aghast at the notion that the young men and women are not copulating (another term is used, but hey, I am not here to copy fragments, right, this is what the son of a bitch who took my number one spot for these parts does, he just puts a hundred notes in one day, with copy and paste)

 

There are quite a few problems, apart from getting away from charming Mark Darcy, who would be played by Collin Firth – he is mentioned very often in the novel, as the actor in the role of Darcy in Pride and Prejudice – there are issues with her rather annoying mother (well, surely, she is meant to be amusing)

Then she (Bridget) wants to have some construction done by a ruffian, who takes money, makes a hole in the wall, which means the owner is vulnerable and could be robbed, then just abandons the work, therefore the woman has a lawyer send a letter demanding compensation for the damages done, and the money taken

 

Some time later (spoiler alert, I am talking about what happens next, apparently, so you may wish to stop reading, if you have not done so) the heroine receives what she thinks could be a present, or some marketing package, and just as she meets Darcy in a coffee shop – they are not together at this point – she is considering the ‘gift’

He opens the wrapping, and is horrified to find a…live bullet inside, and then he becomes agitated, takes her to the police station, where he is a suspect for a while, seeing as they had been together, he ‘just happened to enter the caffe’, as she was looking at the surprise, so they take his finger prints and DNA to check

 

The protagonist even gets a police escort, though the detective in charge presumes that the sender could not advertise his true intentions – ‘you mean, he would just kill her’ – but while he discusses the case, he is off and on the phone with details about Lady Diana’s funeral, he wants to see the coffin, to be at that place…

As with the rest, it is supposed to be amusing, only I found him ridiculous and asked myself what is the need to make the point again, and again, we got it the first time, he was fond of Diana – by the way, she dies during the narrative, and we get some thoughts on that, good that she got involved with the stop the mines campaign

 

We also have some politics inside, and I appreciate that, I am interested – how could it be otherwise, when we expect a calamity in November, The Economist has the threat to the American democracy on the front page of this week’s issue, and two large takes on the matter, which will be a very close call, alas, Orange Jesus might win

Even if he does not, he will claim he had, just like he has kept doing from 2020, you would be convinced that sane humans, with some brains in their heads, would have no problem selecting between the two…

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”