Random Ways the Characters Became Friends

Use this forum to discuss the February 2018 Book of the Month, "The Reel Sisters" by Michelle Cummings.
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Laura Ungureanu
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Re: Random Ways the Characters Became Friends

Post by Laura Ungureanu »

My mother told me that as you grow up, it gets harder and harder to make new friends. You can't say an adult makes friends like a child. A child doesn't need any reason to befriend someone, while an adult will be careful who he befriends, knowing from his experience that a lot of people are bad or have hidden purposes. A quick friendship for an adult is something rare, and I guess the adults need to be very social and opened. I think the friendships in the book were a little rushed.
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Post by Sketches_by_Shell »

Kat Berg wrote: 02 Feb 2018, 16:57 I have found myself amazed at the way I have met people who became close, quick friends, and then astonished that it took us so long to meet when we realized how much overlap of friendships we had! That being said, I also have a certain of willingness to suspend my disbelief when it comes to reading a fictional book. It doesn’t bother me when the realms of reality are stretched just a little to serve the needs of the book.
I, too, am able to "suspend my disbelief," as you say, when reading fiction. I tend to dive right into the story and take everything that is given at face value. Only once and a while I will question something, if it is off the wall crazy. Then, I will rarely even look it up to verify. I might discuss it with someone to see what they think. If the writer wants us to see something their way, I see it their way.
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Post by Sketches_by_Shell »

It is interesting how many of us have made neighborhood friends through our children that last for a long time, or even a lifetime. I've made friends with the neighbor of my child's friend across the street before. We all had sat outside with the kids, and just talked quite a bit.
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Post by charmaineperit »

CatInTheHat wrote: 02 Feb 2018, 16:40 I too think that some of the friendships were "quick." However, I've had friendships where we connected during our first meeting. Actually, our closest friends are ones we met walking up the street when our kids were little. We stood in their front yard, watching the kids play together, for a couple of hours. That night, we got together for pizza. During that first year, we spent Thanksgiving together, the first of many holidays together. We no longer live near each other, but 25 years later, they are still our best friends. It really did start that quick.
I agree to this! A lot of friendships I have are quick friendships. This kind of friendship I have are usually with those people who I share same personality and interests with.
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Post by faceadventure »

In my experience the best friendships come from instances where the people involved clicked together after just a few exchanged sentences. But that doesn't mean that good friends don't come form awkward first encounters as well. :lol2:
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Post by JR Mercier »

Kat Berg wrote: 02 Feb 2018, 16:57 I have found myself amazed at the way I have met people who became close, quick friends, and then astonished that it took us so long to meet when we realized how much overlap of friendships we had! That being said, I also have a certain of willingness to suspend my disbelief when it comes to reading a fictional book. It doesn’t bother me when the realms of reality are stretched just a little to serve the needs of the book.
I agree. And I've also met some of my closest confidants in the strangest ways.
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Post by P Reefer »

bookowlie wrote: 02 Feb 2018, 12:05 The main characters in this story became friends from random meetings. With one exception, their first meetings had nothing to do with fly fishing. I didn't think it was realistic that so many of the characters would meet and become "instant" friends due to random meetings. Still, I guess people sometimes will meet someone this way and want to become friends with them for various reasons. Give an example of how two of the characters meet and why it might be realistic for them to instantly become friends, given their personalities, the circumstances, etc.
I felt the depiction of the meeting of Melody as a naked river swept victim needing to be rescued was quite contrived. The quick and predictable friendship that developed was also somewhat unrealistic given the circumstances of the first meeting.
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Post by [Valerie Allen] »

Yes, I do believe people sometimes will meet someone this way and that and want to become friends with them for various other reasons, such as in the case regarding Melody's unexpected, floating meeting between her and all the women and particularly Rose, which "surely proves to me, we just never know when God will realistically cast someone into our lives for good and not evil", in lieu of your questioning: their personalities, the circumstances, etc. Feel free to check out my full review here -> viewtopic.php?f=2&t=71123.
And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. (Revelation 20:12 (NKJV) :reading-7:
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Post by KRay93 »

The meeting of Rose and Sophie is credible enough, while the rest are somewhat forced, not to mention Melanie's case. She is the most distinctive character of the group, and after a completely coincidental and fortuitous encounter, she integrates seamlessly into it.
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Post by asere_maryanne »

I believe all the encounters then friendships can be realistic, especially for women. Women have a way of connecting with each other and random friends often turn out to be the best.
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Post by Kareka88 »

When Rose and Sophie met it was in a store talking about fly fishing is a perfect example. Meeting someone with the same passion as you is a great way to meet people and to become immediate friends. As a matter of fact I've met several friends in the park walking our dogs. Many of these friendships began immediately and I hope will last long term.
"Life is an occasion - rise to it." Mr. Magorian
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Post by Scrawling Pen »

I agree that the quick friendships and unlikely connection to fly fishing may seem a bit unrealistic. Although, I do think there is something that each of these women were looking for. They each needed a friendship and a connection to something to take them away from the stress of everyday life. This desire for more in life would have helped spur a friendship along.
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Post by kelso9326 »

Some of my very best friends and I met through quick and random meetings. One of them was a random knock on a dorm room door and him, my roommates and I ended up playing board games together all night. Then he introduced me to two girls down the hall and all three of them were in my wedding this year. Yes, the girls' meetings were maybe a little too random but sometimes it really does happen like that.
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Post by tristenb »

I don't know. I think most people meet under random circumstances. It depends on the people if they will go out of their way to try and establish a relationship. Personally, since I recently (well, honestly two years ago isn't very recent) moved to a new place, I desire to have deeper friendships, but I don't know how to go about it. I would jump on the opportunity to do something like this.
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Post by Nkoo »

I dont think there are hard and fast rules to how meetings occur and how quick or slow friendships are made. Melody's abrupt meeting with the other women seemed realistic to me. One would ordinarily want to know more about the person they rescued; that way they may become drawn to each other/one another and sparks fly and friendships are formed.
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