Lipstick Jungle

I'm afraid I've just had an interview today, so I'm not able to handle anything more complicated than a slightly trashy chick-lit type novel. Which is precisely what 'Lipstick Jungle' is. It was written by Candace Bushnell (of 'Sex and the City' fame), so I thought I'd read it, on the basis that it would probably be something like SATC (the novel, I mean, not the show).

It isn't really. I mean, it's ok. There's nothing majorly wrong with it, but it's lacking the bite that SATC has (again, I emphasise that I am talking about the novel, which is very different in feel to the show). It deals with three very feminist women in New York, trying to advance their careers and the obstacles they face. Which, on the face of it, is fine.

The plot is fairly light and deals with their romantic troubles as well as their personal and professional issues reasonably entertainingly. The problem is just that it doesn't transmit the same sense of the city that SATC did. It doesn't really have any soul. Essentially, I felt that Bushnell had achieved success and was now doing it by numbers.

I also found the constant 'feminist' references rather irritating. I should explain that I consider myself a feminist. I absolutely believe that men and women should be treated equally. Unfortunately, that isn't what Bushnell seems to believe. Her characters act as though they believe women should be considered to be better than men and treated as such, which I would say is every bit as unfair as the reverse.

They re constantly complaining about how men don't understand things 'because they are men' or how people are only treating them poorly 'because they are women', when in fact the character in question clearly treats everyone poorly, male or female. I would say it's a fairly entertaining novel, very good for those occasions when your brain just won't work, but also a bit annoying and not particularly interesting.