海角大神

鈥淏ridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,鈥� the third book by Helen Fielding centering on London resident and diary-keeper Bridget Jones, has earned mixed reviews so far.

The novel had already drawn ire from some fans after it was revealed that Bridget鈥檚 love interest, Mark Darcy, had died several years before 鈥淢ad鈥� began and that Bridget is now a widow.

reviewer Janet Maslin began her review with the statement, 鈥淏ridget Jones, R.I.P.鈥� and called Fielding鈥檚 series 鈥渙nce-lovable.鈥�

鈥淵ou鈥檙e not dead yet, but you might as well be,鈥� Maslin wrote of Bridget. 鈥淭he only conceivable reason to read about [Bridget] is that old habits die hard.鈥�

writer Jen Chaney was also not enamored with Fielding鈥檚 new book.

鈥淲hile parenthood and profound loss may have forced Bridget to grow up in some ways, she hasn鈥檛 grown up much,鈥� Chaney wrote. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 one of this novel鈥檚 key problems鈥�. Despite the addition of children, this seems like a Bridget Jones story we鈥檝e already read, two times before, and that, for all its references to tweeting and texting, seems out of touch with the current moment.鈥�

reviewer Martha T. Moore found Fielding鈥檚 first novel about Bridget to be fun but pointed out that in the years since 鈥淒iary鈥� came out, chick lit has covered a lot of the plot points now used in 鈥淢ad.鈥澛�

Moore also found Bridget herself lacking in the newest installment.

鈥淭he sharp, fresh eye that Fielding brought to the first two "Diaries" must be sleep-deprived,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淏ridget's moxie is MIA....There's a very likable, frazzled, fragile woman who narrates this enjoyable book and she will make you smile. But she's not our Bridge.鈥澛�

However, writer Stephanie Merritt found 鈥淢ad鈥� enjoyable and said she found the death of Mark Darcy to be 鈥渁 brilliant solution to the obvious problem of a third book.鈥�

鈥淏ridget chronicles all this in her own inimitable voice,鈥� Merritt wrote of the book. 鈥淪he is supposed to be ridiculous and often infuriating. But she is also very human, with all her insecurities, and if you don't shed a few tears in the course of this book, you must have a heart of ice.鈥�

However, like Moore, Merritt said chick lit has made many plot points pretty familiar to readers.

鈥淚t's hard not to feel that Fielding is hampered by her own legacy,鈥� she wrote.

Fielding鈥檚 first book about Bridget, 鈥淏ridget Jones鈥檚 Diary,鈥� came out in 1996 and the second, 鈥淏ridget Jones: The Edge of Reason,鈥� followed in 1998. The first two books were adapted into movies starring Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant which were released in 2001 and 2004, respectively.