Jemima J - Jane Green
Jemima Jones is overweight. About seven stone overweight. Treated like a slave by her thin ... more
and b***hy flatmates, lorded over at the Kilburn Herald by the beautiful Geraldine, her only consolation is food. That and a pa*sion for her charming...
A review by Delta85 on Jemima J - Jane Green August 8th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Would you read it again?
No, never
Story
Very ordinary
Characters
Very ordinary
Readability
Average
How does it compare to similar books?
Poor
How does it compare to other works by the same author?
Poor
Advantages:
Easy to read
Disadvantages:
Bad message
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
■ Girls with normal bodies, don't read this book ■
The moral of this book is that if you don't look like a top model, you are an authentic failure; you will never have fiancè (condition ' sine qua non' to be a complete woman), you will have to resign and work in a job that you hate, you will have no friends and you will never be considered a person. And, of course, you will have to live relegate in the background while you see how handsome and thin people obtain, thanks to their pretty faces, all those things you have been fighting for all your life.
We live in the era of the cult to the body, the century of the physical beauty, the times of hypocrisy in which, while on the one hand they do campaigns to prevent the anorexia and other nutritional upheavals, on the other hand they are bombing you with subliminal messages that tell you that, to be somebody in this life, it is necessary to be handsome and thin. You only must stare at the fashion magazines (no trace of fat), watch the TV series (all the girls are super-divine) and see the clothes that are sold in the youthful stores (impossible sizes that, instead of being for young people, they seem removed from the infantile plant).
Therefore, in times in which there is an increasing preoccupation for the diseases related to the feeding, Jane Green (an author I had read previously with extreme gratitude) gives this book to us which, far from instilling a positive moral, reaffirms in that topic of "beauty comes from the inside", but turning it upside down and turning the equation into a negative result. The message you get reading the pages of this book is that girls only can be happy and get what they want if they are skinny and handsome.
►►PLOT ◄◄
Jemima Jones is a girl who is overweight (by the way Jane Green describes her, we guess she must weight a hundred kilos or even more), that works in a newspaper, the "Kilburn Herald". What she would really love is to be a serious journalist and to be in charge of important subjects but, instead of that, she is relegated to respond the housewives column where women ask for her advice on how to clean a spot of lemon of the sofa, how to get their plants surviving more time, and trivialities of that kind.
She lives with her two flat mates, Sohpie and Lisa, two ' fashion' and thin girls who have no brain and whose head is emptier than a school in summer. They treat Jemima as a slave and take advantage of her; in fact they see her like ' the poor fat girl without social life'. Jemima has begun a hundred diets but she does not have enough will to follow them, and instead of weight, she loses her hope.
Jemima is in love with Ben Williams, the assistant manager of information of the "Kilburn Herald", a very handsome boy who all the feminine workers of the newspaper dream about. But, unfortunately, Ben Williams only sees Jemima as the "fat and ugly but with a good heart" girl, to whom he tells his problems, a friend he can rely on, the lonely girl who is always there, but he does not feel attracted to her. Jemima is a complete addict to the fashion magazines, but she only buys them to watch the photos of handsome and skinny girls who appear in them, to see if that motivates her to begin the definitive diet.
One day, Jemima is chatting on the Internet, and meets a boy named Brad. They begin to talk and love begins to arise. The problem arrives when Brad requests a photo of her. Jemima takes a photo of a fashion magazine of a blonde and thin girl, takes a photo of herself and, with the aid of Geraldine (a workmate) she alters it with Photoshop until becoming an authentic top model. Brad falls in love with her and proposes her to go to L.A so that they know each other and they speak face to face. Jemima, unconsciously, accepts. Which will be her mission from now on? Lose weight, dye her hair, and become the incarnation of the perfect woman that has stolen Brad's heart on the Internet.
Jemima does her best to reach her goal: goes to the gymnasium every day, she goes on a cruel diet, and she barely eats anything. In 3 months, when she must go to the L.A, Jemima is a blonde skinny girl, all dressed in expensive clothes, that makes all heads turn to her when she walks by. When she arrives at the L.A and knows Brad, she will discover a world that, until then, had been denied to her. A world of flatteries, sophistication,' friendship' and affection which is totally unknown for her. Of course, Jemima will also undergo the disappointments of her new status, because she will learn that people only notice the body and not the sweet girl she really is. But, is she really happy with Brad or is she still in love with Brad? Now that she is blonde and slim, will she get Ben's attention? Will she get people's respect and get a better job? The answer, of course, you can imagine.
