February 04, 2010

Christmas as pagan-style twinkly festival to distract from lengthy winter gloom would be lovely




Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding was a pretty amusing, easy read. The quote below isn't even one of the better ones but I thought it was truthful, so.

"Ugh. Would that Christmas could just be, without presents. It is just so stupid, everyone exhausting themselves, miserably hemorrhaging money on pointless items nobody wants: no longer tokens of love but angst-ridden solutions to problems. (Hmmm. Though must admit, pretty bloody pleased to have new handbag.) What is the point of entire nation rushing round for six weeks in a bad mood preparing for utterly pointless Taste-of-Others exam which entire nation then fails and gets stuck with hideous unwanted merchandise as fallout? If gifts and cards were completely eradicated, then Christmas as pagan-style twinkly festival to distract from lengthy winter gloom would be lovely. But if government, religious bodies, parents, tradition, etc., insist on Christmas Gift Tax to ruin everything why not make it that everyone must go out and spend £500 on themselves then distribute the items among their relatives and friends to wrap up and give to them instead of this psychic-failure torment?" (p. 256)

Oh. And.
Okay, Bridget starts her new job at a television station. She walks in late to her interview where her boss is asking for ideas from his team.

"Do you know?" The entire table of grunge youths stared. "You. You must be Bridget!" he shouted impatiently. "How does a man with a beautiful girlfriend manage to sleep with a prostitute, get found out and get away with it?"
I panicked. My mind went blank.
"Well?" he said. "Well? Come on, say something!"
"Well, maybe," I said, because it was the only thing I could think of, "it was because somebody swallowed the evidence."
There was a deathly hush, then Richard Finch started to laugh. It was the most repulsive laugh I've ever heard in my life. Then all the grunge youths started to laugh as well.
"Bridget Jones," said Richard Finch eventually, wiping his eyes. "Welcome to Good Afternoon! Take a seat, my darling," and then he winked. (p. 171)

Bridget's life is a mess which is maybe why it's so fun to read, lol. My professor thinks it's the perfect model to explain how men and women interact and often references Jane Austen to explain how, though times have changed, themes of love, sex and relationships still apply in our lives in the same ways.

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