Conversations with friends

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Clickbait said:
Can you nail down what makes the book so different from the programme? I haven’t read it but it seemed to be popular and this series is not… Have the characters been miscast? Has the dialogue and drive been altered? Not enough plot development to explain why people are behaving?
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Characters have definitely been miscast. I was hooked on the book because sally rooney writing is good. I've heard she didn't have as much involve with this tv series which maybe why it's a let down think it's just been rushed.
 
Clickbait said:
Can you nail down what makes the book so different from the programme? I haven’t read it but it seemed to be popular and this series is not… Have the characters been miscast? Has the dialogue and drive been altered? Not enough plot development to explain why people are behaving?
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Truly believe that Nick was cast quite well, but the actor could’ve been older. I thought Frances is meant to be yes quite introverted but not as quiet and meek. Bobbi also wasn’t American in the book and the class difference between Frances and Bobbi is quite a sore spot in the book so that would’ve been nice to see rather than the one plot line we got
 
The book wasn’t great imo - it had all the intellectual snobbery of Normal People but none of the awareness.

Then book explains Bobbi and Frances history better than the show does. Probably not enough time.

Francine reminds me of whatshername in Normal People. They’re very similar only Normal People was just an all around better book and story.
 
DmMeHun2ManySnakes said:
2 Why is the fit sexy brooding actor interested in the gormless plain Janye Francis who dresses like a toddler in the 90s
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because I’m convinced it’s a fantasy of Sally Rooneys that shared by her readership. Like a more advanced Bella from Twilight.

In my head, Sally Rooney is the indie, quiet shy plain Jane that she models her female protagonists on. They are usually set at university because I think that’s when Sally Rooney peaked (she went to Trinity), and it’s where a lot of her characters seem to find themselves most at home too - in those bohemian, upper middle class, literary circles. The kind I imagine Sally Rooney would’ve moved in.

her main male characters and love interests are the same; quiet, brooding, tortured types. Because I think that’s the type of person Sally Rooney thinks is attractive. They have an inexplicable intense Sexual chemistry because… it’s her fantasy of how romance looks. In real life are socially awkward, plain, boring people ever caught up in passionate love affairs?

I think her characters, books and TV shows are awful. The only different between Sally Rooney’s books and the twilight saga for me are that hers have a trinity-esque flair and aren’t terribly written (I refuse to call them good writing though).
 
I enjoyed reading Normal People but never understood the hype for the tv show, it was okay at best but nothing groundbreaking.

I’m currently watching (and reading) conversations with friends… what conversation? Has there even been one. The tv show is absolutely crud; there is zero chemistry between any of the characters. Frances I find incredibly unlikeable. Since when was Bobbi American? The book is slightly better but I haven’t been gripped as such.
 
Just finished the series. It could’ve been condensed into 6-8 episodes as lots of the scenes are just people asleep or lazing around in bed! The actor who plays Nick- his accent got progressively worse throughout the series. He didn’t quite get the Irish ‘o’ sound right and quite often slipped back into his normal accent. I could be wrong as I’m not even Irish but it irritated me so much 😆
 
Dont swipe up! said:
As others have said why the hell is it called ‘conversations with friends’?
It’s just totally the wrong name for the show and I was honestly expecting something else
And yes what the hell does he see in Frances?
If your gonna have an affair at least make it worth while with an absolute stunner
I would be mortified and offended if my husband had an affair with a really plain boring looking person lol
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I know a guy who was in a long term relationship with a very pretty, successful banker. She as blonde and petite and had very delicate features, as opposed to be stunning beautiful.

anyway, he ended up having an affair with a very plain girl he worked with who actually looks a lot like Frances and to this still still baffles me why he likes this girl so much, as she seemed very bland. I think the crux of it was she had a huge crush on him, was completely besotted and that was a big thing for his ego.