►► PERSONAL OPINION ◄◄
■ To begin with, I have to say that the story that the book tells is totally unreal. If Jemima Jones is a so obese girl, how can it be that in 3 months she happens to be skinny? Of course, going on a criminal diet. Or, way better, not eating and practically living in the machines of the gymnasium.
■ The book is a clear incitation to anorexia, because Jemima only gets people to treat her like a human being when she is thin. The message in this book, therefore, is that only the handsome and thin people can have an opportunity in life. The moral that the book gives to us is that in life, to be somebody, you must be beautiful and thin. That everything we have been told ("beauty is on the inside"/"beauty is in the eye"/"don't judge a book by its covers") is not worth anything. Accept it: we live in the era of the cult to the body and this is how things are.
■ Jemima only goes on a diet so that a man wants her and so that the others respect her. Is that the message that Jane wants us to get? That you must be like a skinny so that people take you seriously and men like you? It seems to me that ruins all the work and effort which women have made to arrive at the so wished equality of sexes and to the reaffirmation of themselves as modern women, of year 2006, who do not need any man to feel complete because they are independent, workers, intelligent and know how to get respect with their intelligence and who do not want to be considered a simple sexual object or a piece of meat.
■ It is a book which is not recommendable for those people who are a little obsessed with their weight (like I am right now, although I am not fat) and are quite vulnerable; because the book will give them the wrong idea: by losing weight and being skinny they will obtain everything they want. The book, after all, is telling us physic is better than talent. Although, I would like to think that there is still hopes to change this material and elitist society in which we live.
To conclude… the book is read easily, but I didn't like it because the message that it gives is very harmful. Also, the way in which it is written (alternating the narrator in first and second person, which I did not understand why) is annoying. If you want to read something of Jane Green, you'd better choose other books. This book, if read by some association against the nutritional upheavals, would be very hardly criticized. Surely.
■ So: my message is: enjoy the life and be happy with who you are. The looks are not that important. Ok, I leave you. I am going away to eat.
Greetings!
PS: I apologize again for my English. I'm Spanish, so... I hope you understand.
Advantages: Ummm...It's a book...books are good to read..aren't they? Disadvantages: It's not a very good book.
...was less pleased however. Jemima J was the third of the three; the others - their titles long forgotten - have been consigned to the charity shop (I felt terribly guilty – I hope they got something for them). I only read this book to punish myself for selecting such crap books so rashly. I have now learnt from my mistakes and no longer make bulk purchases based on a single person’s recommendation. As you may gather I was not too impressed with this ... ...So to the plot: Jemima is fat. That is really all we need to know about Jemima, that and the vague mention of glossy hair (obviously a staple requirement for a heroine) and the fact she works as a journalist for a local paper and is passed up for promotion by her more glamourous and prettier colleagues. She has a crush on a gorgeous colleague called Ben, who thinks of her just as a friend and has one other female friend at work (naturally glam also), ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: compulsively readable, fantastic characters, brilliantly written Disadvantages: will make you hungry
JEMIMA J
I have decided today will be chick-lit day and I will write a couple of book reviews if I have the time (and don't get caught not working!). So I am starting with "Jemima J", which is one of my favourite books. It is written by Jane Green, who has written about six novels since she started her writing career, and this is the second of them. As far as I'm concerned, it remains the best.
THE STORY
"I wish I were thin, gorgeous and could ... ...to dream aren't I?"
