Read With Us: It’s a Wrap on The Friend

We had a grand time gathering to discuss the book The Friend last Tuesday. And I say grand because the feelings about this book were mixed and I think that always makes for the best kind of discussion.

There were 12 of us in attendance and Kym’s icebreaker question was to ask everyone what their favorite book to movie adaptation is. There were plenty of great answers including Brooklyn, Out of Africa, The Godfather, The English Patient, and the Harry Potter books.

We dove quickly into discussing our title and some people loved it (that would include me), some liked it, and some though it was just okay. It was pretty much agreed that listening to this book was not the best way to experience it given the stream of consciousness narrative. Just about everyone who watched the movie said it was a positive experience and a few people mentioned that the movie filled in the gaps nicely and also appreciated that the movie gave names to the characters since the book only names the dog, Apollo.

Our talk centered around the impact of grief and how we process that differently when we lose a friend and not a family member. We talked about what type of grief is valid (spoiler alert: all types), and we shared experiences of our own personal grieving. We shared our thoughts on Apollo and the role he plays in the story. And we talked about the writing style, which was challenging for some readers that don’t enjoy stream of consciousness.

We wrapped things up by validating the importance of a book discussion and how it often changes or illuminates how we feel about a book. Hearing other people talk about what they thought gives us a different perspective and appreciation of the whole thing. And really, that’s what a book discussion is all about.

Thank you to my co-hosts on this Read With Us Venture, Bonny and Kym. And thank you to all of you who read the book, watched the movie, and attended our Zoom. We’ll be announcing our next book on October 7th.