(he ended up going back to his original banker girlfriend, who miraculously forgave him)
 
For me, Normal People (tv version) had everything, I was absolutely hooked on the whole thing, I found both main characters extremely watchable which helped too. However CWF is sooooo disappointing!! I didn’t know before this thread that Sally hadn’t really had much to do with it compared to normal people but wow can you tell. There were times watching scenes between Nick and Frances when I felt you could tell Frances was thinking Christ what accent are u trying now?! I also felt like I had no idea how or why they got together, Frances was just so boring, and I disagree with the post that says she’s very similar to Marianne in NP, Marianne, the character and the actress were so much more interesting to watch! and I really really dislike Bobbi’s character so yep all in all 2.5/10.
i even found myself thinking surely, SURELY when cast&crew watched it back they can’t really have thought it was good?! And why oh why did they let it go like that, it needed So much more work?
 
forgive me, i have this really bad habit of making excuses for even the crappest of situations - i think it was called Conversations With Friends based on the communication between Bobbi and Frances. eg with their emails and them reading them out loud.

probably going to show my age a smidgen, i’ve not read any of Sally Rooney’s books but i think Maeve Binchy had the student navigating relationships thing down way better than this.

agreed Jemima Kirke seems to play the same character on everything she appears in. but her interview where she says its obvious the book was written by a 22 year old is an accurate take.
 
Loving reading everyone’s comments. I read CWF a few years ago and loved it. I remember thinking ending was perfect because it wasn’t tied up in a neat bow and I thought it was quite apt because people (Frances) sometimes keep making the same mistake in life.

Book wise, In comparison to Normal People, CWF was my favourite, but it was the opposite for the tv series. Agree with the comments about his accent! Dire…

Couldn’t warm to any of the characters, but I’m not sure we’re meant to?
 
Eenymeenyminymo said:
Just about to start episode 6 and not sure how I feel about it all. None of the characters are likeable and I feel like it’s dragged out
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Agree with this. Can’t say I’m really enjoying it. None of the behaviour strikes me as feasible either. Man starts an affair with a 21 year old, his wife promotes the girl to her literary agent and then invites her round for chats and dinner?!
 
I'm on episode 10.

Nick's accent is absolutely atrocious. I'm waiting for some backstory about being Irish, moving to London at a young age and then back to Ireland. Or moving to Ireland from London at a young age. I mean wtf. How did he even pass the first audition stage to get this role!?! Or was it handed to him because of who he's dating?

Frances is horrible. Nick is bland. I don't mind Melissa or Bobbi so much as they're not terrible human beings.
 
Alexaj said:
I'm on episode 10.

Nick's accent is absolutely atrocious. I'm waiting for some backstory about being Irish, moving to London at a young age and then back to Ireland. Or moving to Ireland from London at a young age. I mean wtf. How did he even pass the first audition stage to get this role!?! Or was it handed to him because of who he's dating?

Frances is horrible. Nick is bland. I don't mind Melissa or Bobbi so much as they're not terrible human beings.
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He’s a woeful actor, I watched episode 4 last night and he kept speaking in his real accent every so often. And Francis creeping around him in Croatia waiting for the ride, I find them both so awkward in scenes especially the sex scenes. And the kissing scenes give me the ick with the sloppy noises they make kissing 🤢, it’s all I can hear everytime they kiss.
 
Yeah why is Bobbi American? I know the BBC want to make it diverse but surely there are plenty of non-white Irish actresses who would have loved the role, or even non-Irish ones who could do a better accent than Joe Aldwyn (who sounds Australian) 😂
 
There was an Instagram live with the actresses who played Bobbi and Frances and Daisy Edgar-Jones who played Marianne in Normal People - they said they auditioned and did chemistry reads via Zoom …. Interesting
 
I am a bit conflicted about whether I watched this. I watched Normal People and found it good. Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar Jones were great in it and perfectly cast.

The best bits in Normal People (I thought) were the bits back in the school and in Sligo. I just hated all the Trinity stuff and the D4 people. The whole thing was awful slow moving though, it's a fairly short book yet they dragged it out to 10 or 12 episodes. And it was just generally a bit miserable.

I haven't read anything in this thread that has convinced me to rush out and watch CWF tbh!
 
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