Jemima Jones is a lovely person and a talented writer. Unfortunately no one seems to realise that - all THEY see is the fact she is immensely overweight. As a result, she can only dream about working for a glossy magazine - instead she is forced to do the Top Tips column for the Kilburn Herald and is constantly overlooked for promotion to journalist by her sleazy boss. She loves Ben Williams, the deputy editor at the paper, but ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...I weigh at the moment. Jemima is the lowest level journalist on the lowest level of local newspaper, and she’s pretty fed up. A chance introduction to the internet brings her into the world of online dating [ been there…;-) ] where of course looks don’t matter, or at least they don’t if you fail to mention what you look like. Single for years before we meet her, Jemima does finally get a man for at least part of the story, ... ...colleagues who has been using Jemima for years until the 3rd chapter or so when she decides, y’know, just out of the blue, to be nice to her. Then there’s Ben. Handsome, talented Ben also works with the girls, but dreams of greater things. He sees and advert for a better job, applies and, what do you know, gets it just like that. Then there’s tanned, toned Brad. Who is, of course, American. And who lives, naturally, in south California. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: excellent book, realistic, inspirational Disadvantages: I WANT MORE!! ;-)
...I am unhappy about it. Jemima Jones, the heroine of the book, is seven stone overweight. I can relate to most of what she is feeling, some of this novel could have been written about me – unfortunately, only the ugly duckling bits, not the beautiful swan.
Of course, you don’t want to know about me, you want to know about Jemima, but one of the most absorbing things about the novel is that so many women will relate to her plight and will ... ...of homesickness for London, while Jemima is abroad and wouldn’t even begin to comprehend the pleasure a Brit can gain from returning to a homely, reassuring bit of rain! But I knew exactly what Jemima was feeling.
The novel appears to be travelling in a fairly predictable direction at times, but just when you think it is going in a particular direction, the author teases you slightly, tweaking events so things go off on a tangent. This is ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Brilliant characters,brill story, unputdownable. Disadvantages: not long enough ! , not too convinced with morals
...It tells the story of Jemima Jones. She is overweight, by about 7 stone. She is treated like a slave by her thin flatmates. Treated like rubbish at the "Kilburn Herald" where she works by beautiful Geraldine. Her only consolation .... food . Jemima meets someone on the internet , the first man Brad is who she changes her life for . She goes through a lot of change to make herself someone she would like to know. The message in this book is simple ... ...were never described of liking Jemima before she had a change of look. However this book is fiction and should be classed as such, the morals in this story are not for the impressionable. This is not
politically correct but shows how people do make judgements based on your weight . I'm not going to ruin the story , but Jemima learns to love herself and doesn't feel (anymore) that life has no meaning if she wasn't Miss Petite !
Jane Green's story ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: A good read, almost 400 pages, great characterisation Disadvantages: A bit slow going in the middle
...You might have read my opinion on JemimaJ by JaneGreen, which I wrote in February – well, you probably haven’t, as it only got 12 reads on Ciao (20 on Dooyoo and a crown!). Unfortunately, book reviews get very few reads on opinion sites. Anyway, that was the first JaneGreen book I had read, but it was so wonderful that it prompted me to borrow all her other novels from the library. Bookends is the second of hers I have read.
I would love to say it was as brilliant as JemimaJ, but it wasn’t. It isn’t un-put-down-able either. It took me a couple of weeks to read it, instead of a couple of days. But it is a very good read though. You might struggle with it a bit in the middle, but the last third is a page-turner.
I think the best thing about the novel is the wonderful characterisation. Everyone is so well...
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...Bookends is the fourth novel by JaneGreen, whose other titles include, straight talking, JemimaJ and Mr Maybe.
In Bookends we meet Cath, our narrator, scatter brained, untidy, a failure in relationships due to her emotional walls built up to prevent her getting hurt and who dreams of leaving her job to set up a cafe come bookshop, and settling down with a genuine man.
Si, is Cath’s best friend in the world, he is as bitchy as the next woman, meticulously tidy, loves clothes and shopping and desperate for a man to settle down with.
Josh and Lucy are married and appear to have the perfect relationship, adoring one another and their ‘devil-spawn’ child Max.
Cath, Si, Josh and Portia all met at University where they were inseparable despite their differing characters. Supporting one another through all...
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Advantages: quick and easy read Disadvantages: fluffy, lightweight
....janegreen.co.uk if you care for a taster before you make that all important purchase.
* Other books by JaneGreen *
Straight Talking
JemimaJ
Mr Maybe
Bookends
Babyville
Spellbound
Thanks for reading....
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helpful 10.06.2005
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