Brand New Friend

Been meaning to blog about stuff that I have read for a while... just a little way to note down the more memorable books. Well, have just completed a book 5 minutes ago... Brand New Friend... whilst I was reading it... it just struck me that the gang and I could have easily been the stars of this book... or the authors... After all, the topic of discussion comes from the same vein as our "Bucket Theory" and "Left Right Turn" discussions.

Well... must say that it has been a while since I've enjoyed such a book. I acutally think that it is one of Mike Gayle's best books. Book talks about a gal and a guy in their 30s, getting to know each other... and being platonic friends. Throughout the book, they try and settle into the idea of just being friends... in the midst of protests by their other halves, their family and their friends.

My fav parts of the book? Well... it can be summed up in the following bits, the first being when Rob tells Phil, his best friend, of his new "mate", Jo:

'Yeah,' said Rob, 'but this is different somehow. For starters I haven't made any new female friends since I've been with Ash. And most of the ones I had have sort of faded away over the last few years. You know how it is - you start seeing someone, they start seeing someone and then you drift apart.'

'I wouldn't know, mate,' said Phil. 'I've never had any female friends.'

'What about Adele from the ad agency? You were pretty close to her for a while. And there was that girl who worked in the press office at EMI.'

'I wouldn't call them mates exactly,' clarified Phil. 'Truth is they were more like ongoing projects. If you know what I mean. They responded better when my obvious charms were on slow release rather than fuel-injected. I don't think I've ever had a female friend who wasn't an ongoing project.'

The second bit is when Rob contemplates telling his girlfriend about his new mate:

'So, let me get this right, said Phil. 'Despite our previous conversation on this subject it's your intention...' he cleared his throat '... to inform your girlfriend that you're going to be getting drunk regularly with some woman you met in a pub.'

'I know it sounds bad when you put it like that but, honestly, it's like hanging out with you and Woodsy only she smells better.'

'It sounds like suicide,' said Phil.

'But what about Ashley being friends with Neil? Surely that gives me some ammunition.'
'Nope,' said Phil. 'Ash still won't get it. Neil was there before you so he's not part of the couple equation. What ever deal they had about working this friends-versus-fancying-each-other thing has been worked out - as evidenced by the fact that they're not together. Jo on the other hand has arrived after you and Ashley got together so shi is part of your couple equation. You and Jo won't have worked out a deal on the friends-versus-fancying-each-other thing and therefore have no evidence that you won't end up together.'

Can two people of the opposite sex really be just friends? Or will there always be some form of "sexual tension" in the picture? You know what? I can't figure that one out in the absence of a beer... I have a couple of male friends... but yeah, they entered into the scene before I met Jules... and, yes, I think these are people with whom I've settled the friends-versus-fancying-each-other thing... even the book doesn't have an answer for this scenario... I think at the end of the day, the author himself chickened out from making a call.