Customer Reviews

We Can Still Be Friends

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This novel made me think. I can not say that about many novels that I read, because the majority of literature today is a series of active scenes connected by sexual encounters, or wishes of sexual encounters.

I enjoyed reading this novel of a variety of levels. I found it to be an interesting story, told in a very readable format. The chapters are all short, and they are told from the various viewpoints of the 4 major characters. I normally enjoy a story told like this because I enjoy seeing different aspects of the same situation (you know the saying- there's what he said, there's what she said, and then there's the truth). I do agree though that this novel does start to get repetetive, especially towards the end. It's almost as if the author got bored by the time she got to the last quarter of the book. But the sections in the beginning are very powerful, and give you a good incite into the characters and their behavior patterns.

My major literary problem with this novel is that the reader is given little knowledge of Ava's mother, and this information is doled out at practically the end of the novel. Given the nature of this book I felt that this relationship whould at least have been mentioned more than just in passing. I realize this was supposed to be some sort of literary device, but it didn't work for me. Ava's character was incomplete to me, and though I finished the book last night, I am still thinking about her motivations. Score one for th author because I continue to think about the book, but take one away because I am not thinking about the many wonderful things this book has to offer.

The language of th novel is simple and poetic and beautiful. Many of the passages were almost lyrical, and it was a pleasure to see language so simplistically, yet creatively used.

Though I have some problems, I do recommend reading this novel.

The fad of sad-sack single gal books has almost run its course, because the majority are poorly written, redundant (ie anything by Jane Greene, et al) and witless; no we don't need another reference to Jimmy Choo shoes (wild) or tears in the pint of Hagen Daes. Kelly Cherry, unlike her competitors, is an actual poet and a literate writer who can reference allusions beyond the Brady Bunch. Though this can look, from the surface, like just another swingle's love lost book, it's a beautifully observed, poignant and poetic look at what it means to be human and feel deeply.

At a time when the publishing industry divides fiction into two rigid categories, "commercial" - meaning it's readable and entertainingly plotted but trashy -- and "literary" - meaning it's pretentious, overwritten, and academic and no one in their right minds would read it for pleasure - Kelly Chery is successfully writing fiction that straddles the two: it's smart, meaningful, lyrically written, and enjoyable. Isn't that what readers really want?

Other reviews here have summarized "We Can Still Be Friends" and praised its feminism. I'll avoid redundancy by not doing the former; and as a "guy," I'm not that concerned with the latter (except in the sense that the novel neatly taught me some things about the ways women think and feel). But what really struck me about this book, in contrast to a lot of "women's novels" and contrary to what a previous reviewer said, was the depth and sympathy with which the male characters were drawn. Cherry obviously worked conscientiously at that aspct of the book, and it paid off. Boyd, the movie producer, is quite nonstereotypical for his profession, and for me he was the most interesting and complex of the quartet. Tony, the multiracial heart surgeon who is tensely balanced between selfishness and generosity, came in a close second. Though it's true that the two women, Ava and Claire, are the driving forces of the action, the characterizations of Boyd and Tony may show the author's gifts even more impressively.

Kelly Cherry's "We Can Still Be Friends" takes the common dumping line to create an empowerment novel for women. The two key female characters do what they have to do to be happy and feel fullfilled. The men are ways to means in the novel, and appear to lose their strength from early in the novel as the women grow. It is romance in the modern world. The novel is pure enjoyment as Cherry uses her lyrical voice and humor to move the plot in a very unusual situation.

Ava loves Tony but Tony breaks it off with her to start sleeping with Claire who is married to Boyd. Boyd is faithful even though he knows Claire has one affair after another. This is "OK" with him as long as she doesn't fall in love.
Ava flies from Chicago to LA to ask Boyd to help her get pregnant. A child is born and various complications ensue.
This book is told from the point of view of these four unlikable characters -- none of whom is sufficiently vividly drawn to be convincing The one characteristic they share is their selfish narcissism.
The book ends with a melodramatic flourish that is supposed to shock the reader but by then this reader was so bored it barely registered. There is also a "Rashamon-like" scene when the same event is examined from all four different viewpoints bringing out differences so minor as to be insignificant.
A book like this must engage the reader's sympathies and emotions. You have to identify with someone and root for them. It didn't happen for me.

I liked this book and didn't! While it is well-written, far better than most novels of this "ilk," it becomes quite redundant with the repetition of scenes told from four different points of view. Problem is, the points of view aren't all that different, so it is like reading the same chapter over and over again.

I liked the story though and it held my attention until the end. I value Cherry's writing skills and use of words and images. It is certainly refreshing after having read so much drivel recently!

Kelly Cherry's WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS isn't for the faint-hearted. She's delving into the great problems of what it means to be a feminist and the eternal questions of the battles between the sexes. WE CAN STILL BE FRIENDS is a deeply humane book.

Definitely something new, this work took me by surprise. I especially enjoyed the story as it was told from four different viewpoints. While this is not a new technique, author Kelly Cherry handled it with grace and determination. A fresh voice in the sea of nowadays writers, I look forward to reading more by this brilliant author. Kudos to Ms. Cherry for her atmospheric and pleasurable writing that comes to life on the page.

First of all the plot to this is unrealistic (I won't spoil it by giving it away). Secondly, not a lot happens. The writing is long winded and tries to be stream-of-conciousness, but I just found it tedious. There is a part two thirds of the way through in which the SAME scene is told from the point of view of four of the protaganists, which served no purpose I could see. Maybe the author should stick to poetry?