Alexandra Potter: "Me and Mr Darcy"

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman must sometimes commit an act of pure and utter indulgence in her choice of the book to read. Especially that she might be right in the middle of reading an award-winning product of a literary genius which she finds a bit gloomy and quite heavy going. And so I did. And now I wish I had not. Being a fan of Bridget Jones's Diary (especially its filmed version - and this does not happen often with me, who thinks films ruin books), I expected the book to be something similar to now common chic lit. sequels or variations of Pride and Prejudice - quite light and uproariously funny. But, er HELLO, not THAT LIGHT and not SO UNentertaining. 

Given that the main character Emily is a bookworm and works in a bookshop, I was especially disappointed by virtually non-existent literary allusions (if you cross out the names and a few quotes from Pride and Prejudice) and generally very feeble play on Austen's novel (well, it was rather an attempt at re-writing the two episodes of Bridget Jones as far as I could tell and I must admit that the narrator's voice did sound to me like Renee Zellweger - something that definitely helped me go through the book till its ending.) Finally, the weak story line was nothing surprising, as based-ons tend to be predictable. 

I was actually willing to forgive the author the book's weaknesses but there were moments - and quite a few of them I must admit - that reading this book I felt I was being offended. Not only weren't the situations funny enough to make you smile, but the narrator explained them to you just in case you did not get the "subtle joke". This is precisely what makes one a lousy joke teller. 

So, instead of wasting time thinking about Me and Mr Darcy, I... switched on Bridget Jones's Diary for the umpteenth time this year. And this would be my recommendation except that what I recommend here is literature, not film. Potter came up with an idea of getting her character involved in a fictional story from the 19th century. I think Antonia S. Byatt came up with something rather similar a few years ago in her wonderful novel Possession, which is my recommendation - instead of Potter's book.